Local partners including Leicester City Council have launched a joint community mentoring project to provide young people with increased support and opportunities to turn away from street-based violence.
The scheme will see young people aged between 15 and 25 offered emotional support from mentors within the community to improve their social skills, build positive relationships, access services and opportunities to achieve their goals and avoid future involvement in violence.
Leicester City Council, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews and the Charnwood Community Safety Partnership have teamed up with Leicester’s Violence Reduction Network (VRN) to fund the £160,000 initiative.
Local charity The Y, which has experience of reaching and working with vulnerable young people, has been selected as the provider and will partner with community-based organisations to deliver this new service.
Cllr Kirk Master, assistant city mayor for neighbourhoods, said: ‘Ensuring young people have trusted sources of support to turn to when they need help is one of the key recommendations of our knife crime and serious violence strategy. Offering a ‘front door’ to access support and additional services is much needed.
‘I’m really pleased that we are funding this new service, which is unique – as was our approach to the strategy, by engaging and using co-designing models with communities. By working together in this way, we can support young people at risk of knife crime to turn their lives around.’
Grace Strong, VRN director, added: ‘We are investing in this project because we believe communities are in an ideal position to reach young people most affected by violence. A core aim of the VRN is to better understand what is effective in preventing and reducing violence affecting young people and we look forward to fully supporting the development of this project and in time, evaluating its impact.’
In related news, efforts to improve the safety of women and girls across West Yorkshire’s public transport network have received a significant funding boost.
Photo supplied by Leicester City Council/Credit Matt Short