Two councils are set to invest £70,000 to tackle youth crime across Gedling borough
Gedling Borough Council and Nottinghamshire County Council want to fund a youth worker post to support a new project aimed at tackling youth violence in the borough.
The Gedling Youth Intervention Project, funded by £50,000 from Nottinghamshire County Council and £20,000 from Gedling Borough Council, will develop a partnership approach to dealing with young people who have been identified by Nottinghamshire Police as being involved in violence, or who are becoming caught up in risky behaviour.
A two-pronged approach is being developed which will involve working with young people who are already known to and have been identified by the Police, as well as engaging with other groups of young people who are on the fringes of the risky behaviour, to intervene and provide alternative positive activities for them to participate in, effectively diverting them away from violence.
Cllr Philip Owen, Chairman of Children and Young People’s Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “This project is being developed to provide positive activities and support to steer young people away from involvement in violent crime.
“The additional youth work staff we hope to recruit will work with partner agencies to deliver targeted activities aimed at encouraging young people to develop interests which will lead to better outcomes and hopefully a brighter future.
“We are demonstrating our commitment to tackling this important issue by funding this project with Gedling Borough Council, at a time of increasing pressure on council budgets.”
Councillor David Ellis, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection at Gedling Borough Council said: “This programme is aimed at creating early engagement opportunities with young people who are potentially more likely to be involved in serious crimes further down the line.
“We have had incidents in Arnold last year that we don’t want to be repeated and this preventative approach will give us the chance to work with young people to reduce anti-social behaviour and also give them an opportunity to do something different which may inspire them towards a more positive path.”
The project will run over 12 months
A report is due to go before Nottingham County Council’s Children and Young People’s Committee on July 15 for approval.
