Bede students were given the chance to have their say during a community safety event led by the Police and Crime Commissioner and Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV).

Looking at four key issues facing today’s society, teams were invited to come up with solutions to help tackle knife crime, violence against women and girls, online safety (including radicalisation), and county lines.

First in a series of Shape Your Safety events that will take place in colleges across Teesside, it was no easy feat for the 16, 17 and 18-year-olds, but they were more than happy to give it a go.

Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey said: “It is all about making sure young people’s voices are represented. If we listen to what they want to do to make their area safer, it can benefit everyone.”

During the Shape Your Safety event, participating Bede students were split into four teams, each group focused on one issue. They carried out research, discussed the challenges around it and came up with a policy to make a positive impact.

Ideas were presented to a panel of guests made up of local leaders including councillors, representatives from local charities and Cleveland Police and MP for Stockton North, Chris McDonald.

Matt said: “These are some of the key priorities for the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV), and they are issues that directly affect young people, which is why hearing their views is particularly important.”

Partnership working and youth engagement are important factors in ensuring Matt’s Police and Crime Plan builds safe, strong and confident communities.

Impressed by the solutions presented by Bede students to the panel, he added: “The ideas, plans and strategies the students came up with in such a short space of time were incredible. They not only showed a real insight into the issues but showed an understanding of the wider challenges around creating a policy, things like cost barriers, funding and how to communicate it to the public.”

Bede students were further challenged with questions from the panel.

MP for Stockton North Chris McDonald said: “I was incredibly impressed by the students’ work around tackling some serious issues that are affecting our local community.

“I have got some good ideas and insight that I can now take back to Westminster. I think we heard things today, in terms of solutions, that are significant because they come from young people’s experience or those of friends.  It is important to have young people heard.”

Bede student Alexus, 16, of Stockton, said: “It was good to critically think about the issues going on and to really think about it in terms of solutions.”

Jayden, 17, from Hartlepool, said: “We are the next generation, and it will be up to us to make these decisions. It is better to start now, knowing how to focus on issues and potentially fix them.”

Declan, 18, of Stockton, said: “We can be the cure to the problem as well. When you talk about knife crime it mostly impacts people our age. It’s important that as young people we communicate better to the older generation, to show we are also among those trying to stop it.”

Hayden, 16, from Eaglescliffe, said: “The event was great because we got to learn about the issues in more detail and look at statistics.”

While the topics were serious, he added: “It was made entertaining with quizzes and talks. There was a lot of communication with the team from the OPCC and coming up with solutions that were then considered by the panel.”

Encouraging the students to take this valuable opportunity to have their say, Bede’s teacher of politics and law Michelle White said: “Our student community does have a strong voice, but as with all young people, they may not always know the best way, or have the chance, to share it.   

“Today was about giving students a platform to engage with issues in their local community. I was proud to hear them sharing their views, coming up with solutions, and really taking this opportunity seriously.”

The Shape Your Safety event was one in a run of events taking place across the Education Training Collective’s colleges to promote important community safety messages with funding from CURV. This has included talks from anti-drugs campaigner Paul Hannaford, staff at the Hartlepool Health and Social Care Academy on the impact of knife crime, and sexual violence service ARCH Teesside.

CURV was established in 2022 to develop an area-wide strategy to reduce levels of violent crime. It focuses on developing interventions to prevent violent crime before it happens, analysing data on the root causes of violence and bringing together multi-agency partnerships.

Our thanks go to CURV, PCC Matt Storey, the team from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and guest panel members: Cllr Norma Stephenson, Cllr Marc Besford, Kay Nicholson CEO from A Way Out, head of CURV John Holden, chief OPCC Lisa Oldroyd, Chief Inspector Andy Evans from Stockton’s neighbourhood policing team, MP for Stockton North Chris McDonald and executive assistant Louise Meek