June 2021 – Our work to tackle serious violence in Essex
While the VVU brings together partners to tackle the root causes of why people become involved in violent crime, knife crime and gangs it is important that the enforcement activity remains high profile and centre stage. Enforcement activity not only catches and punishes criminal behaviour, but it reassures and protects the Essex public, and helps […]
Summer 2021 Essex Virtual Crucial Crew
The VVU is delighted that between April and November this year it is working with Chelmsford City Council and Maldon District Council, Community Safety Partnerships to bring Virtual Crucial Crew 2021 workshops to 16,000 school children across Essex. Crucial Crew is an immersive theatre experience, created by TIC Box Productions which explores difficult issues that can affect […]
Thurrock’s Annual Public Health Report 2019/20 – Youth Violence and Vulnerability: The Crime Paradox and a Public Health Response
Serious youth violence and gang membership, and its links to the illegal drug market and ‘county lines’, has a devastating impact on both the health and wellbeing of the young people who become involved and their wider communities. As with so many public health issues, it disproportionately impacts some individuals and communities and can exacerbate […]
Essex Youth Offending Service: the lived experience of County Lines
Using the voices of young people and their lived experiences, the Essex Youth Offending Service (YOS) has created four dramatic, impactful, animated films on County Lines to use when training professionals. The Head of Essex Youth Offending Service, Tanya Gillett, identified there was a need for professionals across the county to gain more confidence when […]
Detached youth work success
In 2020 over 600 young people took part in the Violence and Vulnerability Unit’s listening project, which was to help determine future priorities and work areas for the VVU. Their feedback gave us a few main points for consideration and action: The majority of young people told us that youth violence is an issue in […]
London Bus Theatre: Welcome to County Lines film
The London Bus Theatre company recently benefited from VVU funding, which helped young people studying for the Arts Award make a film warning of the dangers of involvement with County Lines. The film, entitled, “Welcome to County Lines” tells of a young person’s experience of being in a gang, including being mugged, and his struggles […]
