Spotlight On… Youth activities to benefit young people
Police in Royston have been working with local schools and organisations to create more activities for children outside of school.
Sergeant Jon Vine and his team recognised that youth provision in Royston was severely lacking, and ever more so since Covid. This has a direct impact on anti-social behaviour in the town, so they have been working with local businesses and venues to provide more opportunities.
Firstly, the Thursday Night Project has been set up at The Limitless Academy of Performing Arts, to offer young people a safe and fun environment to socialise and connect with the community. The event started on 21st July and has continued every second Thursday of the month. It has been deemed a huge success, with teachers from King James Academy, who have already noticed a difference in the pupils who have attended the club.
Our local policing team have also launched ‘Saturday Screen’ cinema events, which offer a monthly, free private screening at Royston Picture Palace for children aged between 12 and 16 from King James Academy. Tickets are allocated through the school and more than 100 children attended the first viewing.
Royston First BID was quick to step up and provide funding for the project, as they firmly believe that investment for the youth of our town now will directly benefit Royston’s economic prosperity in the future. Herts CC, The Brian Leslie Racher Charitable Trust, the Manor House – J D Wetherspoon and Johnson Matthey have also provided funding to support the projects.
The aim of these projects is to allow the police to develop proactive, positive relationships with young people in the town and increase engagement, letting them know the police are there to support them when needed. There is much evidence that such youth engagement and positive opportunities help to steer young people away from crime, and ensure they are far less of a target for organised criminals, such as county lines drug gangs.
As a result of working closely with youths, PC Natasha Redman discovered that children wish to come off the streets, and instead work to earn money, but struggle to find such opportunities. She would like to see a project in place to signpost youths to work placements. Recognising the benefits for both businesses and the wider community, Royston First BID supports this idea, and is looking to find businesses that offer placements for 14 to 16-year-olds and provide a platform for listings. If your business can offer work for youths, please get in touch at info@roystonfirst.com
The hope is that these initial projects will lead to bigger projects for young people in Royston.
Sergeant Vine said “the number of reports of anti-social behaviour has reduced dramatically since we started these projects. Youth provision is for the benefit of everybody in the town, so I hope more local people will want to get involved with running these clubs and projects as we go forward!”
