Welcome to this month's edition

Good morning, thank you for taking the time to read through this month's VERU in View.

It's great to be back! I would just like to take the time to commend the VERU team in their unrelenting efforts over the last few months. Having the opportunity to see our activity with a peripheral vision has really reaffirmed the great work that takes place within our unit and in the field as a whole.

As Director, a key priority for me will be building stronger, more collaborative relationships with partners, while continuing our successes in supporting grassroots organisations to increase their reach in our communities.

There is much more to come, watch this space!

Kimberley Lamb | VERU Director

The Youth Intervention Specialist team aims to encourage the reduction of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) and violent activities impacting young people in our community.

They provide a supportive service for educators, children, young people and their families – some of whom may be currently disengaged with services.

If you have a passion for seeing positive impact in the lives of young and vulnerable people, the VERU is the place for you. 

Lisa also attended the CAMHS School away day 16 June, to discuss the work of the VERU and support we provide. Thanks to Philippa Scott, Mental Health Safeguarding Team Project Lead, for inviting us along.

Bedford Borough Council have produced a quick guide to available support services to ensure families and young people have clear access to support and advice whilst they are not in school/college.

There can be a lot of pressure on young people at this time of year from exam results, friendship groups, social media, worries surrounding body image and health to simply not having the normal regular routine of school/college.

If you or someone you know is feeling lost, desperate or alone encourage them to speak to a trusted friend or family member, sharing how you feel can be a big step in the right direction.

All too often, we hear news of children who have been the victims of fatal stabbings or violent assaults. Too many young people are living in fear. And it can be because of that fear, or their experiences of exploitation, that some children end up carrying knives. This cycle must stop.

At the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) their mission is to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. They do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.

At the moment, finding out what really works is difficult. Research evidence about how best to support children is hard to find, hard to access and hard to understand. That means it’s hard to make judgements about how best to support and serve children and young people.

The YEF Toolkit aims to change that.

It’ll make evidence accessible and easy to understand. And we hope it will support people to routinely use evidence when they’re making decisions about how to help children stay safe from violence.

The Toolkit summarises the best available research evidence about different approaches to preventing serious youth violence. It is based on real life data about what has happened when these approaches have been used before.

It provides insight on 17 different approaches, with more to be added in the future. For each approach it explains what it is, how effective it’s likely to be, how confident you can be in the evidence of its impact, as well as indicative costs and links to related resources and programmes.

The public consultation of the draft statutory guidance on the Serious Violence Duty is closing on 21 July 2022.

In response to a government consultation in 2019 on a new legal duty to support a multi-agency approach to preventing and tackling serious violence, there was an overall consensus for a legislative approach to a duty. As a result, the Serious Violence Duty was legislated as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act 2022 and is a key part of the government’s commitment to reduce and prevent serious violence.

This consultation seeks views on the draft statutory guidance on the Serious Violence Duty, which will be issued by the Secretary of State under section 19 of the PCSC Act 2022.

Have your say:

With the school holidays fast approaching, many parents will be considering sending their children to summer holiday activity schemes.

So many of these programmes are fantastic and provide excellent experiences for children. We now all recognise the value and importance of sport and physical activity for our children, especially following the prolonged period in lockdown.

However, parents and carers should reassure themselves before you send your child to any summer activity: have you done your due diligence on where you are sending your child too?

Have you asked the right questions of your provider about how they are going to keep your child safe? Do you know the right questions to ask?

To help parents with these questions, we are launching the ‘Safe to Play’ campaign here in Bedfordshire.

This series of videos developed by Sport England and the NWG Network help parents understand how to keep their children safe in sport and ask the right questions.

We are lucky that some of our brilliant sports clubs in Bedfordshire are supporting this initiative, alongside the likes of Bedfordshire Police, Luton, Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Councils.

We all have an ongoing commitment to promote the safety and wellbeing of every child in Bedfordshire.

For more information about the campaign please visit bavex.co.uk

Those working with children and young people can find more information, resources and training opportunities through the VERU’s website.

We welcome any feedback you have on VERU in View, please send your comments through to [email protected].