PCC visits young people, domestic abuse and drug support services in Bath and North East Somerset
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Clare Moody last Friday (19th July) visited young people, domestic abuse, and drug or alcohol specialist support services in Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES) as part of her engagement activities with services and communities across the Avon and Somerset area.
Clare started the day by visiting Keynsham Police Custody, where she had the opportunity to meet staff, and had a brief guided tour of the custody. Clare Moody also met with Chief Inspector, Samantha Kayser, Head of Custody who briefed the PCC about the operations, booking process, investment in custody, current challenges of transporting people from Yeovil area. Chief Inspector Kayser also updated the PCC on the findings and recommendations from the Custody Resilience Review which highlighted staff welfare concerns, training, cultural issues, lack of support among other issues. Bill Hillier, Custody Logistics Coordinator also attended the meeting.
During the visit, the staff who spoke to Clare demonstrated great passion for their work. However, they also highlighted areas they felt needed some improvement to ensure work in the custody move smoothly for the benefit of all.
From the Keynsham Custody visit, Clare met with Sophia McKenzie and Carla Cooper, Head of Service for Youth Justice & VRP Lead from BaNES Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) at Keynsham Civic Centre. Sophia McKenzie, Violence Reduction Partnership Coordinator gave a highlight of some of their seven interventions to reduce youth violence, which included lived experience mentoring, awareness sessions in schools, detached youth work, knife crime awareness sessions for parents, and an education inclusion project which supports children at risk of school exclusion. B&NES VRP has reached almost 2,300 children and young people, supported 100+ parents/carers and provided training to 300 professionals.
Developing Health and Independence (DHI)
Following this, Clare visited DHI, a charity which offers specialist drug and alcohol services to adults and young people in B&ANES, Bristol, Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire and Somerset. Clare met with Rachel Barnes, DHI Criminal Justice Manager who gave a Clare a guided tour of their boardroom and talked about the charity’s work in prisons. Rachel was accompanied in the meeting by Jerry, Jay and Jamie, their Criminal Justice peers and prison leavers. The three gave powerful accounts of their previous experiences and how they have turned their lives around, which they attributed to support from DHI and now their determination to want to help others.
PCC Clare then visited Project 28 offices . Project 28 is a young people’s drug and alcohol service run by the DHI charity.
Liz Bryan, Young People’s Service Manager at DHI Project 28 explained that they provide advice, guidance and one-to-one sessions for young people who are having problems with drugs and/or alcohol. The service is free and confidential and aims to provide a flexible and non-judgemental space for young people to be open about the problems they are facing. They also run sessions in schools to raise awareness and education on substance misuse.
In the same meeting, Shannon O’Sullivan talked about knife crime and exploitation of young people in B&ANES, and how she engages with young people.
Youth Connect South West (YCSW)
Clare also had a guided tour of the Southside Youth Centre, which is run by YCSW, who support young people aged 11-25 in BaNES and beyond. The charity offers a wide range of support, which includes youth work, personalised one to one assistance, career guidance and advice. The safety and well being of young people, inclusivity and partnership working are key priorities. Besides Southside Youth Centre, the charity has other locations in Bath City Centre Youth Space, Radstock Youth Hub
The Voices Charity
Clare ended the day by visiting the Voices charity, where she met with Kirsten Melbourne, Head of Services, members of staff and people with lived experience of domestic abuse who have come together and created a support network group.
The charity provides recovery support and advocacy for people affected by domestic abuse. VOICES is also a platform which enables the voices of people with experience of domestic abuse to inform and improve service provision, in response to their needs.
Kirsten says they are currently developing the charity’s strategy and exploring ways to offer perpetrator support services, as there is a gap of such service in BaNES.
