Youth Justice Service celebrates successes
Celebrating the successes of Warwickshire’s Youth Justice Service over the last 12 months was the aim of their annual conference earlier this week.
Representatives from the county council-led service, criminal justice agencies and partner organisations gathered at Sports Connexions in Ryton-on-Dunsmore on Monday 11 October to showcase some of the good work.
Among the successes of the last year was a three-day Goals UK Motivational Workshop for 16 to 24-year-olds victims of youth crime, which helped them re-build confidence and self-esteem.
Another example was a music group created to encourage young people to do something positive for the community. The group, who hadn’t played any instrument before, was given six weeks to learn before performing in front of an audience.
The success of volunteer’s programmes was also noted during the event such as community panel members or those helping to run allotments as part of reparation programmes.
Lesley Tregear, Manager of Warwickshire’s Youth Justice Service, said: “We’ve had another year of successes of which we can be very proud – youth crime is down across the county as is the number of young people in custody.
“This is down to the tremendous efforts of those in youth justice and our partners involved in prevention of crime. We’re also very thankful to the various volunteers working with us and doing their bit for the community.”
“While the world of youth justice is a fast-changing one, we feel the Youth Justice Service and partners are committed to dealing with whatever lies ahead in the future, further protecting Warwickshire communities from harm.”
Cllr Heather Timms, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Families, said: “It is really pleasing to see how hard work and determination is paying off in turning young people’s lives around, and further protecting Warwickshire’s communities.”
To find out more about Warwickshire’s Youth Justice Service or for more details of projects available in the reparation directory, visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/yjs.