Thames Valley Police and the Violence Reduction Unit has made a force-wide commitment to maintaining the provision of specially-trained schools officers, with new resources available to help support young people, keep them safe and prevent them being drawn into crime and violence.
Areas we cover
We are working to reduce serious violence for all of the 2.4 million people who live in the Thames Valley, and the 6 million people who visit every year.
We work across all twelve local policing areas, nine local authorities and multiple district councils.
Latest news
Read more about what we’ve been up to across the Thames Valley.
Our latest blog by Annabelle Goodenough of Crimestoppers marks our support for their latest campaign to tackle violence and the importance of community-led intelligence.
A new VRU Community & Voluntary Sector Board has been formed to improve the way the VRU works with the range of local community, voluntary sector and faith-based organisations, young people and diverse communities.
Two blogs have been published today to celebrate UN International Youth Day, providing insight and experience from both a youth services provider and a young person growing up in Reading.
The Government has confirmed that a bid for an additional £800,000 to fund youth intervention programmes in Oxfordshire has been secured by the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit.
Using the analytical capabilities of the Thames Valley Together data platform, the VRU identified over 80 individuals who may have been vulnerable, informing the safeguarding response.
Who we are
We are a group of professionals working closely with the community to address the causes and effects of serious violence. Drawn from policing, education, social care and health, we work together to share our learning and ensure our activities are informed by the communities we are working to protect.
What we do
We work across several strands, with activity helping to prevent individuals from becoming involved in serious violence, and ensuring our response is working to prevent further violence from occurring.
Resources
Find out more about the resources we have developed to help teachers, community safety practitioners and community leaders to work with us to reduce violence and prevent harm, from early years to custody.
Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) have been working with South Yorkshire VRU, Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield as part of an N8 Policing Research Partnership funded research project aiming to understand more about the impact of using images of knives when talking to young people about the risk of knife carrying and usage.
The Youth Endowment Fund Toolkit summarises the best available research evidence about different approaches to preventing serious youth violence.
The National Youth Agency Safeguarding and Risk Management Hub (The Hub) is a freely accessible online resource providing guidance, support, advice and access to training resources in relation to safeguarding and risk management for organisations and individuals working with young people.
Our 2021/22 Strategic Needs Assessment has been published
A Violence Reduction Network (VRN) is a multi-agency forum and action group committed to reducing violence in our local community. The primary aim is to establish a series of trauma informed schools within the network to act as the corner stone for further problem solving activity in the area. The network will share good practice, identify common problems and design local solutions.
An introduction and link to the Loughborough University evidence-base paper for adopting ‘Child First’ approaches to the work of the Youth Justice System (YJS) of England and Wales
Events
Find opportunities to get involved in training or events to help reduce serious violence in your community.
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