Oxford United Football Club – Voice of the Community

Young people from Oxfordshire have helped the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) develop ideas for Operation Sceptre as part of Oxford United in the Community’s (OUITC) National Citizenship Service.

During workshops at The Oxford Academy, students took part in several workshops including one on mental health.

Chris Lowes, head of OUITC, said:

This was the first project delivered via our newly formed partnership with Thames Valley Police and represents a significant step forward in our strategy to deliver more social impact in our community.
Empowering youngsters to help encourage others not to use knives has been proven to be an effective tool in reducing knife crime and we look forward to working on similar important projects in the future.”

PC Russ Massie, a safer schools officer seconded to the VRU, worked with young people to produce material addressing Knife Crime and young people’s perception of violence. Speaking at the end of the session, PC Massie said:

At Thames Valley Police we are committed to doing everything we can to tackle serious violence – particularly Knife Crime – and work hard with organisations to keep people safe.
Our work with OUITC is vitally important to help young people understand why some people choose to carry weapons or become involved in violent behaviour and how we can put an end to it if we all work together.”