Violence Reduction Coordinators support the local response to serious violence
The Violence Reduction Unit has invested in the establishment of Violence Reduction Coordinators (VRCs) in the nine local violence reduction partnership areas across the Thames Valley.
The primary role of the Violence Reduction Coordinators is to bring additional capacity within local partnerships as they work to meet the requirements of the new Serious Violence Duty and to assist coordinate activity locally.
The roles were funded by the VRU in recognition that the incoming Duty brings new requirements upon local partners. They are now mandated to collaborate across their organisational boundaries, to improve the information and data sharing procedures and to develop an informed understanding of serious violence and its causes. The Duty requires these named partners to work together to develop and publish a Local Plan which will set out how they will respond.
In the majority, the role has been filled through a post hosted within the local authority, often closely linked to the Community Safety team allowing join-up across other areas of work.
These roles provide additional resources within the local partnership, helping to join together different agencies and ultimately to support the development of the Local Plans for violence reduction.
The Coordinators are also a single point of contact, providing a go-to individual with whom to connect up work relevant to violence reduction and early intervention and prevention.
Already, some of the local areas have recognised the importance of the role and built it into their core established budgets. This will be our aim over the coming years for all areas, moving the work of the Violence Reduction Coordinators into our partnership business-as-usual approach.
The local Violence Reduction Coordinators are as follows:
| Area: | Name: | Email: |
| Bracknell Forest | Nick Young | Nick.young@bracknell-forest.gov.uk |
| Buckinghamshire | Alyssandra Ord | Alysandra.ord@buckinghamshire.gov.uk |
| Milton Keynes | Tiyapo Ndhlovu | Tiyapo.Ndhlovu@milton-keynes.gov.uk |
| Oxfordshire | Alison Brookman | Alison.Brookman@Oxfordshire.gov.uk |
| Slough | Mark Wolski | Mark.wolski@slough.gov.uk |
| Reading | Sarah Gardner | Sarah.Gardner@reading.gov.uk |
| Royal Borough Windsor & Maidenhead | Mandy Mann | Mandy.Mann@RBWM.gov.uk |
| West Berkshire | Susan Powell – interim | Susan.Powell@westberks.gov.uk |
| Wokingham | Pete Cutts | Pete.cutts@wokingham.gov.uk |