Tackling violence through partnership

Young people in Waltham Forest have tremendous talent and potential. It is up to all of us to make sure they grow up in supportive environments. In Waltham Forest we’re working hard to enable this by improving life chances and connecting communities. And this goes hand in hand with making our borough a safer place to live and work.
It is not easy for young people growing up nowadays. Living standards have plateaued at best, and much of the help and facilities that were once available have been cut back or dismantled. It is not the fault of young people that nearly a decade of austerity has decimated youth services, police and education budgets. It is not their fault that changes to social security and the rise of zero-hours contracts have made life harder for parents and meant more time spent away from the home.
Austerity has created the context in which violence can thrive. But understanding the context does not mean we excuse violent behaviours — violence is inexcusable and must be dealt with firmly but fairly.
To borrow from a former Prime Minister, we need to be tough on violence and tough on the causes of violence.
That is what the model behind our Violence Reduction Partnership sets out. A strategic, public health approach that is working to Curtail violence, Treat those exposed, Support the most vulnerable and Strengthen our community resilience.
It is an approach which acknowledges that tackling violence needs a long-term commitment and is not a quick win.
And it is a new way of working with our communities to find solutions; a collaborative approach that recognises that it is all of our responsibilities to support our young people to showcase their talents: the council, the police, our schools, health workers, community organisations — and our residents as parents, friends and neighbours.
We are now 12 months on from the establishment of the VRP, and I’m delighted that today we publish an Annual Report that sets out the progress we’ve made so far.
Highlights include partnership work with Police across hotspots of crime and ASB, the launch of our Safe & Together domestic abuse programme, the reduction we’ve seen in persistent absence in schools, and the LifeSkills resilience classes that have started across primary schools with excellent initial results.
The most recent statistics are promising — we’ve seen a 27% reduction in knife crime offences over the last 12 months.
But we are very far from celebrating: the borough has been touched by tragedy this year, violence is still far too high, and one incident of knife crime is an incident too many.
We are at the start of our journey, and we have a long way to go.
And we need the help of everyone in the borough to support our efforts. Whether it’s through actively reporting crime that will help the police to do their work, or through volunteering to support some of the organisations within our VRP — we will only succeed if we all pull together and collaborate.
At the launch of the VRP, Dame Louise Casey asked:
‘How can it be that a young person can get more love, respect and opportunity from gangs than they get from their communities?’
It is up to all of us to ensure that they don’t. We all have a role to play. It will take time, but with the commitment we have, we will get there.
One of the things I’m most proud of is how we’re putting the voices of young people and the partnership at the heart of what we do.
This publication on Medium is intended to do just that. You’ll hear stories from across the VRP — experiences, projects, aspirations. A reflection of the shared ambition we have to tackle violence and its causes.
Together, in partnership.
