A new youth programme in Stoke-on-Trent is due to start in September after Black Onyx Academy received £10,350 from the Staffordshire Commissioner’s Community Safety Fund.
The Black Onyx programme is aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour, knife crime and violence through mentoring, resilience training and positive role models. It will work with young people aged 10 to 18 who may be vulnerable to anti-social behaviour, criminal exploitation, violence or negative peer influence.
It is delivered by Black Onyx Academy in partnership with The Foundry CIC. Sessions include Operation Mindset workshops led by military veterans, R.I.S.E. sessions on resilience and belonging, and S.A.L.T. workshops covering knife crime awareness, conflict reduction and emergency life-saving skills.
Community Safety Partnerships across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent were invited to bid into a £100,000 pot. Stoke-on-Trent’s partnership also received an extra £12,000 from the commissioner for priorities identified at city-wide problem-solving meetings.
Councillor Duncan Walker, Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s cabinet member for safe and resilient communities and housing, said: “We know that early intervention can make a real difference in helping young people make positive choices and avoid becoming involved in crime or anti-social behaviour.”
Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire & Rescue and Crime Ben Adams said: “Supporting young people before problems escalate is key to building safer communities and preventing future crime.”
The commissioner’s wider Community Safety Fund also includes £10,000 for each of Staffordshire’s 10 local policing teams and £180,000 towards the Staffordshire Space programme of summer holiday activities.
