We support and lead projects that help and educate children at risk of serious violence.
Select a project below to find out more about our intervention work.
Ongoing projects and interventions
The Stand Against Violence project aims to tackle county lines drug trafficking and grooming, addressing the consequences of both.
The interactive workshop uses art, roleplay, props and questioning to show children how easy it is to be manipulated and coerced into involvement in illegal activities. This allows children to spot vital signs of wrongdoing.
The project helps children to recognise some of the potential threats they might face and creates resilience to help them stand against these threats.
Suitable for years 5 and 6, the workshop is delivered by specialist teachers who use creative therapies such as art, drama and poetry to communicate the message.
Key lessons taught by the workshop are:
- The importance of making the right choice
- Signs and signals of negative behaviours
- The surreptitious nature of grooming
- The importance of staying strong and seeking help
Detached Youth Work is a partnership between Youth Connect South West and Project 28.
The collaborative partnership delivers detached sessions across Bath and North East Somerset that identify areas where children are at risk of serious youth violence.
We run a lived experience Peer Mentoring Scheme in partnership with community-based provider, Southside.
The Peer Mentoring Scheme aims to support and positively influence the behaviour of children who have been exploited, involved in serious violence or who are at risk of involvement in serious violence.
The project also aims to provide positive experiences for young people who act as peer mentors, enabling them to feel empowered by supporting others within our local communities.
CRUSH is a structured programme of group support for children and young people aged 13-19 who have witnessed, experienced and/or are at risk of domestic abuse. The programme is run in partnership with Julian House.
The support sessions help children to gain skills and knowledge to avoid abusive relationships, leave an abusive relationship safely and provide support to those who are exposed to domestic abuse at home.
It is suitable for boys/young men and girls/young women. The programme has been designed to complement the information that children receive on relationships in school PSHE sessions
We provide grant funding to community projects that are working towards preventing and reducing the number of children at risk of violence across the area.
You can find out more and apply for a grant by visiting our serious violence reduction grant page.
We received funding to deliver an Education Inclusion Project as part of a successful Avon and Somerset regional bid to the Home Office Youth Interventions Fund for a Teachable Moments programme.
This 6-month project supports schools across the county and aims to reduce school exclusion by addressing the root causes of incidents and behaviour that lead to exclusion from school.
Past projects and interventions
The Southside Family Project provides support for children, young people and their families to prevent them from becoming a victim or a perpetrator of violence. The project provides counselling, coaching and peer support groups.
The intervention helps children and young people to develop the skills they need to resist involvement in violence.
Youth Connect South West teamed up with a graffiti artist to deliver two graffiti sessions in Radstock and Whiteway during the February school holiday. The purpose of the Graffiti Project was to allow children to be creative and expressive through graffiti work.
The project enabled children to produce positive artwork within communities where anti-social behaviour takes place.
This intervention was delivered by Developing Health & Independence (DHI) to raise awareness and inform children and professionals about knife crime.
Workshops to raise awareness around knife crime were delivered to young people in schools, and training sessions were delivered to several professionals who work with children and families.
A poster and wallet-sized cards were developed from this project.
Street to Studio Music Project was run by Youth Connect South West. A skilled youth worker worked with children through music to look at any issues in their lives and their likely involvement in serious youth violence, leading to improved aspirations and reduction in anti-social behaviour and offending.
The aim was to give young people a safe space to express themselves and to learn a new skill.
The Talking Teens Parenting Programme aimed to improve and help maintain relationships between teenagers and their parents by encouraging parents to understand teenagers’ feelings and behaviour and encourage healthy conversations between teenagers and parents to communicate how they felt.
A board game was designed as a creative and interactive way to teach children about criminal exploitation and how the grooming process works.
The intervention offered training for the game to youth workers, which they could then use with children. The training provided further awareness around county lines drug trafficking to youth workers.
