Pupils from Henbury School give their ideas on how to tackle youth crime

Pupils from Henbury School were joined by Police support officer, Nick Merrick, and leader of Emmanuel Chapel, Paul Thompson to give their views on how to tackle youth crime in the area.

The meeting was called by Prospective MP, Charlotte Leslie, and local campaigner, Chris Windows, and was designed to gain the valuable perspective of young people in Henbury.

Pupils, Joel Bowd and Amy Hiller chaired the meeting, and pupils discussed the core issues such as alcohol abuse, lack of local facilities, and challenges in getting sections of young people to engage with activities on offer.

Minutes were taken and have been shared with the police, the school and community leaders, to provide a basis for future action, and a starting point for future youth meetings.

Charlotte Leslie said,

“Many of these young people are as sick and tired as the rest of us with the ongoing antisocial behaviour problems in Henbury. What’s more, the activities of a minority give the majority of children and young people a bad name.

I thought it was important to hear , straight from this generation, about the challenges facing young people, and to gain an inside view of the pressures they are under by peer-groups, and to get their ideas as to how best to solve them.

I have been incredibly impressed by the maturity of these pupils, and by the imaginative, realistic and valuable ideas they have put forward.”

Paul Thompson, Nick Merrick, Charlotte Leslie and Chris Windows will continue to work with local young people, building on the findings of this initial youth meeting. Measures to be taken include approaching Bristol Rovers Football Club to become involved in youth work in the community, ensuring the youth club is open at weekends, and looking at introducing a boxing club to the area.

Minutes from the youth meeting are available on request.