Fifteen-year-old Victoria Colligan will find herself the proud owner of a new state-of-the-art mobile phone on Wednesday (November 11th)—all thanks to her filling in a survey on tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.
Victoria, a pupil at Unity City Academy in Middlesbrough, was one of well over two thousand young people who completed the survey which formed part of the specially-produced ‘youth proofed’ versions of this year’s annual policing plan. All the completed surveys went into a draw—with Victoria being the lucky winner.
The ‘youth proofing’ project is a joint initiative between Cleveland Police Authority and Just 4 Youth, a young person-led social enterprise, owned by West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust. The project has gained widespread national recognition, including praise from a Government Policing Minister at last year’s annual conference of the Association of Police Authorities.
Seventeen young people aged between 15 and 21—recruited with the help of organisations across the area and working with neighbourhood police officers and community support officers—were involved in this year’s project to produce four versions of the plan—one for each police district.
The responses to the survey contribute to shaping overall policing priorities in Cleveland and are also fed back to local policing teams.
Victoria will receive her prize from Police Authority Vice-Chair Peter Race and PC Ian Lumley, Middlesbrough School’s Police Liaison Officer.