Partner organisations outline plans to tackle serious violence at Swindon Community Safety Partnership events

Members of the public got the chance to hear about how partner agencies plan to tackle serious violence and other local challenges at Swindon Community Safety Partnership’s (CSP) annual meeting last week.

Police and Crime commissioner Philip Wilkinson and representatives from his office attended the public event held at Swindon Borough Council’s STEAM Museum on Tuesday evening, as well as Swindon’s first Youth Safety Summit held earlier in the day.

Other representatives from Wiltshire Police and NHS Integrated Care Board also attended both events to outline their current priorities and plans to combat issues such as serious violence within Swindon.

The day-time summit saw more than 100 professionals learn about and reflect on the latest national guidelines, while CSP member agencies shared local organisational learnings relating to youth safety. The event focused on prevention and early intervention opportunities amongst children and young people and working together to make communities safer.

The evening public meeting was the first of a series of public engagement events that will take place over the coming months with the CSP also set to commence community roadshows to ensure residents can feed into the wider plans of the CSP and its partners.

Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said: “Events like these enable us to engage with agencies that have the same aim to reduce serious violence amongst young people, and our new Serious Violence Duty Co-ordinator acts as a vital link between these agencies to create a coherent, practical and impactful strategy which will ultimately engage and protect young people in Swindon.

“It was also great to hear invaluable insight from young people themselves, both through our Youth Commission and via feedback from youth workers.

“I look forward to continuing to work closely with the Community Safety Partnership, Swindon Borough Council and all other agencies to ensure we are providing as much support and proactive policing within communities as we possibly can to create a safer space for young people.”

Deb Smith, Assistant Chief Constable at Wiltshire Police, said:  “I am pleased that the support from the public for these important meetings is so strong.  It was good to see so many people taking an interest.

“Coming together to discuss and share real ideas about how to tackle serious violence, how to better protect our young people to prevent them getting caught up in gang violence in the first place, and equally making our neighbourhoods safer places to live and work is a major step forward.

“I look forward to more of these events – all of us working as one – Wiltshire Police, our partners and our communities.”

Councillor Jim Robbins, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “As an administration we are very keen that we properly engage with residents on the issues that matter most to them, so I was delighted we were able to hold this first annual public meeting of the Community Safety Partnership.

“It was really useful to be a part of the partner workshops in the afternoon and then share the outcomes of that work with the public to get their feedback.

“I’d like to thank everyone who spared the time to come to STEAM to hear from the panel members and for sharing their own experiences and asking questions.

“This is the first of many engagement events that will take place over the next few months and we are really keen to gather as much insight as we can from local residents and business owners about the issues facing them so we can start to reduce the incidents of serious violence we have seen in Swindon.”

Published Monday 6 November 2023