Fearless.org charity is offering free workshops to youth workers to help tackle youth crime such as county lines

Fearless.org the youth service of independent charity Crimestoppers, is offering a series of free virtual workshops in November to youth professionals in Swindon and Wiltshire, to help tackle crimes such as county lines.

The charity which educates young people on how to keep themselves and others safe from crime and provides an 100% anonymous way to report crime via Fearless.org also trains youth professionals, to educate and empower young people across the UK, to make informed decisions about crime.

These virtual workshops are being funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, supported by Wiltshire Police and facilitated by Fearless.org. 

Emily van der Lely, Crimestoppers Regional Manager, who is facilitating the sessions, said:

"These workshops are for all youth professionals; from school teachers to outreach workers. Each session will explain what Fearless.org is, what resources we have to support professionals and young people and what youth exploitation across both Swindon and Wiltshire looks like."

"Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, we have moved the sessions to an online platform. Each workshop will give an overview of youth crime and force statistics relevant to a particular geographical area, so course participants are encouraged to book onto a workshop target location most relevant to them. Additionally, the Fearless.org participant pack will now be made available for collection from the relevant police station."

Sonja Leith, Head of Improvement & Change at Wiltshire Police, said:

"County lines and the associated exploitation of young people is happening within our towns and across our communities, so I am really pleased that together with the Police and Crime Commissioner, and in collaboration with Fearless we are able to offer our partners and colleagues the opportunity to improve their awareness and understanding through a series of workshops.

"In our fight against county lines it's important that we recognise that it does occur locally, and the content and discussions in the workshops will reflect this. Attendees will also come away with Fearless resources to support them in raising awareness of the risks and harm of county lines when working with young people.

"We hope that by bringing partners together for this workshop, we will increase confidence in our communities to identify vulnerability, support young people to report crime and take action to disrupt the county line networks."

A place in a session can be booked here:https://fearlessagainstcrime.eventbrite.co.uk/

Youth professionals can visit the dedicated section for them on theFearless.orgwebsite, where there is a range of information and resources available to download and order.

For more information please contact the Crimestoppers Press Office by emailing[email protected]