UPDATING EARLY & EFFECTIVE RESTORATIVE COMMUNITY PROGRAMME

Following conversations with Vinnie the Campus Police Officer – a request for a programme with 6 pupils was made.  The group were involved in anti-social behaviour in the community and had been charged with numerous offences including fire setting, carrying bladed weapons and  housebreaking (mostly disused properties) The group consisted of 5 boys and 2 girls and there was 100 % attendance by the whole group apart from one girl. 

This programme was 8 sessions long and was delivered in conjunction with Castlemilk Youth Complex, Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council’s Youth Intervention team.

• Castlemilk Youth Complex delivered an input on sexual health and knife carrying input.  They also provided a member of staff for every session to support delivery of the programme.  
• The Campus Police Officer had an impromptu input on being Sikh as a result of discussing the nick name of the Officer which was aimed at his turban.  It transpired that the group knew nothing about the religion and an opportunity arose to educate them.  
• A practical input was carried out Scottish Woodlands who discussed the damage to trees from starting fires in the woods, how to safely contain a fire and how to safely put it out. 
• The group also attended Pollok Fire Station where they completed a Fire Reach course. 
• The group also benefitted from an input from a person with lived experience of the consequences of offending behaviour. who had been involved with previous programmes . 
• The programme finished with a sporting activity to bring the young people together with team working.  

This programme was an example of effective collaboration between Glasgow City Council, Education, Police Scotland and the community (via the Community Centre).

Govan Programme 2023 

The Govan programme came about from an initial conversation with the Community Police team at a networking breakfast in Govan, attended by Glasgow City Council’s Youth Justice Intervention team member. It was here that a conversation started about youth offending in the local area.

The Inspector at Govan Police Station set up a meeting to discuss youth offending in the local area and they had 10 names that they were aware were causing particular concerns, in relation to anti-social and criminal behaviour, in the area.  Our Intervention Worker (Lorraine) arranged home visits with the local Police team to each individual’s house – 9 agreed agreement to take part in the Community Restorative Programme.

In the very first session it became apparent that the group had major issues with the Police and had a real dislike for them.  The Police Officers involved showed professionalism and restraint when they were getting verbally attacked by the youths in the first few sessions. 

This became the most important issue to deal with and became the focus of the programme along with health education on the use of an extensive range of drugs that the group were consuming on a weekly basis.

This programme was delivered alongside Govan Youth Information Project who attended all sessions and provided an informative drug input, as well as the Community Police Officers.  One of the Police Officers had a background in working in Prisons and Young Offender Institutes and gave an amazing insight into life in prison. One of the young people commented and spoke about his adversity growing up around drugs and alcohol and wanting to give back in a career. He stated:

“You never think about Police Officers having a life before or wanting to help people”

This was the first moment of change for the group. This group were temperamental at times and there were a lot of moments where one would run out at something he didn’t like hearing and initially refuse to come back in. This young person attended every session. The last session was a team building exercise where staff and young people all took part together, communicating and working as a team to complete tasks. 

The final exercise was paddle boarding and it was a joy to see the group happy and smiling and playing with the Police Officers in the water – throwing each other off the board.  One young person asked – “is that the programme finished now?” to which he was told yes and he replied “aww, I actually really liked it and the cops were actually sound” – he expressed that he definitely had more respect for the Police going forward.  

Everyone in this group was moving on to a positive destination after the summer including, Enhanced Vocational Inclusion Programme (EVIP), College or returning to School.  Whilst this programme never covered the topics that others had, the focus on repairing relationships with the Police was important and a real success. The Police and Govan Youth Information Project took the group on a bike cycle out of Govan to Glasgow Green, the Police were impressed at how they followed all of the rules and everyone enjoyed it including the Officers.

Our Intervention Worker Lorraine spoke about the benefits of the programme and its place in the overall reducing offending agenda when she was invited to be a panel member at an event in the Centre for Contemporary Arts. The event was part of the consultation and engagement programme around the development of the new Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan for 2023-2028. If you didn’t get the chance to attend the of the Priority Setting Event – you can watch the recording.