Hundreds of children being used by city’s criminals
ONE HUNDRED years since the guns fell silent, a melody will play out to unite communities that lost so much but were ultimately afforded the freedom to go on.
More than 1,300 pipers around the world will play at the same time before beacons are lit and church bells ring out as a tribute to those who fell in the First World War on the centenary of Armistice Day.
Battle’s Over, described as a nation’s tribute, has been in the planning for four years and will see hundreds of locally-organised events take place on November 11.
Pageant master Bruno Peek, 67, who is co-ordinating the events, explained that they take their name from the tune traditionally played on pipes by Scottish regiments at the end of a battle, called
In local time worldwide, starting in New Zealand, pipers will play the tune at 6am, on village greens and in high streets, creating a “swathe of sound across the world”, Mr Peek said.
A lone piper will also play in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey in London.
Later, at 6.55pm, so as not to interfere with Remembrance Sunday, some 1,000 buglers will play
at individual First World War beacon sites before the beacons are lit at 7pm to signify the light that came out of the darkness of war.
More than 140 town criers will then undertake A Cry For Peace Around The World at 7.05pm, and more than 1,000 churches will ring their bells as a finale to the day.
“It’s going to pay tribute to the millions who either died or returned home dreadfully wounded during or after the war finished on November 11, 1918,” said Mr Peek, a former welder.
“I wanted to put together an international project that was led by the people of the world, not by governments or organisations but real community-based commemorations, because as we know so many soldiers that died came from local communities, small towns and parishes, not just in the UK but other countries around the world.”
Mr Peek said he had worked with town and parish councils and organisations around the world, sending emails from his home in Gorleston-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to bring his vision for a tribute to life.
“It’s been a long process, a lot of administration, but I feel so privileged to be working with so many people who want to pay tribute to those who gave so much so that we enjoy the freedom of speech and movement we have today,” he said.
Mr Peek said many of the buglers were cadets, as “we felt it really important to involve young people in these commemorations”.
The cry for peace will be led by a Chelsea Pensioner from the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
In Ypres in Belgium, where five battles were fought, four town criers will undertake the cry together in the market square in French, German, Dutch and English.
A guide of where Battle’s Over events are happening on November 11, and how to get involved, is available online at www.brunopeek.co.uk.
Mr Peek said he wanted to list all who are taking part in the guide, and the closing date to be included is October 25. MORE THAN 470 children in Bradford are somehow involved in organised crime – with many of them having been groomed into taking part in illegal activities.
On Wednesday local councillors will be given a presentation on the scale of child criminal exploitation – the term used to describe how young people are lured into a life of crime, with older criminals getting them involved in drug dealing, theft, and transporting criminal property – in Bradford.
They will hear that many of the district’s organised crime groups exploit children in this way.
Although the committee has received updates on child sexual exploitation in the district for several years, this is the first time they have looked at how local children are being coerced into criminal lifestyles.
Police believe that in the 51 identified organised crime gangs in Bradford, there are 471 children who are connected either through committing criminal acts on behalf of the gangs, or being closely related to active gang members.
Children’s charity the NSPCC says although the children are committing crimes, it should be recognised they are being exploited, and offered support to escape the lifestyle.
A partnership between Bradford Council, West Yorkshire Police and local children’s groups is currently looking at the impact of criminal grooming on children, and is working to help children who have been sucked into the criminal world.
The report says child criminal exploitation “occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18. The victim may have been criminally exploited even if the activity appears consensual”.
It added: “Child criminal exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology.”
The authority’s Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee will also be told that around 70 people are likely to be arrested in the next year in relation to historic grooming offences in the Bradford district.
Operation Dalesway was set up by West Yorkshire Police in 2014 to tackle child sexual exploitation that happened several years ago or earlier.
Since then it has arrested 109 suspected perpetrators.