Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Youngsters showing no fear when reporting crime
Fearless – the youth programme of Crimestoppers – has launched a campaign to thank Monklands youngsters for speaking up about crime during the coronavirus epidemic.
The charity has worked around-the-clock to produce a series of Scotland-wide youth resilience campaigns to keep young people and their families safe from crime throughout lockdown.
These included doorstep crime prevention, key signs to look out for child harm and neglect and, most recently, drugs.
From the very first days of lockdown restrictions being implemented in March, the charity says it has been overwhelmed by the number of youths sharing their campaign messaging, with more than 16,000 across Scotland swiping to their website fearless. org to find out more.
Anonymous reports have sky rocketed, with young people speaking up with significant information about crimes such as child harm and neglect, drugs and violence.
Lyndsay Mcdade, senior youth projects officer for Crimestoppers Scotland, said: “In what has been a really challenging time for young people, not being able to see friends and family, I’m so proud of how well they’ve responded.
“Young people living in Scotland have engaged with our campaigns and spoken up more than anywhere else in the UK and their engagement with our charity shows just how invested they’ve been in supporting their communities.
“As a charity, we have been able to continue to provide our invaluable service 24/7 during these unprecedented times and that’s been incredibly important to all of our young people.
“They know that they can trust us with information about crime 100 per cent anonymously; at fearless.org we can’t trace their IP addresses or any contact details that could identify them.
“Nobody will ever know the information came from them but they will have made a such a positive difference.”
Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie of Police Scotland added: “Fearless, and indeed Crimestoppers as a whole, is an integral partner in helping us offer a tangible and secure alternative for those who wish to remain anonymous in reporting crime and concern for others.
“We recognise how challenging recent times have been for children and young people and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the youngsters of Scotland for the crucial role they are playing in the collective effort to stay safe, protect others and save lives.”
This Friday marks the beginning of Baby Loss Awareness Week.
Among the charities working to offer emotional and psychological support to people who have experienced early birth bereavement is Coatbridge couple Julie and Bryan Morrison’s Baby Loss Retreat.
They offer a lifeline for grieving couples like Kimberley Rodger and her fiance Jason Mccutcheon, who three weeks ago held hands and scattered their baby girl’s ashes on a beach.
In the first of a two-part feature highlighting the tragedy of losing a baby and the void it leaves in families’ lives, Kimberley opens up about the agonising loss of their daughter, and how the Lanarkshirebased charity has helped them to carry the weight of emptiness in a life without baby Alex.