Project to protect kids from gangs

GROUND-BREAKING plans to reduce the risk of criminality and gang involvement for young people in Halton have been launched.

Thirty of the most vulnerable youths have been identified for a new project aimed at protecting young people from child criminal exploitation.

The project will be run over six weeks, by Addaction, a charity which supports young people with mental health problems, alcohol addiction and substance abuse.

It aims to prevent children from being drawn into criminal activities by older criminals and gangs and support vulnerable young people from being exploited by more sophisticated criminals.

A council report to the Safer Policy And Performance Board described the project as ‘ground-breaking’ and says it will be run with the support of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which will deliver substance awareness talks.

It has been designed to target the most vulnerable young people in Halton, including those affected by parental substance misuse, those who are missing from home and young people who have poor self esteem, economic issues with parents and suffer from substance misuse.

The team will deliver three programmes to look at risk taking behaviour, self esteem, peer pressure, substance misuse, exploitation and gangs, the law, and the future.

The project forms part of a wider Serious Organised Crime strategy by Halton Council to tackle the threat posed by serious crime and organised crime groups impacting on communities in Widnes and Runcorn.

The strategy, known as Operation Portfolio, places strong emphasis on patrnerships and a multi-agency approach.

This week, the Safer Policy and Performance Board heard a report from the council on the plan.