Listening to young voices

This week my team have been working with a cluster of schools in the Caerphilly borough, further developing our safe spaces workshops.

These involve talking to children about the areas in their community where they feel safe or unsafe and discussing the reasons for these feelings. We then talk about what they feel may be needed in their community to help them feel safer. We also discuss their perceptions and understanding of the police and, crucially, if they know what they need to do to contact the police in an emergency.

The nine sessions all went incredibly well, and we were joined by Community Support Officers from the local policing team, which helps to familiarise children with the officers they may encounter in their own communities.

The feedback and information that the children have given us will now be collated and we will provide a report to the neighbourhood policing team which will help to influence their planning. Concerns about litter, damage to play equipment and other issues will be fed back to the local authority.

This is just one of the ways that I am ensuring that children and young people are being listened to and having their voices heard.