Crucial Crew, a series of workshops designed to deliver key personal safety messages to children, will now include a session on Hate Crime as part of a new programme starting this week.
The aim of the workshops is to support year six pupils as they make the transition to secondary school and beyond into adulthood. Crucial Crew has delivered workshops to more than 200,000 pupils since it began 26 years ago.
The new programme started in Hambleton & Richmondshire primary schools on 16 October 2018 at RAF Leeming where it was formally opened by the Station Commander – Group Captain Arthurton.
Sgt Neil Northend who oversees the programme with the Youth Officers said:
The programme is vital in encouraging good citizenship as well as protecting young people through education and awareness.
The workshops are designed to educate students in North Yorkshire to make informed decisions when faced with stressful, emotional, dangerous or ‘risky’ situations.
It encourages active participation by all students and complements the schools citizenship curriculum (PSHE)
The topics for the new programme are decided based on feedback from participants, and input from partner agencies who work with the police to identify the main issues of concern amongst young people.
The launch of the new Crucial Crew programme coincides with National Hate Crime Awareness week.
Speaking about the inclusion of Hate Crime in the new programme, Superintendent Mark Khan, Hate Crime lead for North Yorkshire Police, said:
It is fantastic to hear that so many young people will learn about Hate Crime during Crucial Crew events.
It is important for us to engage with children in relation to Hate Crime, so they can learn about prejudices at a young age and start to think about their role in combatting these prejudices.”
Hate Crime is real crime. It is not just about name calling. Hate Crime ruins lives and we all have a responsibility to tackle it.
Please report any incidents of Hate Crime to the police on 101.
Crucial Crew is run by the North Yorkshire Police Youth Team and volunteers, supported by partner agencies, such as the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service, IDAS, Healthy Child Teams, Barnardo’s, RNLI, Northern Powergrid, Northern Gas Networks and many more.
Across the new two week Crucial Crew Programme, 15 minute sessions on the following topics will be delivered;
- Anxiety and Stress – Delivered by Healthy Child Team
- Domestic Abuse – Delivered by Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS)
- Drug & Alcohol – Delivered by Community safety, Youth Justice or MOD/ NY Police
- Raising awareness around Hate Crime – Delivered by Barnardos’ Prouder community Yorkshire team.
- Fire Safety – Delivered by North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (NYFRS)
- Water Safety – Delivered by Leisure service for the county, either RNLI or Coastguard for Scarborough and York Rescue boat for York.
- Anti – Social Behaviour, Crime & Consequences – Delivered by Police, Youth Justice or Youth officers
- Road Safety (York) – delivered by City of York Road safety team or for Railway Safety – BTP or Network Rail.
Watch Manager Adele Kendall Prevention department at Service Headquarters, said:
North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service are delighted to be involved with Crucial crew because we are passionate about delivering safety messages to children and working together with other agencies.
Crucial crew is a fantastic event that many children remember into adulthood.
Jayne Ward, Road Safety Officer for City of York Council also commented on the benefits of Crucial Crew:
Nationally, we are aware that there is a spike in road casualties for children as they transition to Secondary School.
Crucial Crew gives us the opportunity to provide key relevant road safety education to this group of children, in the City.
Police Volunteer Gillian Baldwin added:
I find taking part in Crucial Crew one of the most rewarding tasks I do for NYP – it gives the children lots of information about the emergency and support services, and also gives them the opportunity to actively take part in the workshops.
The atmosphere is always buzzing with their chatter and excitement.
