Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit

Addressing the underlying causes of violence and working
together with communities to prevent it.

Working to reduce violence in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) is a team of subject leads and experts from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Greater Manchester National Probation Service, Public Health, NHS, Education, Community Voluntary Sector, Victim’s Voice, Youth Justice and Local Authorities, addressing the underlying causes of violence and working together with communities to prevent it.

Under the direct governance and oversight of the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Combined Authority plays host to the VRU.

The Greater Than Violence Strategy

A group of young people standing in front of a graffiti wall

The Greater than Violence strategy commits to working together with individuals and communities to understand their strengths, challenges, and ideas to tackle violence.

Led by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, the Greater than Violence Strategy will work to improve lives by preventing violence, supporting victims, families and communities affected, and providing positive opportunities to those at risk of becoming victims, witnesses, or perpetrators, including education programmes, community sports, targeted mentoring, opportunities to develop new skills and therapeutic support.

The strategy is founded on two pillars: preventing violence from happening and responding swiftly and appropriately when it occurs.

Community-led approach

The community-led approach to violence reduction, means the VRU works closely with communities to understand the strengths, challenges, and needs of the community and determine how local investments will be made.

Several boroughs across the city-region have received funding from the VRU as part of its investment in community-led programmes, outlined in Greater Manchester’s Serious Violence Action Plan.

Public health approach

“The key objective is to ensure we take a public health approach, working collaboratively and in partnership where we come together and our policies are strongly aligned. We’ll be looking at our trends, information and evidence to find solutions collaboratively with our partners” – Helen Lowey.

Take a look at our latest initatives

Hope Hack

Young people from across Greater Manchester have shared their views, thoughts, and ideas on how to make the city region a safer and fairer place for all.

Navigator Project

The Greater Manchester Navigator Project is a youth-focused, violence reduction project based in four Greater Manchester hospitals.

The Social Switch Project

The Social Switch Project is switching the narrative on how social media’s relationship to youth violence is understood, tackled and solved.

Speaking Out Could Save a Life

Greater Manchester comes together to stop knife crime and serious violence.

Latest News
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#NOLO
Oasis UK is a community-focused charity and movement that works across education, housing, health, justice, youth and family support to build inclusive neighbourhoods and tackle social inequality, empowering people to thrive To mark 40 years of Oasis UK, their team took on a powerful challenge: a 40km relay run across Greater Manchester, connecting five of the region’s major […]
4 September 2025
Active Creative Darnhill Communities event
Earlier this month, Darnhill Library hosted an event bringing together local professionals for a day of learning, sharing, and connection. The event was led by Active Creative Darnhill Communities (ACDC), an alliance of seven organisations working collaboratively with the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to support and uplift the Darnhill community. The ACDC alliance includes Your […]
31 July 2025
Freedom Personal Safety
Freedom Personal Safety (FPS) is a small but mighty non-profit tackling violence against women and girls. With support from the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit, they’ve been delivering powerful, tailored sessions in local schools, helping young people and families build confidence, make safe choices, and navigate challenges.   Every session they deliver is tailored to the […]
30 July 2025

Take a look at our latest videos

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