Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit

Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit

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

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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

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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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New scheme to keep young people on the right track in Manchester
An innovative scheme that uses one-to-one bespoke support to help transform the lives of vulnerable young people caught up in or at risk of crime and steer them towards the right track, is coming to Manchester. Manchester city council is teaming up with national charity SHiFT and Greater Manchester’s Violence Reduction Unit to provide intensive […]
7 March 2024
Community Spotlight: New Bury Boxing Club- providing a safe space for young people in Bolton
New Bury Boxing Club was set up in 2021 through the VRU’s community-led programme in New Bury, Bolton, as a direct response to feedback from the local community around crime and violence and lack of positive activities for young people. The club has been building up slowly since then to create a sustainable boxing club […]
6 March 2024
Youth Unleashed: Media Takeover for Safer Communities
The Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) has worked with MediaCubs since 2021, giving their young reporters the opportunity to conduct interviews and ask questions on key issues that the VRU is tackling across Greater Manchester. In February, as a special project commissioned by Young Manchester, young people from Co-op Academy Belle Vue took part in a special “takeover […]
22 February 2024

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