FOUR organisations in Oldham have been awarded funding from Greater Manchester’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to help develop mentoring, youth work and sports programmes for young people at risk of or vulnerable to serious youth violence and exploitation, programmes that empower young females, and projects that engage young people and their parents.

Oldham is the fourth borough in the city-region to receive funding from the VRU as part of its investment in community-led programmes, outlined in Greater Manchester’s Serious Violence Action Plan.

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.

In Oldham, four voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations will receive grants to focus on their youth and parent offer – Fatima Women’s Association, Greenhill CSRC, Chai Ladies and Ghazali Trust, the lead organisation.

The partnership will work together to develop a new youth work offer in Glodwick that will provide positive role models for young people and raise aspirations through positive engagement.

Bev Hughes, Greater Manchester’s Deputy Mayor for policing, crime, criminal justice, and fire, said: “Working together with communities to design jointly the solutions to problems in their area, including how money is spent and when and where interventions are delivered, is the flagship of Greater Manchester’s approach to tackling serious violence.

“By taking a community-led approach we can prevent serious violence while putting families and communities at the very heart of everything we do, ensuring Greater Manchester becomes safer and stronger for everyone and improve outcomes for young people.”

Amjid Mahmood, Chairman for Ghazali Trust, said: “The community-led programme in Oldham will provide interventions and activities for young people in Glodwick that will make a real difference to their lives. Working in partnership with other local organisations will allow us to provide a variety of interventions and opportunities for young people based on their needs and preferences.”

Councillor Jean Stretton, Oldham Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “Keeping residents of all ages safe and reducing violence is a priority for the council and our partners. One of the ways we can make this happen is by providing positive interventions for our young people, which will help make our communities stronger.

“The community-led programme in Oldham is a great example of how partnership working can produce real benefits for our borough. I would like to thank all those involved.”

Action Together, an organisation that provides a range of services to support the voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise sector in Oldham, supported the Violence Reduction Unit in forming the partnership.

Robbie, Engagement & System Change Manager, Action Together said: ““There is some fantastic work going on within the Glodwick community, and it’s great to have this programme to help take it to the next step. It will be exciting to see the impact that can be achieved with the extra focus, resources, and involvement from new partners that this programme offers.”

Three partnerships/alliances made up of VCSE organisations in Bolton, Manchester and Salford have already been awarded funds as part of the community-led pilot scheme. The alliances have had a positive impact in terms of multi-agency partnership work, referrals and access to support, and improved confidence in reporting and targeted work around serious violence with young people.

Greater Manchester’s VRU has worked with 10GM – a joint venture of VCSE sector infrastructure organisations in Greater Manchester – to drive forward this programme of work.

For further information about the VRU visit: Homepage – Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (gmvru.co.uk) or follow @gm_vru on Twitter and Instagram.

Article posted on: 20/07/2022 04:07pm