Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit

On the 1st December, 21 young people from Oldham College graduated from Street Doctor’s StepWise programme – a six-week youth engagement and education programme that enables young people affected by violence to learn, share, and teach emergency lifesaving skills and find out more about healthcare careers from inspiring role models.

The programme at Oldham College was funded by Greater Manchester Police ARIS funding (money and property seized from criminals) as part of a programme of work in collaboration with the VRU, aimed at educating young people about how to keep themselves and others safe. It was run with StreetDoctors healthcare volunteers from the Manchester team, and with paramedics from North West Ambulance Service.

The StepWise Programme enables young people to:

The programme was a huge success, with 100% retention and completion rate, and nine students progressing to the peer delivery training programme where they will train other young people in lifesaving skills.

Many of the young people reported that the programme had helped them to focus on a future career, with four deciding to pursue a career as a paramedic and many more planning to work in health services. As a direct result of the programme, one student has secured work experience with the mountain rescue team, prior to starting paramedic training.

One student said: “Before the course if I had seen a fight I would of ran away and then called emergency services, but now I know how to calm a situation and how to approach a victim without putting myself in danger.”

The nine students that will complete the peer delivery training programme will work in small groups to deliver the programme to 40-60 other students in the college by the end of the year.

StreetDoctors is a national charity that puts young people at the centre of emergency first-aid provision and empowers them to become part of the solution to violence.


Article posted on: 06/12/2021 09:12am

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