New hospital work tackles violent crime in the Midlands

New hospital work tackles violent crime in the Midlands

 

A new project helping young people admitted to two hospitals in Coventry and Wolverhampton will help address violent crime and enable perpetrators and victims to get the help they need to turn their backs on serious violence.

Thanks to a partnership with West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, St Giles now has youth workers embedded in Warwickshire and New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and University Hospital Coventry. Workers identify and support young people to turn away from the violence that led to them ending up in hospital. The project started in May and is due to run for one year.

Our small team are working alongside clinical staff to help young patients with issues such as housing and access to education, training and employment opportunities alongside any other support needs identified.

This is the second hospital-based project of this nature that St Giles offers. Since 2015, we have been working in The Royal London Hospitals’ busy Major Trauma Centre offering help to young people admitted to the ward as a result of serious violence. Evaluations have shown a significant decrease in the rate of re-admissions as a result of the intervention.

There were 346 knife incidents in Coventry in 2018 (source: BBC), most of which involved young people under the age of 18. Since May, we have helped 21 young people and also supported 15 families – often the unseen victims who face immense trauma when their young loved one is attacked. The youngest person we have helped is 13 years old.

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