A youth bus designed to support young people will park up in the centre of Birmingham to help bring violence down in the area.
Young people will be able to access walk in support and mentoring, and take part in activities including basketball, gaming and boxing at the van in Victoria Square.
The activity forms part of a wider national pilot programme tackling violence. It uses data to identify areas with higher levels of knife crime and provides funding to support a targeted approach to address it.
These areas are known as a ‘HEX’ due to their hexagon-like shapes and are roughly the size of 10 football pitches.
The Home Office has provided £250,000 to support this work in Birmingham city centre, which will see increased police patrols, knife arches to detect those carrying weapons, better lighting, CCTV and youth workers based on the youth bus.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, said: “Our young people are a top priority for me, and I am pleased that we are investing time, energy and resources into providing young people with the support and guidance they need.
“Birmingham city centre experiences massive daily footfall, and amongst the crowds there may be young people feeling isolated, neglected and in need of help.
“The GYM youth bus is exactly the kind of project we need to support these young people; they can simply walk up and speak to a youth worker if they need help or just have a safe space to take part in fun activities.”
The youth bus is being managed by Guiding Young Minds (GYM), a Birmingham based youth organisation.
The HEX pilot in Birmingham is being managed through the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership, Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police.
The youth bus will be at Victoria Square on the following dates:
Friday 30th Jan: 3 – 7pm (Relocated to Centenary Square)
Saturday 31st Jan: 4 – 8pm
Friday 6th Feb: 3 – 7pm
Saturday 7th Feb: 4 – 8pm
