Police fund youth club to target crime rise

Warminster town centre has seen an increase in youth-related crime

A youth outreach programme has received £20,000 from a police and crime commissioner, following a spike in youth-related crime.

Warminster and Westbury Youth Club can now double the hours it spends with young people in the town.

Warminster town centre has seen an increase in youth-related crime over the last eight months, according to the police.

"Youth workers provide preventative measures to either help guide young people back onto the right path, or stop them from going down the wrong path in the first place," Philip Wilkinson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon said.

His officer provided the funding to increase the number of youth club sessions to four a week.

"It's important we recognise that only a small percentage of young people are involved in anti-social behaviour, but we have seen how seemingly low-level criminality can create patterns of behaviour which lead young people into trouble later on in life," Mr Wilkinson added.

"By targeting our funding to the areas where we can demonstrate it will have the most positive effect, we can work with our partners towards a common goal of creating safe spaces for young people, and making our communities a better and safer place to live for all."

The sessions are run by experienced youth workers who support and mentor youngsters, helping them to navigate challenges and develop essential life skills.

Beth Mullins, manager of Warminster and Westbury Youth Club said: “Over the last four months the detached team has built up some positive relationships with the young people.

"These relationships have allowed us to be able to defuse situations before any police involvement and it has also led to us working closely with some shops in the town where they have seen a reduction in youth anti-social behaviour with our support and intervention."