Norfolk PACT’s “No Crime – Get a Life!” project will be at the Hewett School in Norwich this week to deliver workshops designed to deter youngsters from a life of crime. The visit comes after news that the project has been shortlisted for a national award. Presenting to the whole of year 8 and year 9 over two days, each year group will start the day by watching a film and then, in smaller groups, go round a carousel of workshops with the police, the prison service, magistrates, the Norfolk Youth Offending Team, the local Criminal Justice Board and Victim Support. During these workshops pupils will learn how the Criminal Justice System works, how and why they should avoid getting on the wrong side of the law, and how to reduce the chances of becoming a victim of crime. The Hewett will be the tenth school in the county to invite the No Crime team in, and they are lucky to have got into the diary. With 20 days availablethis year, interested schools need to contact us to see where they can fit into the programme. “We’d love to get to every secondary school in the county” says project coordinator Laurence Wild, “but we just don’t have the capacity to cover everyone at present. We’re doubling the number of deliveries this year as it’s been such a success, but we’ll have to see how it goes before promising any more at present.” Last year’s eleven days saw a total of 70 different presenters working with close to 1500 pupils in nine different schools. Over 70% of pupils said they found the day both fun and useful. The project has received praise across the county and Jo Swan, support officer for the local Criminal Justice Board, was so impressed that she nominated it for a national Justice Award, in the ‘Partnership of the Year’ category. The project is into the final shortlist and the winner will be announced next month. “I’m delighted we got through to the finals”, says Laurence. “Everyone has worked so hard to make this project a success and they all deserve this recognition of their efforts.”
For more information on “No Crime – Get a Life!” visit www.norfolkpact.co.uk, or if you would like to volunteer your time to support this project email Laurence at l.wild2@ntlworld.com
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