As part of my role, initially as a Schools Officer and subsequently a Child Centred Officer, I have engaged with thousands of young people at various educational establishments, including primary and secondary schools, youth facilities and in public with young people of all ages. I found there was a gap in the material provided around the important topic of VAWG which is also a Kent Police priority. With this in mind, in November 2023, as a team, we decided to reach out to the Safeguarding officers of our local schools, to see if they agreed that there was further educational need around VAWG. The overwhelming response was ‘yes’, more was needed. We then reached out to Partner Agencies and Charities inviting them to attend a meeting with us and the Safeguarding Officers, to formulate a project to provide further education in this area for young people. This was invaluable as we were able to establish which age group would benefit best from receiving the input, and what that input could look like. This has resulted in an educational input being developed in collaboration with the Protection Against Stalking Charity and the Soroptimists.

During the last couple of weeks, Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar School invited us in to talk to there Year 12s and 13s. We had some fabulous feedback…

'Our appreciation of the insightful and impactful talk about Violence against Women.  It's a difficult issue to discuss in a boy's school but also empowering the females who have joined our 6th form.  The importance of the subject and hold individuals responsible for their actions and fostering the respect to stand up to their peers when they make inappropriate comments or gestures was passed on well to the 6th form'.

Thank you TWBGS