Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) is a programme that seeks to identify young people who are most likely to be affected by violence and combines communicating the consequences/realities of violence with support for developing positive routes away from it.
Through £5 million of funding from the Youth Endowment Fund / Home Office, these programmes are being tested in five police force areas across the UK for two years, (until the end of August 2025.)
Several CIRV programmes (both international and UK projects) have been independently evaluated. The various evaluations nationally point to an approximately 40% reduction in violence when comparing 6 months pre to 6 months post-intervention.
Two of the selected sites are in the West Midlands, (Coventry and Wolverhampton) which have each received a £1 million investment. The programme has been developed there by the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership along with key stakeholders, agency partners and the community.
A St Giles team works as a key partner alongside Police Navigators in these areas in a mentor capacity to encourage people aged 14+ to refer into the programme who are at risk of violence and/ or exploited into violence or county lines or gangs. By helping at a time when people are most in need (a “reachable moment”), they target their work at times when behaviour change is most likely.
St Giles have worked with over 130 people since the project went live, through intensive, tailored one-to-one support to address the complex issues being experienced by the young people supported by CIRV, and a successful community volunteer-mentor scheme. Read more about that here: https://www.stgilestrust.org.uk/volunteer-with-st-giles-wolverhampton-reduce-violence-in-the-community/
Once a client has been safeguarded away from risk and harm, the St Giles team help engage clients in positive pathways as varied and tailored as: construction skills, healthy eating classes and working with animals. With an overarching ambition to move clients towards seeking employment, volunteering and training.