Evan Jones, Director of Criminal Exploitation Development, on the new Violence Reduction Academy
St Giles has been supporting vulnerable people in hospitals since 2004 and delivering violence reduction services for children and young adults since 2015. St Giles work closely with NHS England as part of their multi-agency approach, bringing our Lived Experience perspective  to the table and supporting the development of the Academy amongst other initiatives. We see the establishment of the Academy as a great leap forward in our ability to better evaluate these vital projects and to then replicate the best practice, setting up new projects in hospitals that don’t currently have these great services.
St Giles are also very supportive of the Academy’s public health initiatives- what can we better do upstream to stop so many youngsters coming into hospitals as victims of violence? St Giles work in schools and with families, reducing poverty and isolation, preventing school exclusions and providing strong counter narratives to those saying that violence is inevitable.
We confidently expect the Academy to be key in the roll out of violence prevention services in every hospital in the UK, and will be supporting them every step of the way.
NHS London Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) has announced their new Violence Reduction Academy.
The Academy aims to share learning of health related, evidence-based violence reduction models, supporting implementation across the capital and providing opportunities for enhanced learning and development.
The Academy’s aims are to:
- review and synthesise the health-related violence reduction evidence base
- develop the workforce through learning and training opportunities
- support the embedding of best practice within local systems
- encouraging strategic collaboration across system partners
- build a social movement around the importance of health’s role in reducing violence in communities.
(Pictured left to right: Roisin Keville – St Giles MTC and ED Service Manager, Martin P Griffiths CBE DL FRCS, Laveen Smith – St Giles Vanguard Team Leader)