A MOCK arrest, a theatre production about gangs and drugs, and interactive sessions on hate crimes were some of the highlights of the sixth Young Citizen Scheme event at Yardley Chase Training Ground.
Over 300 primary school children from across the west of Northamptonshire came together for the event organised by the Daventry District and South Northants Community Safety Partnership (CSP).
Jane Carr, South Northants Council’s (SNC) executive director of operations, said: “The GYM Theatre Group were excellent and gave an engaging performance telling the story of an impressionable young man who is groomed by a gang to traffic drugs.
“It’s easy to think such concerns are confined to big towns and cities, but the performance illustrates the incremental and almost imperceptible steps gangs use to recruit young people.”
Northants Police delivered workshops on hate crimes; reporting incidents and calling 999, and how to be streetwise and prevent crime which included a mock theft and an arrest where children were asked to provide a description of the culprit.
Northants County Council delivered a workshop about online safety, the Solve-It solvent abuse charity explored the use of drugs and peer pressure, while Northants Fire and Rescue Service led a session on hazard awareness and what to do in the event of a fire.
The Daventry District and South Northamptonshire CSP includes: SNC, Daventry District Council, Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire County Council, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue, NHS Nene Clinical Commissioning Group, BeNCH Community Rehabilitation Company, and the Office of the Police Crime Commissioner.