The Youth Commission enables young people to become a part of the solution, rather than being seen as part of the problem.

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The Youth Commission is a project to allow Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to work in partnership with young people to tackle urgent priorities such as reducing re-offending, hate crime, drug and alcohol abuse, trust in the police force, and anti-social behaviour.

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The Youth Commission is currently being run by PCCs in Hampshire & Isle of Wight, Sussex, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Cheshire, North Yorkshire and Staffordshire. The project is the result of a collaboration between social enterprise Leaders Unlocked and these PCCs.

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In each area, Leaders Unlocked recruits a representative group of young people to join the Youth Commission and act as partners to their PCCs. The Youth Commission group in each area is carrying out a ‘Big Conversation’ to reach a much larger number of young people to get their views on urgent priorities.

In 2002 the Black Police Association (BPA) established The Black Police Association Charitable Trust (BPACT), for education and development in London 

VOYAGE is the delivery brand of BPACT.

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BPACT

The Black Police Association Charitable Trust (BPACT) was established in 2002 as the education, development and delivery arm of the Metropolitan Black Police Association (MetBPA). BPACT was formed as a separately constituted registered charity so that the lobbying, recruitment and equalities work of parent body the Black Police Association did not conflict or distract from the core mission of the MetBPA. BPACT runs workshops, training events and projects under the VOYAGE brand: Voice Of Youth And Genuine Empowerment.

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VOYAGE was developed as a result of the Mayor’s Time for Action strategy. Time for Action was launched amidst heightened concern for youth violence, with youth murders increasing 53% between 2006 and 2007 and further escalating in 2008. A disproportionate number of young black men are both perpetrators and victims of serious youth crime: in 2007/2008 77% of young murder victims (10-19) were black.

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VOYAGE aims to tackle the root causes of youth crime, by building leadership skills and changing attitudes. The VOYAGE programme attracted £1.6m funding for 2011-2014 from the Mayor for London’s office.

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VOYAGE

VOYAGE is the trading name of the BPA charitable Trust and was established as a community brand given perceived difficulties accessing black communities with associations with the Metropolitan Police Service.  This gave birth to VOYAGE and it has been hugely successful accessing communities, schools, Young Offending Services (YOS),  Young Offenders institutes (YOIs).

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Over the years VOYAGE has secured funding from the Single Regeneration Budget, the Metropolitan Police, Department of Education, and more recently it has been funded by the Mayors Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC).