Wokingham

Criminal damage, peer influence and drug and alcohol misuse are difficult issues for Wokingham young people – but community wardens from Wokingham District Council are determined to make sure that young residents are well-informed about the dangers and temptations they face.

On Wednesday February 28, Wokingham council’s community wardens brought together a number of partner agencies, including the police, the council’s drug action team (DAT) and local police community support officers to give an informative workshop for year seven pupils at Ryeish Green School in Spencers Wood. At the workshop, students learned about the effects upon the community of graffiti and vandalism, the misuse of mini motorbikes and irresponsible playing of ball games, how to handle peer pressure and the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

“There are a lot of pressures on young people, but we feel that we can help them to make good choices. We want to keep them informed of the work that police, community wardens and other agencies are doing to tackle anti-social behaviour and support young people through difficult times,” said community safety operations manager Jenny Bennett.

Kirsty Gray, head of year 7 at Ryeish Green School said: “The students really enjoyed the day and learnt a lot from the workshops. Each of the four sessions was well thought out and information presented in a different way so the pupils were always engaged.”

Executive member for Wokingham community safety Barrie Patman said: “Partnership working between teams from the council and other agencies such as the police is really effective in schemes such as this. Having representatives from different partner agencies gathered together will make it a real opportunity for young people to get answers to a wide range of questions.”

Wokingham District Council