00:00So tell me about the youth programme, tell me about the idea behind what these are.
00:05So this programme originated within our violence reduction partnership in the West Midlands.
00:10We have a faith alliance and we invested £100,000 into that faith alliance
00:16and with that investment we're setting up four safe spaces
00:20and those safe spaces are really centres that young people can come to
00:24in order to ensure that we're safeguarding and promoting their welfare
00:28particularly with a view to ensuring that we're dealing with youth violence and knife crime.
00:35And that's been one of the big things recently and there have been cases of knife crime
00:39and even more noticeable cases but there's also been a drop in total.
00:43So do you think programmes like this can really help towards that drop in knife crimes?
00:46Absolutely, I mean we need that robust policing and disruption and enforcement, of course we do
00:52but we also need to invest in that prevention, early intervention, diversion
00:56and addressing the underlying cause of that youth violence and knife crime
00:59and it's exactly projects like this that can ensure that we are successfully reducing
01:06youth violence and knife crime and as you say in the West Midlands recently
01:10we have seen welcome reductions in both serious youth violence and knife crime.
01:15And what do you think of this particular safe space?
01:17Well I think it's fantastic.
01:20We've got the opportunity for young people to come and engage in boxing, music activities
01:26you can see there's a real buzz here, fantastic environment
01:32a lot of young people coming in and out of the safe space
01:37and that's exactly what it's here for, that's exactly why we're investing this £100,000.
01:42Is this part of a future tranche of investment going forward?
01:47We absolutely want to continue investing in young people
01:51because we have to make sure we safeguard and promote their welfare
01:54that's absolutely essential, we need to believe in, engage with, listen to
01:58and most importantly invest in our young people
02:01because our young people are sometimes the most vulnerable in society
02:04so within our violence reduction partnership we invest in a whole host of different activities
02:08not only this safe space, so for example we invest in education in schools
02:12we invest in youth workers in A&E departments
02:14and for example in police custody centres as well.
02:17And this is in Walsall, are there other parts of the Midlands, the black country that you're focusing on?
02:23Yeah, we have a total of four locations that we're investing the £100,000 in
02:28in order to establish the safe spaces in the West Midlands
02:31so we have Birmingham, Dudley and Walsall.
02:34And are you tempted to get your gloves on and have a go yourself?
02:37Personally, no I'm not, I was a very keen sports person
02:42but football and cricket were my sports, not boxing.
02:46So Fabio, tell me a bit about what this place means to you, tell me what you do here first of all.
02:51Well first of all I do boxing here and for me it's always like a safe space to come here to get my mind off things
02:58and when I'm stressed out I just come here, just hit the bags.
03:02And are you originally from Walsall?
03:05No, I'm originally from Aston but I moved up to Walsall.
03:12And Walsall has had a reputation in the past of being unsafe, parts of Walsall have had a reputation of being unsafe.
03:17Have you ever felt unsafe on the streets?
03:21You know what, it depends about who you know and what you get up to.
03:25Me personally, there's been some times where I've encountered some things
03:31and I did feel unsafe but it is Walsall, everywhere is like that.
03:37But this place has been designated and funded as a safe space, do you think there's a great concept to it?
03:44Yes, we have one.
03:46And what is it that makes this place so special?
03:49The community, the band that you have with all your coaches and all your friends around here.
03:57And in general, you're able to come here, you're able to be safe, be amongst your friends, be amongst your coaches
04:03and do what you like as well.
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