Nathaniel Peat, a renowned community activist and founder of The Safety Box CIC, recently had the honor of chairing a panel at the UK Home Office’s “Building Safer Communities Together” event.
The panel, which was part of the event’s efforts to share best practices on meaningful community engagement with grassroots organizations, was organized by the London’s Violence Reduction Unit and included representatives from Violence Reduction Units from around the country.
During the panel discussion, Peat and his fellow panelists explored the importance of communities leading and influencing change through the #MyEnds project.
They answered important questions on why Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and grassroots organizations are pivotal and very important within a partnership approach to reducing violence.
They highlighted powerful examples of why grassroots organizations on the front line are essential to the public sector in engaging those most vulnerable to violence and exploitation.
These organizations have the flexibility of 24-hour access, lived experience, and the ability to build trust with beneficiaries.
Peat and the panelists also spoke about the fact that grassroots organizations often do not receive sustainable large funds like other big charities in the sector but often achieve higher levels of impact.
The panelists, all singing from the same hymn sheet, said that Commissioners need to make adjustments to look at how to build a framework of evaluation into their funding models.
The London VRU stressed that they also recognized the need to provide capacity growth strategies to help grassroots organizations scale up and expand.
It was a great session, and Peat thoroughly enjoyed chairing it.
He hopes that other Violence Reduction Units around the country will follow the same strategy as London’s VRU in building safer communities together.
The “Building Safer Communities Together” event included powerful panel discussions, workshops, and reflections on solutions, tools, and principles for effective engagement.
The Panel which was comprised of :
Nathaniel Peat (The Safety Box CIC ) CEO – Youth Violence Reduction Specialist Chair
LVRU Parent / Carer Champion – Bridging The Gap – Tsion Martins
LVRU Youth Practitioners Action Board – Chelsie Sparks,
Active Communities Network, Shinead Philpott
London Violence Reduction Speakers included:
Arnold Yousaf
Community Engagement Lead (MyEnds) | London’s Violence Reduction Unit
Darwin Bernado
Senior Manager for Youth and Community at MOPAC and London VRU
Karina Wane-Henry
Director of Strategy and operations at London Violence Reduction Unit
Debdatta Dobe
Senior Manager London Violence Reduction Unit (MyEnds)
All of the organisations have been funded by the Mayor of London Violence Reduction Unit who made it culturally diverse and equitable for all grassroots organisations.
Overall, the event was a great opportunity to bring together representatives from different grassroots organizations and Violence Reduction Units to share best practices and insights for reducing violence and making communities safer.
