South Gloucestershire’s new bus dedicated to reaching young people across the area has been officially launched at a colourful event in Patchway.
The youth bus will be used by various youth groups and outreach workers to attend events, clubs and locations across South Gloucestershire. It will offer young people a safe space to talk, access information and support, and play music through a built-in sound bar along with use of a TV and wi-fi. The brightly coloured bus, which has been designed in collaboration with young people and features a range of hand drawn and digitally created illustrations, is also fitted with a microwave and hot water.
The name young people chose for the bus was ‘DORIS’ which stands for Delivery Of Rural Inclusion and Support.
The vehicle has been partly funded by the South Gloucestershire Violence Reduction Partnership (which is made up of professionals from the council’s community safety team, police, public health, education and youth outreach) to identify challenging behaviours and intervene quickly to prevent serious violence. It is also supported by Public Health and Home Office funding for serious violence work distributed via the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Councillor Maggie Tyrrell, cabinet member responsible for children and young people at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “We hope this new bus will add to the positive experiences of young people in South Gloucestershire.
“We know our youth work has a really positive impact on young people’s mental health, self-confidence, feeling part of the community and for many, provides a chance to learn new skills. Feedback from young people who attend youth clubs shows they feel less alone and more involved in their community.”
Youth work and positive activities can also help young people make better choices and divert them away from anti-social behaviour or serious violence. Last year 4,344 young people benefited from some form of positive activities through youth work.
Councillor Sean Rhodes, cabinet member responsible for communities and local place at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “We recognise that whilst many young people visit a youth club, some don’t or can’t, so youth workers will also take youth work out to where the young people are. We are thrilled to officially unveil this bus, which is crucial to that work. It has already been to Yate Rocks, the Charlton Hayes festival and has proved very popular.”
The bus was launched on 11 July at Patchway Youth Centre, where new bleed kits have recently been installed. The kits contain life-saving equipment to help stop bleeding after a serious trauma and have been installed at youth centres across South Gloucestershire as part of the VRP’s work to reduce the impact of knife crime and serious violence.
For more information on the work of the Violence Reduction Partnership visit www.southglos.gov.uk/violence-reduction-partnership
