The South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) has visited the Onside Mentoring project.
Run by the Sheffield Wednesday Community Programme, in partnership with the Unity Project, Onside Mentoring is a youth mentoring service. Funded by the VRU through its Violence Reduction Fund, the project will run from July 2022-March 2023.
The initiative aims to increase young people’s knowledge of how to live a healthy lifestyle; help them to develop interpersonal and self-management skills; reduce youth re-offending rates; and promote the voice of young people.
The VRU visited to see Onside Mentoring in action at the Unity Project in Sheffield. This included a discussion of the social action project the young people will be running in the lead-up to Christmas.
Graham Jones, Head of the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit said: “At the VRU, we recognise the importance of early intervention in supporting young people to develop healthy attitudes and make positive choices in life, rather than becoming involved in violence or criminality.
“That’s why our Violence Reduction Fund focuses on supporting projects such as Onside Mentoring, which provide South Yorkshire’s young people with good role models and diversionary activities.
“This helps not just to develop their skills, but also to promote healthy lifestyles and give young people a voice and a stake in their future.”
