A GROUP OF Tower Hamlets young people have won a top award in recognition of their work in training their peers in how to stay safe online. The youngsters, aged between 13 and 18, belong to the Tower Hamlets of the Metropolitan Police Volunteer Police Cadets.
The scheme they have been delivering is the Breck Ambassadors, named in memory of 14 year old Breck Bednar – who was groomed online by people he met through online gaming. When Breck met up with the people he thought of as fellow gamers, he was murdered.
The cadets have worked closely with Breck’s mother to devise “Breck’s Story” – a presentation which gives fellow teens tips on how to stay safe online. So far it has been delivered to 165,000 pupils in over 100 schools across London. Former Chief Constable of South Wales Police, Barbara Wilding, described the work as “a truly inspirational project”.
Teams from across the country are nominated for the National Crimebeat Awards by their county’s High Sherriff for the good work they have done locally in tackling a topical crime prevention issue. They are then judged on criteria such as originality, impact and reach.
This year was the 20th anniversary of the National Crimebeat Awards. Finalists began the day with an open top bus tour of London and a trip on the London Eye. They went on to the awards ceremony itself, where they met HRH The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO.
The Tower Hamlets team proved to be the lucky winners. They received £1,000 to be spent on Breck Ambassador merchandise and travel costs to help them roll out the scheme across the UK. The team also won the High Sherriff Council’s special prize – which will give them a further £750 to help with the national roll-out.
Tower Hamlets Safer Schools officer, PC Steve Austin, who helped devise and deliver the project, won an award for being the top borough organiser of Volunteer Police Cadets last week. He said, “What happened to Breck was an absolute tragedy and we want to ensure it doesn’t happen again by giving young people the knowledge to understand the risks involved in meeting people online.
“Young people need to be aware of how to operate safely online; not only because their age poses possible vulnerabilities, but also due to the amount of time they spend online. This is why this presentation is so important and has had such an impact.”
•For more information about the Volunteer Police Cadets, go to: https://vpc.police.uk/
•Read more about it: Tower Hamlets has best Police Cadet organiser Con-woman avoids jail after £10k take from trusting man
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