Week of Peace to boost community safety

6.30.45pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 27th Aug 2007

A week-long programme to promote community safety will be held in Richmond upon Thames as part of a London-wide initiative. It will include the launch of a new liaison group to give the borough's young people a voice on crime and safety issues.

For the second year, the borough is taking part in London Week of Peace (9-16 September) which is being managed locally by the Richmond upon Thames Community Safety Partnership to raise awareness of community safety and community cohesion issues. This year's theme is 'Reconciliation, Collaboration and Celebration.' Local events will begin with a breakfast meeting at York House on Wednesday, 12 September, where around 100 key leaders from the Council, police, religious groups and organisations in the borough will discuss community safety. The event will include the re-issue of a domestic violence leaflet for children called "Don't Be Afraid to Tell" and the release of white doves.

September 13 will see the launch of a new Young People's Police Liaison Group to give youngsters a direct voice to enable them to raise concerns and priorities with the police. The newly formed Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Forum will also issue an information leaflet to publicise its services and future meetings. Individual events by all 18 of the borough's Safer Neighbourhood Teams will aim to raise their profile and highlight ways in which the public can report and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.