The VRU is involved in funding and/or organising various school roadshow events across the county.
Each district has its own version tailored for the schools in that area utilising services in that area.
The roadshows are themed around Drug and Alcohol misuse, Prevent, Active Bystander and the Pledge Positive Thinking, Online Safety and the Law, Positive Relationships.
We also conduct participation surveys to capture where they feel safer and what local agencies could do to improve it.
This page showcases photos and feedback from the events across the county.
Teenagers discuss personal safety at school events around Ashford
Students at schools around Ashford have been discussing personal safety with experts from a range of backgrounds.
Officers from Kent Police’s Child Centred Policing Team and the Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit are working with charities and guest speakers including Kent County Council's Youth Hub and Prevent Team at a series of roadshows around the district.
A full morning of events was planned for each of the secondary schools visited, with discussions and activities designed to get young people thinking about keeping themselves and others safe.
We visited nine secondary schools across February and March 2024 in the Ashford district.
The full programme of sessions starts with a discussion of substance abuse with speaker Bryony Homewood, before members of KCC's Prevent Team talk about prejudice and discrimination.
The Violence Reduction Unit and officers from the Child Centre Policing Team then engage students about the issue of knife crime and the dangers of getting drawn into gangs.
Pupils are also given advice on what activities are available for them locally, information on online safety, and take part in discussions of positive motivation and positive relationships with Host Sam Griffin from Ashford Radio and speakers from Clarion.
The events are hosted by Robbie White, star of Netflix series Heartstopper.
Chief Inspector Lara Connor, Director of the Violence Reduction Unit, said: "The roadshows provide a perfect platform to get young people thinking and talking about the steps we can all take to make our communities safer – empowering them to feel confident to make positive decisions, which can lead to better outcomes for everyone".
HIGHWORTH school - Love this, can we make this a yearly event? We will take any and all PHSE you can offer our students, its been lovely working with you all thank you so much for coming. Girls loved Robbie!
WYE school - It's really important our students hear these key messages, thank you for coming, they did really well sitting for so long, thank you for making it interactive and getting them moving, some great questions were asked.