Agenda item

(Director of Communities) to consider the attached report.

The Assistant Community Health and Wellbeing Manager, James Warwick, introduced the report on the Reality Roadshow initiative.

Building on the long-standing success of Crucial Crew, the Reality Roadshow initiative was a personal safety and health & well-being event that brought together a host of statutory and voluntary agencies, to deliver a day of educational workshops to Year 9 (14 year old) pupils at school in the district. It was specifically tailored to address young people’s issues that have been identified as a priority concern locally. It provides over 1100 pupils in the district with expert advice and guidance on making the right choices in life for good health and well being.

The day starts with an interactive drama production delivered by the Arc Theatre Company which tackles the high level priority of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and the law around producing and distributing indecent images of people under the age of consent. This bespoke production had been developed specifically for Epping Forest Reality Roadshow in line with emerging concerns and trends reported by schools in the area. The production explored issues relating to teenage relationships and online safety.  Pupils then rotate through five, classroom based workshops which were approximately 40 minutes in duration.  The event culminates in a presentation to the whole school, by an ex-offender with real life experiences of the issues explored during the day.

Pupils participated in either 5 or 6 workshops depending on individual school timetables and each session was specifically designed to address current issues facing local young people. The workshops delivered in 2015/16 were:

• The Consequences of Crime – delivered by Essex Magistrates
• Online Internet Safety – EFDC’s Community Health and Well-being Team
• Sexual Health - NHS Sexual Health Services
• Legal Highs and Substance Misuse - Alcohol & Drugs Advisory Service (ADAS)
• Alcohol Awareness - AlcoHELP
• Healthy Relationships and Domestic Abuse - Safer Places

The impact of the Reality Roadshow programme on participants was generally very significant, as the messages given are very clear and designed to show the worse case scenarios of being involved in negative behaviours. The programme also promoted the opportunity for young people to make changes in their lives and to receive support and advice from the various agencies available locally.

• Pupils were equipped with current and appropriate information and able to make informed choices;
• Pupils had the opportunity to hear and learn from the real life stories of recovering addicts and ex-offenders;
• Pupils were able to ask for help and support about issues they may encounter;
• Pupils were signposted to agencies that could offer further support, and how to access this;
• The web links provided were uploaded onto the pupil pages of the school’s website, thereby enabling anonymous access to information covering the support services available.

In addition to benefiting the pupils directly, Reality Roadshow also indirectly benefited parents and carers, through empowering the young people to be able to make the right choices in life regarding relationships, alcohol, substances and so on; their home life was therefore likely to improve, as well as their educational attainment and life chances.

Councillor Sartin asked if this initiative was for independent schools. She was told that it was not at present, but the hoped to include them in the future.

Councillor Patel voiced his frustration that it was only offered to one age group; it should be offered to different age groups and targeted to that age group. Councillor Sartin said that the younger children had the Crucial Crew day, which was the first stage for year 6 pupils.

Councillor Mead asked if parents were involved in the roadshow and was told that they were not.

Councillor Surtees said that it was a shame they could not start this at a younger age as they would be susceptible to changing their mind-set. Mr Warwick said that they had looked into this but it was a matter of fitting it into the school timetables.

Councillor Bassett said that as it was not open to parents could a note be given to the children to give to their parents informing them as to where they could go to get help if needed. Mr Warwick replied that they signposted them to the various agencies, but could go further and give each child some information for their parents. Councillor Surtees added that parents also needed to know what information was being given to their children as it would be helpful to them.

The Chairman thanked Mr Warwick for his interesting report on the success of the roadshow.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee noted the success of the Reality Roadshow initiative and the positive impact it had upon young people in the Epping Forest District.