New boss for South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit

Graham Jones has been appointed as the head of the unit as previous post holder, Rachel Staniforth, returns to her Public Health training programme role after a career break with the violence reduction unit.

Ms Staniforth ran the unit in its foundation stage after it was awarded £1.6 million by the Home Office for its first two years.

The unit is made up of a number of organisations, including South Yorkshire Police and the NHS, who work together to look at the root causes of violence and ways of reducing it.

Successor Mr Jones was previously the head of the National Probation Service in Barnsley and Sheffield.

With over 14 years’ experience as a senior manager in the Probation Service, he commissioned treatment and preventative services for violent offenders.

He was already a member of the Violence Reduction Unit board.

Speaking of his appointment, Mr Jones said: “I am delighted to take on the role of Head of the Violence Reduction Unit. Finding common purpose with partners is crucial to the achievement of shared ambitions and I look forward to building the collaborative relationships that will help reduce violence across South Yorkshire.”

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner and chairman of the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Executive Board, said: “Graham is the right person to lead the Violence Reduction Unit at this moment.

“The South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit is a wide partnership of many organisations and Graham comes from one of them, the Probation Service. He comes with a wealth of experience which he will draw upon as he takes the Violence Reduction Unit forward to keep people away from violence and to turn lives around.

“He will be building on very strong foundations in a unit that is seen nationally as one of the most effective in the country.

“I also thank Rachel Staniforth, who is leaving us to return to her career in Public Health. Her dynamic leadership brought the partners together two years ago and she leaves a strong partnership that is determined to make a real difference, reducing violence in each district.”