Sheffield youth charity In2Change awarded £20,000 for domestic abuse prevention programme

In2Change, based in Neepsend, Sheffield, has received a total of £19,817 from the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit in the most recent round of funding, which will assist it in addressing this critical issue affecting youngsters.

The funding will provide engagement opportunities to address a change in the attitudes of young people across South Yorkshire who are displaying aggressive and negative behaviour and who are experiencing domestic abuse.

This means that they will be able to provide one-on-one sessions using a trauma-informed approach to raise awareness of the various types of domestic abuse and educate young people about them, as well as encourage safe, nurturing, and stable relationships between young people and their friends and family members.

Alan Billings, the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, who visited In2Change recently, said: "We realise more and more that if we are to reduce domestic abuse and its impact on families, we need to challenge and change male attitudes and male behaviour."

“I believe the activities In2Change run will help us to do some of that. I was particularly encouraged by the commitment of the staff to make a difference based on their mix of academic research and personal experience."

Graham Jones, head of the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit, said: "Ending domestic abuse is one of the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit’s priorities.

"It is therefore always good to see how the Violence Reduction Fund is helping to prevent harm to others in this way.

"It was a pleasure to meet the staff and volunteers at In2Change and to hear how passionate they are about engaging with young people.

"They not only encourage them to understand domestic violence, but also coercive control. This is one more step towards ending violence in the home."Brian Wreakes, Centre Manager for In2Change said: "Raising awareness of the impact of crime and victims through our purposely designed centre and experienced team, means we can make a change for the better."

What is In2Change?

Founded by Brian Wreakes, In2Change is based in historic Rutland Hall on Hicks Street, Neepsend.

The charity runs programmes for children aged 10 to 16 who are at ‘high risk of criminality’. They are sent by schools, pupil referral units and youth offending teams, who pay for the service.

It has 10 staff, including experts in psychology and criminology, who devise courses that aim to connect with the children

Central to that are the ex-offenders with ‘lived experience’ who talk about how awful prison really is.

Their building has recently been refurbished by community payback to include a recording studio, fitness, gym, health and beauty salon and a full drama set that includes a kitchen scene, street and park set-up for real life scenarios to be played out.

The centre has a mock courtroom, prison cell, ‘High Street’ with cash machine, lounge, ‘park’, hospital room, and, soon, a police station and pub. It’s just about everything you need to act out a scene that involves a crime relevant to children, from domestic abuse to street robbery to drink driving.

For further information on In2Change, you can visit their website here – https://www.in2change.org.