CR News and Case Studies

Say Yes Challenge

18 Jan 2008

TEXT TO REPORT ATTACKS ON BUS

Bus passengers should be able to text a number on their mobile phone to alert police to any trouble on a London Transport bus. Now that the location of many buses is controlled electronically, police would be able to track the troubled bus and intervene swiftly.

This is one of the winning ideas from a group of secondary school children taking part in London's first Say Yes Challenge to come up with ideas to stop crime and anti-social behaviour in Haringey, North London.

The Challenge is being supported by Safer Haringey, Crime Concern and the Prudential 4 Youth Team with support from the police and local businesses. At the finals' evening on Tuesday, seven groups of young people from St Thomas More School in Wood Green held a showcase of their ideas.

Each group, all supported by business or community mentors, gave a presentation and broadcast a professionally made advert outlining their plans. Two groups were judged joint winners of the Best Overall Idea which came with a £500 cash award.

One of them, AGP (which stands for Achieving Greater Possibilities), came up with the ingenious method for reporting crime on London's buses. It requires a text number to be publicised on buses to be used if anyone saw a problem. In order to accurately identify the bus each will have a distinguishing letter to identify it. Say, the 29 route would have buses tagged 29a, 29b and so on. If someone witnesses an incident on the bus they can text the number, for example 888 and the bus number 29a, to get assistance from the police.

The text number and the bus's distinguishing letter will be clearly signposted around the bus. In many cases the location of the bus can be detected and any police in the vicinity could be alerted. The sending of a text message would be a subtle option, rather than calling the police. It would also provide cover for the caller as they would not need to talk out loud.

The other joint winner was a group called, Carpe Diem--or Seize the Day. They have set up a MySpace webpage with links regarding young people. The group hopes to expand this webpage to incorporate a youth-led chat show and forum for young people to express their ideas and the positive things they do for the community. The website hoped to also provide a forum for young people who may be at risk of gun and knife crime.

Cllr Nilgun Canver, Haringey's cabinet member for enforcement and safer communities, said: "These are fantastic ideas and it was really difficult to identify a winner when they were all so good. In the end we had to offer a joint award. It would be fantastic if we can actually help make these ideas a reality and we are thrilled to hear that London Transport is interested in talking to the group about their idea for London Buses."

Norman Lloyd, National Programme Manager for Crime Concern said:

"The young people touched on a range of important issues including gun and knife crime, demonstrating a real sense of passion and commitment when presenting their ideas. The Say Yes Challenge was a real success and this can be attributed to the young people themselves who really worked hard throughout the project."

Paul Cornes, Head of Sustainability, PRUPIM, said:
"The quality of the presentations and ideas from all of the young people was quite amazing. There is a lot of negative comment about young people today but what we saw was a group of young people who care about the community that they live in and society as a whole."

A merit award for best overall idea also went to a group who suggested that young people could get free credit top-ups for their mobile phones each time they picked up litter and put it in a waste bin. They believed the technology was available for a swipe card system to be attached to the bin to make this practical and feasible and they would be called Electronic Top-Up Bins (ETB's).

The council and police will work with partners in the Safer Communities Partnership to see which of these ideas can become a reality.

A list of all the groups' ideas and the other winners are listed in notes.

For more information about the Say Yes Challenge please contact: Lisa Huggins, Prudential 4 Youth Adviser, PRUPIM

T +44 (0) 20 7548 6544
M 07881 805044

End

Notes for editors

Say Yes Challenge--all the winners

Best Overall Idea (two joint winners)

AGP
A text number to be featured on buses to help alleviate crime. Each bus will have a distinguishing letter to identify it. If someone witnesses an incident on the bus they can text a number, for example 888, to get assistance from the police. The text number and the buses distinguishing letter will be clearly signposted. The sending of a text message would be a subtle option, rather than calling the police.

Carpe Diem
Initially a MySpace webpage with links regarding young people. The group hope to expand this webpage to incorporate a youth-led chat show and forum for young people to express their ideas and the positive things they do for the community. The website hoped to also provide a forum for young people who may be at risk of gun and knife crime.

Merit award for Best Overall Idea -

YPS
An Electronic Top-Up Bin (ETB). When people throw rubbish in a special ETB, they can gain credit for their mobile phone. This rewards them for being environmentally responsible.

Best Written Report -

Evolution
This group's idea involved a website which would provide the young people of Haringey with links to education, skills and relevant information. The website incorporated an impressive animation which demonstrated the two paths a person could go down, the negative and the positive, suggesting that the website could lead to a positive path. Their report was well written and detailed.

Best Demonstration of Teamwork -

Crime Cutters
This groups idea involved a 'Survival' youth mentoring scheme where young people could mentor other young people who may be at risk of offending. They hoped to do this through a variety of mediums including workshops, one to one counselling and group events. This group was one of the largest in the competition and worked very well together demonstrating a good sense of teamwork.

Merit award for Teamwork -

IBS
This group decided to create youth workshops. They would use these workshops so that young people could demonstrate the positive things they could do for their community, rather than the negative youth stereotype that is often held by some adults. This group also showed a real sense of teamwork by dividing up responsibilities.

Best Presentation -

YPS
This group presented their idea of an Electronic Top-Up Bin with such imagination. They used humour, music and an excellent sense of confidence to convey their idea.

Merit award for Presentation -

Reach
This group's idea incorporated an 'I See You' poster to demonstrate awareness of CCTV and to make people understand that their negative actions can be seen. These posters would be put up around the borough in an attempt to reduce gun and knife crime. Their presentation was succinct and their accompanying advertisement was brilliant.

Evolution
This group spoke in a confident manner, with a real business attitude. Their animation which was incorporated into the presentation was excellent.

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