Community Oversight Group

A core principle of the Violence Reduction Network is to work with and for communities, including young people as we know collaboration and drawing on community insights and expertise will enhance our understanding of violence and its causes whilst improving the effectiveness of local responses.

To support this, we have developed a Community Oversight Group (COG) consisting of eight members from our local communities who have an established interest and experience within the violence prevention arena, particularly in relation to keeping young people safe. The membership of the COG changes every 12-18 months. We are currently running our second Community Oversight Group.

The COG directly influences, shape, and scrutinise the VRN’s interventions and projects through regular interactive meetings. It plays a vital role in overseeing the delivery of the VRN’s wider community involvement work with a view to ensuring it continuously develops in line with our community involvement framework. Members of the COG claim renumeration to attend regular meetings led by a member of the Senior Leadership Team within the VRN and the Community and Young Person Involvement Manager.

The first Community Oversight Group ran from April 2023-March 2024 and completed the following:

Supported the on-going development of the Phoenix Programme in relation to design and delivery, with a focus on the engagement between police and participants.
Scrutinised the performance of the Phoenix Programme including examining its reach and any issues or risks.
Co-produced the definition of ‘communities’, the ‘guiding principles and the ‘approach’ within the Community Partnership Framework.
Co-produced activities within the Community Partnership Delivery Plan 2024.

Community Oversight Group Members 2023-24

Shared insights on ways to improve data sharing amongst communities which has been incorporated within the Preventing Serious Violence Strategy.
Provided feedback on the Trauma Informed Self-Assessment Framework, leading to the decision being reached for a community version.
Co-produced a Guide for Person Centred Communities.
Shared insights around the Sports and Violence Reduction dashboard hosted by StreetGames.
Shared insights around developing the reach of the Community Safety Survey across communities most affected by violence.