The VRN Team
The VRN partnership has invested in a multi-disciplinary central team to drive the planning and delivery of the VRN's mission and programme of work. The role of the VRN team is to:
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Lead the development of data sharing and analysis to inform strategic planning and operations.
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Champion the VRN's vision, principles and methodology, and support partners to apply these in the development of organisations and sectors responses to serious violence.
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Lead the delivery of the Serious Violence Prevention Strategy.
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Ensure young people and communities are fully involved in all aspects of the VRN's work.
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Coordinate and promote strategic messaging and campaigns around serious violence.
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Design, test and evaluate evidence-informed strategies to prevent violence.
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Generate and cascade learning across the Network.
Meet the Team:
Grace Strong
Grace Strong
Strategic Director
Grace works on behalf of the Strategic Partnership Board and is responsible for the overall leadership and strategic development of the Network. She also leads the VRN central team.
Bethany Grewcock
Strategic Data and Insights
Manager
Beth's role is dedicated to improving our understanding of serious violence through the sharing, analysis, and use of data. She has developed the Serious Violence dashboard for internal and external use and provides data products to support intervention and performance monitoring.
David Ribbins
Lead for Children and Families
David leads the VRN's prevention work focusing on parenting and families, education. This includes developing resources and co-leading the Trauma-Informed Schools Network and Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) programme as well as playing an active role in the Families Affected by Parental Imprisonment group.
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Laura Summers
Lead for Trauma-Informed Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
Laura’s role is all about supporting the system-wide developments to become a trauma-informed area. She collaborates with the Leadership Group to develop and coordinate approaches to preventing and mitigating childhood trauma and adversity to improve outcomes for children, families and communities. Laura works jointly across both the VRN and the OPCC team.
Millie Gant
Programme Manager
Millie ensures that the VRN programme operates efficiently. Working closely with the VRN team and key stakeholders, Millie oversees the delivery of the Network's projects and monitors their implementation and progress.
Alistair Wilson
Evidence and Evaluation Lead
Alistair leads on the development of our evaluation strategy on behalf of the partnership, designing process and impact evaluations, and commissioning and managing external evaluations. They are also responsible for advising the partnership on how best to design and deploy interventions to achieve best impact.
Lisa Wilkinson
Community and Young People Involvement Officer
Lisa’s role is all about young people and communities. She is responsible for ensuring the VRN works collaboratively with communities and involves young people in all aspects of our work. Lisa is also a member of the operational group of the National Hope Collective.
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Kulsum Patel
Business Support Officer
Kulsum's role is integral to the smooth smooth running of the VRN. She works closely with the Programme Manager and our Provider Network as well as the central VRN team and wider partnership helping to co-ordinate, support and facilitate all that we do.