The first-ever youth community tournament pop-up, held at Kensington Mall as part of Crime Awareness Month, has been hailed as a resounding success.
Organised by the Criminal Justice Research Planning Unit (CJRPU) in collaboration with the National Peace Programme (NPP), the event brought together young people to showcase their talents and participate in fun, positive activities.
“November is commemorated as Crime Awareness Month [and as] part of the activities, we have partnered with the National Peace Programme to engage the young people in positive activities,” explained Cheryl Willoughby, Director of the CJRPU.
She told Barbados TODAY the event was carefully planned based on input from the young people themselves. “All the activities we would have done our research and our young people would have indicated that these are the type of activities that they want to get engaged with. So we gave them an opportunity to showcase their talents as well as to be among each other in a positive light.”
The director also called for greater collaboration in supporting youth-focused initiatives. “Because crime prevention as well as engaging young people should be a national focus and not merely a department issue.”
The Ministry of the Attorney General played a vital role in the event’s success, with Permanent Secretary Jenifer King underscoring the importance of events of this nature. “This is always a very critical activity. Once we find stuff for young people to do that is positive, and as Cheryl pointed out, it is stuff that they chose. So once it is something that they are interested in and we can bring it to them, that is always very important,” King said.
The event’s success has paved the way for future editions, with organisers already planning to expand its reach. “Crime Awareness Month is commemorated yearly, and we recognise that this is something that young people want, and so we are going to facilitate it next year,” Willoughby confirmed.
“Not only that, we want to take a similar concept into the community so that not only the city benefits, but really we are spreading our wings throughout all the parishes so that our young people can really become involved in the positive activities showcased here today.”
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