News

Top award for combating anti-social behaviour

Two CIC support workers, who used a compassionate approach to combating anti-social behaviour, have scooped the top prize at the prestigious 2009 ASB ActionNet Awards.

When local children began to harass the people they support, Home manager, Lynda Whitehead and support worker, Hayley Anderson contacted the local school and proposed a programme of education and partnership working, to change the children’s behaviour.
Believing that their actions were borne out of ignorance, rather than malice, Lynda and Hayley sensitively arranged for the children responsible to meet the people they had harassed, to learn more about vulnerable people within society.
Following the meeting, the children expressed regret for their behaviour and wanted to make amends. They have become regular visitors to the service and have invited the residents to their end of term play and volunteered to help build a sensory garden for the residents to enjoy.
The judges at the national awards, which recognise work done by housing and community support providers, praised the team's method as “an excellent example of community cohesion at work..encouraging communities to value and respect each other”. At the awards the judges also noted how “refreshing” it was to see anti-social behaviour problems being solved with a “human approach”.
Winning the award ahead of an impressive shortlist of national organisations, Lynda said, “We recognised that these young children were vulnerable people too. We wanted to avoid ASBO’s or other legal remedies, because we felt that this approach could lead to a vicious cycle of bad behaviour and recrimination Instead, we built a relationship with the local school and parents, so that those responsible were educated, not just reprimanded. By doing so, we achieved a better sense of community spirit and hopefully taught the children values which will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”