I am extremely proud to be the recipient of another award for best campaign. I have been producing HashtagNG campaign for three years, working with the Office of the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner's Violence Reduction Unit. The campaign has won it's second award, the Lord Liuetenant Award for services to the voluntary sector.
HashtagNG is a strategic engagment campaign to raise awareness about the underlying issues around youth violence. The campaign aim is to change the narrative around the normality of violence and to encourage communities to work together to create safer environments for young people most at risk. It is a very important message and I am honoured to lead this campaign on behalf of the Notts OPCC, as part of their public health strategy.
It was very important to me to work closely with young people and allow them to lead the messaging for every part of the campaign. This has resulted in a successful strategy that has continued to yield results for three years.
The campaign has engaged over 400,000 young people and families across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire and has helped young people and parents to find confidential help and support. The campaign includes a resource website that provides accessible information and a variety of awareness videos that cover serious topics such as: Criminal exploitation, County Lines, Sexual exploitation, Girls and Gangs, Online safety and more. The digital campaign is advertised across digital and social platforms and is accompanied by offline advertising to promote the resources available. The offline campaign also increases accessibility for those who may not have internet access. This has been achieved using bus stop advertising, city centre billboards and a city centre flashmob to highlight and promote the key messages of the campaign.
In 2021 the campaign won the National Crime Beat Award from the England and Wales Police and Sherriff's Association. It is the first time Nottinhamshire has won the Award, so it is an extremely humbling achievement.
I look forward to continuing this important work and hope to explore ways this can be rolled out in other areas of the country where there is a need to empower communities, and to tackle and challenge the serious issues of youth violence.