This CVSA (Croydon Voluntary Sector Alliance) meeting will focus on the number 1 priority for the CSP: Young People – and on how Croydon’s voluntary sector can play a key role

The Mayor of London is backing a “partnership with the police, health, local government, community groups, youth services, London Councils and other specialists, to deliver a long-term public health approach to addressing the causes of violence” – and our own MP, Sarah Jones, has taken a lead Parliamentary role by calling for a 10-year strategy to tackle knife-crime.

Sarah will kick off the discussion on 6 December, followed by Craig Knight, Croydon’s Chief Inspector for Neighbourhoods and Partnerships, who is an innovator himself in supporting “young people as solutions to safer, more confident communities”.

Andrew Brown will take us through the Croydon BME Forum’s fantastic work with young people over the past year and

Barnabas Shelbourne, Chief Executive of Legacy, the new Croydon Youth Zone project will also speak.

Most importantly, we want to hear from you.

The London Mayor has joined others in endorsing a “public health approach to tackling serious violence”, acknowledging that “community organisations, that really understand their local communities, are critical partners in the success of this new approach” – so let’s use the meeting to register how much Croydon’s VCS is doing to deliver early interventions and tackle the causes of violent crime.

CVSA meetings articulate the voice of Croydon’s VCS on all the big issues and we want to consult you at the meeting in December on what issues to include in the 2019 programme.

Some of the headline issues we have in mind for next year are prevention; working in the localities; social prescribing; local commissioning; and partnership bidding – but before we set the programme up we’ll make some time on 6.12 for a quickfire discussion on what you see as the key agenda items for Croydon’s VCS in 2019.

Book here