Empowering Young People: A Report on the Community Safety Standards Programme

The concept of community safety has evolved significantly over the last three decades, expanding from a narrow crime-prevention agenda into a broader, socially oriented framework concerned with harm reduction, wellbeing, and the governance of local spaces. This study reports on a pilot implementation of a Community Safety Standards Programme (CSSP). The study involved one hundred and seven (107) students, all boys, aged 13-14 years, attending Year 9 at a secondary school located on the south coast of England. A Likert-scale survey was employed to assess the impact of a one-day training session delivered by the Who Dares Gives charity. Emerging scholarship highlights the need for participatory, inclusive, and place-based strategies that recognise diverse experiences of safety and promote resilience across all age groups. This case study indicates that the Community Safety Standards Programme demonstrates strong potential as an effective and engaging intervention, supporting young people’s resilience, awareness, and participation in community safety conversations.

The CSSP had a substantial positive effect across all measured areas as there was a clear shift toward higher confidence after attending the programme. Across all questions, the number of students rating themselves in the highest categories (A and SA) increased substantially after training. Reduction in lower confidence ratings also shows a clear shift, categories (D and SD) were largely eliminated post-training, indicating most students gained confidence. The consistent shift from mid-range to higher-range responses across questions indicates that the intervention effectively equipped students with both knowledge and practical skills for safe and confident decision-making. With further refinement, expansion, and a mixed-method evaluation, this programme could contribute meaningfully to school-based prevention strategies, supporting broader UK policy objectives around early intervention, community cohesion, and youth empowerment. Embedding student voice, expanding reach, and monitoring long-term outcomes will be key to maximising its impact.