Bedfordshire Police relauches SNAP dance event this Thursday

Bedfordshire Police have relaunched their SNAP dance event for children aged between 12-15 years old at The Corn Exchange in Bedford this Thursday (17th October).

800 tickets are available for children at a cost of £10 each and the event will be run from 7.30pm to 11pm. The ticket price includes drinks so that children do not need to bring money with them.

A ticket purchase is an auto-entry into a raffle where children can win a variety of prizes. The top three prizes are a chance to shadow a DJ set at in2beats FM, a dance class with a member of KNE and a dance class with Dance Vibes. Many more prizes to be announced.

Ticket application and parental consent forms are available to collect from school receptions.

SNAP stands for Say No and Phone

The risks that young people are now exposed to in relation to serious youth violence is significant, therefore Bedfordshire Police and Bedford Borough Council are looking to use this event as a platform to tackle these issues with our partners.

Bedfordshire Police and the Bedford Borough Council Community Safety Team have captured evidence that young people want a safe place to enjoy themselves and this is the intention of the dance event. This SNAP Dance is aimed at educating to tackle knife crime and youth violence, we will use this as a platform to understand what young people need to divert them from crime. The event objectives are;

• To provide a safe and secure environment for Young People to enjoy themselves
• To provide education inputs in relation to Serious Youth Violence
• To provide partner agency access for advice and support in a safe and engaging environment
• To work with Educational establishments in order to facilitate the event and use it as a platform to launch enhanced working relationship with renewed focus to tackle crime and ASB.
• To build trust with young people in order to obtain information and intelligence regarding serious youth violence.

In our education room in attendance will be;

• Fearless from Crime Stoppers offering crime prevention advice
• FACES a local charity supporting children and local families
• In2Beats Radio talking to children regarding the music industry
• Dance Vibes a local street dance club
• Community Policing Team and Community Safety Team requesting ideas from children in relation to what facilities and activities should be in the community.
• Dynamic Decisions- a holistic support, intervention, awareness and prevention programme founded by Channitta Lendore whose brother Isaac was fatally stabbed in 2014
• KNE a dance group who performed on BGT will be featuring at the event