Bid to reach out to young people

The programme, a joint venture between Larne PSNI, New Life Counselling and the Federation of Retail Licensed Trade (FRLT), is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and has been hailed as a huge success by Insp Noel Rogan.

He said: “This initiative helps show young people that police are not just an enforcement agency: we are also here to provide guidance. The programme also gets parents involved and I am very pleased with the uptake it has had.”

FRLT provided funding to New Life Counselling and the PSNI to facilitate group-based support and one-to-one counselling for young people. Parenting workshops were also set up to help parents talk to their children about issues such as underage drinking and anti-social behaviour.

Larne police have also been working closely with several other agencies to deliver a series of programmes for young people throughout the borough, including knife crime workshops and internet awareness courses.

Officers have been involved with the council and groups in Ballycarry, Islandmagee and Carnlough in running events aimed at encouraging teenagers to engage with police. The Neighbourhood Team has been working to develop relationships with young people in a number of areas in the borough, including Boyne Square, Seacourt and Glenarm.

Other activities, such as midnight football and hip hop classes, were also set up in partnership with the council’s sports development officer, to give local young people an alternative to anti-social activity on Friday evenings.

Midnight Soccer for seven-a-side teams is now being run at The Cliff on Friday evenings, between 8-11pm, for 13 to 18-year-olds. Matches cost 2 per person.