Special Constables in Heywood step up community engagement with visits to youth clubs and groups

Heywood town centre and St Luke’s Church

Special constables from Heywood’s neighbourhood team are increasing their engagement work with young people in the community in a bid to help educate them on a variety of topics.

The engagement work will see the special officers visiting schools and groups for a range of activities, discussing the issues that matter to young people – with plenty of events planned for groups and clubs across the town in the coming months.

Two officers recently went out with the local St Luke’s scout group, taking a number of the young members out for a demonstration of a speed gun amid concerns raised about driving around the group's hut.

The youngsters were given a chance to see up-close how the speed guns work and several of the scouts were additionally allowed to have a go on the device.

Residents in Heywood have recently raised issues with speeding in the area, with this small sampler operation just one strand of the many activities and operations neighbourhood officer have been running in the community.

Sergeant Matthew Honey, from GMP’s Heywood district, said: “Our community engagement work is essential for us. We are committed to getting out in Heywood, meeting groups, and discussing with them how we can make their lives better. This mini operation helps us with that mission: by working with young people, we can help inform them of the work we do, giving them an up-close insight into our ongoing operations.”

“We will continue to work closely with Heywood residents, and throughout the coming months will be looking at much more proactive work to tackle speeding on our roads. This includes operations with our transport unit and further discussions with locals on what action they would like to see taken.

“The Scouts loved the experience and I am sure we will be able to get them out for more work in the future.”

Special Constable Dalley said: "I helped organise this event as I know the problems that groups in our communities face - in this case, with speeding.

"Hearing and addressing locals concerns is something we will continue to do, and in particular, attending as many youth clubs and groups as possible in the coming months is one of our goals. I am looking forward to our next outing."