UCEN Manchester consult on Greater Manchester’s strategic plan to prevent hate crime
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) visited UCEN Manchester to deliver an interactive lecture and hear our students’ thoughts on preventing hate crimes in our communities.
UCEN Manchester’s Criminology students recently had a unique opportunity to input into policymaking by providing feedback on Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s hate crime prevention strategy.
The students participated in a workshop run by Dave Byrne and Dom Coleman from the GMCA, offering students not only the chance to shape local crime prevention policy but also the opportunity to practically apply what they have been learning on their course in a professional setting.
Dave and Dom said their visit “was a fantastic opportunity to speak directly to students and hear their powerful stories, insights, feedback and first-hand experiences of hate crime.
“The ideas and suggestions shared will feed directly into the planning for the GMCA’s Tackle Hate Crime action plan refresh.”
Dave and Dom gave an overview of hate crime in Greater Manchester, discussed the challenges faced by the organisation and the wider community, outlining the GMCA’s strategic plan to address hate crimes.
Our students were then the first group to be consulted on the GMCA’s new Tackle Hate Crime action plan, sharing suggestions and feedback about the organisation’s plan to:
- increase hate crime awareness
- improve victim experience
- improve reporting mechanisms and
- prevent hate crimes.
Angela Tobin, Programme Leader for Criminology and Criminal Justice, said, “The consultation exercise gave students the chance to share their views, thoughts and experiences to help shape Greater Manchester’s response to hate crime. Opportunities such as these provide the perfect opportunity for students to see how theory is applied in practice.
“It was fantastic to hear the students provide practical ideas to raise awareness by engaging young people through schools and community programmes. They also discussed crafting memorable and digestible slogans and advertisements to raise awareness in other age groups.
“Reporting mechanisms were also a popular topic during the workshop, with students brainstorming ways the GMCA can encourage victims to report hate crimes by showing the outcome and process of making a report.”
Find out more information about the Criminology courses available at UCEN Manchester and apply now.
