National Community Safety Survey

02 September 2021 at 12:02:53

Shout out to young people: Please make your views known as Fearless charity's survey asks `how safe do you really feel?'

Fearless.org - the youth service of independent charity Crimestoppers - has today launched their national community safety survey. The youth charity wants to gauge how safe young people feel so that they can amplify their voices and represent their views in order to help make Scotland safer.

Using digital animations that will appear across Snapchat and Instagram, the charity will also promote the survey through face-to-face sessions in schools, youth groups and secure facilities across Scotland.

Examples of questions:

• How safe do you feel in your community?
• If you witnessed a crime, who would you tell?
• If I was in charge of making my community safer, I would….

Lyndsay McDade, National Youth Projects Coordinator for the charity Crimestoppers, said:

"Giving young people a way to speak up and feel confident that they will be listened to, is exactly what Fearless is all about.

"Through our monthly campaigns, we equip young people with knowledge of different crimes and give them a safe place to speak up 100% anonymously at Fearless.org

"This national survey is an opportunity for young people to really get across how safe they feel, what they worry about and what crimes they feel most impacted by.

"This survey will inform our charity's future work in Scotland and will also be presented to Police Scotland, Scottish Government and other partners so that they can incorporate those youth voices into their Community Safety and Justice work.

"Our charity strongly believes that young people have a right to feel safe wherever they live and it's hugely important to acknowledge and tap into the pivotal role that they can and do play in making Scotland safer for everyone."

Jack Bell MSYP, Scottish Youth Parliament's Justice Committee Convenor, said:

"I am delighted to support this opportunity for young people to have their voices heard on the vital issues of justice, policing, the stigma around speaking up about crime and more. Responding to this survey will not only ensure your voice is heard by decision makers but will also help to maximise its impact.

"While justice can sometimes be considered as an "invisible issue" for young people, not discussed as much as mental health, education and the climate, the events of recent years have sparked passions among young people for changing the conversation around such an important topic. I would urge every young person to fill out the survey and "be fearless" about sharing it; I am confident Police Scotland and other key stakeholders will take what we say on board and to heart."

You can complete the survey - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/fearless-Scotland