Tom's Trust supports

WAVE Trust (Worlwide Alternative to ViolencE) has, for twenty-five years, worked to prevent child abuse and violence, before they happen. Their work stresses the importance of prevention, and has included being policy advisors to the UK Government and the Metropolitan Police.

Today, many children across the UK get off to a difficult start. Adverse childhood experiences during the early years, such as abuse and neglect, can do lifelong harm. Interventions that aim to tackle knife crime must therefore recognise and understand the world of a young person carrying a knife in order to change their behaviour.

WAVE will work with two London schools which have issues with pupil exclusions (one of the main drivers of young offenders), gangs and/or knife crime. The work will have two main components: 1) an initial training process with all school staff, and 2) support in embedding the new practices and new culture in the school. Critically, the training and follow-up support will give the school community the ability to apply this understanding and to build up a toolkit of practical skills to respond more effectively to challenging and vulnerable behaviour.

Tom’s Trust has given the WAVE Trust funding to carry out this programme.