Young people in Sheffield took action in August 2011 to discourage their peers from joining in the disturbances that were taking place in other cities across the country. On Tuesday 9 August, Sheffield Futures – the city's main provider of youth services and youth engagement groups – met partner organisations including Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Police to discuss a strategy for preventing riots in Sheffield.

As an organisation that puts young people at its heart, Sheffield Futures decided to involve young people in its planning, knowing that this would be vital to success. They then took the lead in establishing a panel of young people representing all existing local participation groups including Young Advisors, Sheffield Youth Council, and the UK Youth Parliament. The panel of young people was briefed on what was happening. They couldn’t understand why people would want to wreck their own environments in which they live, play and work – so they came up with a slogan ‘Steel City NOT Steal City’ to show that they were proud to be from Sheffield.

They recommended the quickest and most effective way of sending a positive message to the young people of Sheffield was through social media networks. Throughout the week that followed the panel monitored social media sites. They passed on any intelligence they gleaned to the police within minutes enabling officers to target potential ‘hotspots’ in a low key manner without antagonising situations. They used social media to inform the young people of Sheffield about what was really happening.

The panel also put together an information leaflet outlining young people’s rights and responsibilities, and the consequences of their actions in relation to the riots, which was distributed widely through all youth workers and youth centres in Sheffield. The leaflet covers Section 60's, Section 30's and Stop and Search policies, so young people are aware of the law in their day to day life. It also informed them of their rights and responsibilities and urged them to be responsible when using social networking sites. Interviews with panel members on local radio and in local newspapers made clear that young people were taking positive action against the riots.

One Sheffield Young Advisor said “Through joint working between professionals and young people we were better able to create a powerful force to counteract the riots. This relationship will continue to have a positive influence within the city both now and in the future.”

Take a look at the document created by clicking on the link!