Over 6000 local children got the opportunity to meet their local officers as part of Cheshire Constabulary’s and Warrington Youth Zone’s VPX on tour summer sessions.
The Victoria Part Experience (VPX) has been a mainstay in Warrington since 2008 and this past few weeks marked the return of the festivities for the first time since 2019, with the team from both Warrington Youth Zone and colleagues from Warrington LPU taking the fun, games, inputs and demonstrations across the town for the first time ever and engaging with a record number of members of the local community.
Hosted by Warrington Youth Zone and Cheshire Police, along with support from Warrington Business Improvement District (BID), the road trip made stops in Bank Park, Market Gate and Town Square, Warrington Youth Zone and returned to Victoria Park for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Held on Wednesdays across August, and in the height of the summer weather and school holidays, children and adults alike were able to enjoy a variety of free activities, including sports, art activities, face-painting live music, workshops, games and more.
Under the watchful eye of long-time organiser Tony Spruce, the officers and police staff, who had volunteered their own time to support the event, engaged with thousands of young people from across the town, with demonstrations and inputs also being given by colleagues, including the officers from Roads and Crime Unit and Firearms.
And, of course, PC Panda was also on paw to help out across the four events.
PCSO Tony Spruce said: “In total we have had almost 6000 young people register with us for the event, which has gone from strength to strength since its initial inception.
“None of this could have been done without the hard work from our volunteers from across the Constabulary and our own cadets – all of whom worked their socks off across all four events.
“All in all, four fantastic days have been had, which have hopefully helped our community profile across several areas of Warrington and, most importantly, will give a lot of local kids new hobbies that will help keep them off the streets for years to come.”
Chief Inspector Rob McLoughlin added: “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from this event and it’s hard to capture in words the profound impact this has had on the community, especially amongst the young people.
“Providing diversionary tactics that keep our young people from getting involved in crime and engaging in anti-social behaviour is a key principle of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and what the team have helped deliver is more than just an event.
“It is a space that provides young people with somewhere to meet like-minded others and get involved in wider community projects and, most importantly, have fun safely.”
