Council backs charity’s anti-bullying campaign

Derby City Council has given its support to an anti-bullying campaign launched by Children First Derby.

The charity’s mentoring service has launched the campaign after seeing an increasing number of children and young people in need of its support.

The service offers one-to-one support and group mentoring to children in the city.

The idea came from the charity’s Youth Forum, which aims to empower young people to speak out, share their experiences and encourage people to work together to take a stand against bullying all year round.

The forum is made up of former and current young people that have been referred to the charity, some of whom have experienced bullying and now want to raise awareness and bring about change.

As well as Derby City Council, the anti-bullying project includes partnerships with Artcore, Allegiance Jiu Jitsu, local schools, mental health professionals, the police, and the Anti-Bullying Alliance.

Statistics for England and Wales show an estimated 1,544,000 children aged 10 to 15 years (34.9%) experienced an in-person bullying behaviour and 847,000 (19.1%) experienced an online bullying behaviour, in the year ending March 2023.

Bullying has a significant impact on a child’s life which can have long-term effects, with people who were bullied more likely to experience mental health issues as an adult, earn less money, not be in employment, education or training into adulthood, be obese or not be in a stable relationship

Councillor Paul Hezelgrave, the city council’s cabinet member for children, young people and skills, said: “We’re proud to support Children First and the fantastic work they do to support children and young people in Derby.

“Bullying can have a devastating impact on a child’s mental and emotional well-being.

“We all have a role to play in stopping bullying. Let’s work together to educate, support, and empower our young people.”

Kerreene Davidson, mentoring service manager at Children First Derby, said: “We believe everyone has the right to feel safe and respected and no-one should have to face bullying alone.

“This campaign is not just about prevention; it’s about creating lasting change to ensure all children and young people feel safe and confident to engage in education and protect their mental health from being negatively impacted.”