A YEAR-LONG project to teach students from Bromsgrove about disability-related hate crime and boost confidence when travelling independently has been hailed a huge success.
The Travel Ambassadors project, commissioned by the borough Community Safety Partnership and run by director of future youth impact, Louise Couch, has involved around 50 students from Heart of Worcestershire College.
In a bid to highlight issues surrounding disability hate crime and boost the confidence of the students, who all have special educational needs (SEN) Louise worked with the young people to give them tips and tools to stay safe and happy when travelling independently.
Alongside the workshops, 15 students received one-to-one mentoring to address specific issues around travel.
Louise said: “We’ve been working to engage the young people in recognising hate crime and educating them in how to deal with it.
“It can just be something simple, like making sure they take a safe route when travelling on public transport, sitting closer to the driver, or even just having a text-line saved on their phone just in case they need it.
“Small changes can mean they feel safer and more confident to go out and be independent.”
It is hoped that some of the students involved in the scheme will go on to be Travel Ambassadors themselves, teaching and sharing their experiences with others who have learning needs and disabilities.
Coun Joe Baker, whose portfolio covers community safety, added: “This project has already seen successful outcomes as since it started students feel more confident to report incidents of hate crime and in making their travel choices.”
This week, the students met together with Louise for the last time to put into practice some of the skills they had learnt with an independent trip from Bromsgrove railway station.
