PCC Mark Shelford met with local organisations and stakeholders in BANES to listen to their policing and crime concerns.

The PCC met with Cllr Dine Romero before heading to Keynsham for a walkabout of the High Street with Jacob Rees Mogg MP.

The PCC then took part in a virtual meeting with Wera Hobhouse MP to discuss drink spiking and anti-social behaviour impacting residents in Bath.

Following this, the PCC virtually met with Sally Churchyard, Head of Youth Offending Scheme and Prevent Service for BANES. During the meeting, the PCC and Sally spoke about the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), the service that the VRU offers and how the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) can further support this work.

Finally, the PCC virtually met with staff from Julian House, a charity that supports vulnerable and at-risk individuals including those experiencing homelessness, those escaping domestic abuse, adults with learning difficulties and people who need support after leaving prison.

Along with Probation, Julian House co-commissions 14-bed units of accommodation with support from Julian House for offenders on release and, earlier in the summer, the Julian house received additional Ministry of Justice funding via the OPCC for domestic abuse and sexual violence victims.

PCC Mark Shelford said: "It was great to meet a range of individuals and organisations that all work extremely hard to keep BANES residents safe and to find out how, as PCC, I can support their efforts.

"This was my last engagement day of 2021 and I want to say a massive thank you to all the partners, stakeholders, organisations and local people I have met this year. I'm excited to continue these engagement days in 2022 and meet with local people, MPs and other organisations who represent residents who tell me about the issues that are causing greatest concern in their communities."