The rapidly expanding Step Together scheme, led by the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit was launched last month and now covers 17 areas in the region.
Blakenhall, Heath Town and the City Centre will be covered by Wolves Foundation, with youth workers placed in busy areas where lots of pupils commute to and from school.
Young people, school staff and community members have come together to identify where along the route the youth workers would make the most difference.
Luke Shearing, inclusion and cohesion manager at Wolves Foundation, said: “Step Together is a great addition to our Inclusion and Cohesion offer at the Foundation.
It’s been great to see our staff out in the city centre engaging with young people and partners and contributing towards a safer community for all. This really enhances our wrap around offer for young people across the city and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow are partnership with the VRU.”
The scheme has been made possible thanks to a host of partners who have worked with the Violence Reduction Unit, including local councils, police, schools, businesses, parents and community members.
All the partners shared one aim, which was to have more trusted adults in place to protect young people from potential violence, bullying and offenders.
In total, 18 routes have been established across the West Midlands and will operate until the end of the 2021/22 academic year.
The region’s Violence Reduction Unit has been successful in securing £1.2 million funding from the Home Office and the Youth Endowment Fund to trial the scheme as part of a national pilot.
If this approach increases young people’s safety, as well as improving school attendance, other schools and communities around the country may also adopt the project.
The West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster said: “I’m really pleased to see this initiative being rolled out rapidly across the West Midlands.
“It’s so important that our young people feel safe not only when they are at school, but also when they’re travelling to and from it.
“Youth violence is far too high and projects like this, led by the Violence Reduction Unit, are really good examples of how to keep our children safe.”
Meanwhile, the director of the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit Claire Gollop, said: “This project demonstrates what can be achieved when communities, schools, local partnerships and the police take collective responsibility for something as fundamental as making sure our children arrive at school safely and feeling ready to learn.
“By providing trusted adults who can mentor and encourage children on their way to school, we are hoping to improve attendance and help keep our young people in education.
“The journey home is also an important transition, where lots of young people converge in predictable places – it’s a route which every child deserves to make without fear.”
The Youth Endowment Fund is contributing more than £400,000 to the scheme. Its Executive Director is Jon Yates added: “Too many young people in the West Midlands live in fear of violence.
“Step Together is an important project with the potential to change things.
“We hope that we can learn from the early work being done right here in the region, and potentially work to expand the scheme to other areas of the country.”
The West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit is a team made up of representatives from local councils, education, health, youth, faith, community groups and the police which has been established to prevent violence in our region.
It was launched in late 2019 to help organisations work together effectively to tackle the root causes of violence.
