Press Release

9^th August 2011

Statement of Communities of Manchester

At the meeting of a diverse range of community organisations, community representatives, community leaders and activists held on 9th August 2011, the following statement was agreed:

• We value the good behaviour of the vast majority of young people who have not involved themselves in mindless criminal activity of greed and destruction. These young people deserve our praise to desist from being drawn into lawlessness which destroys the fabric of our society.
• We recognise that there are many young people who are vulnerable, and are being targeted by criminals to join them. They need our support. With the help of Youth Workers, we will engage with them by our presence amongst them and talking with them about issues concerning young people. On an urgent basis, we will encourage visible stewarding amongst young people at the Caribbean Carnival at the weekend.
• We will use social media tools to send our messages to young people not to engage in criminal activity and act responsibly towards their community. Here are a couple of links from youtube that show the impact of riots on a community:
  www.youtube.com/watch?v=t92DuJBwJuk&feature=channel_video_title
  www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHMxc6c79Sk&feature=relmfu
  
• We will support the Police in taking decisive and robust action to prevent destruction of property, looting and other criminal activity.
• We will make good use of opportunities provided by local community radios and newspapers to further disseminate our messages.
• We will monitor events over the next few days, and endeavour to meet next week to review the situation and look for long-term solutions in conjunction with those in authority at local and national levels.

Prepared by Khan Moghal on behalf of Communities of Manchester

For further information, please contact: Khan Moghal on 07818-453546