We are together in this

Damilola had a vision to remould and defend the world, he cared about people. I hope that we can all care as much and work together to make his vision come true for the common good. I hope we can make a place where we will all feel safe to speak out and follow our ambitions, where our children are protected and encouraged to join us to remould and defend our world.

Not long after Damilola’s death in November 2000, Nelson Mandela gave a speech to his country from a Healing and Reconciliation Service in Johannesburg. 

Mandela said: “We are together in this. Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronisingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.”

Hope is indeed powerful, without hope there is little else to keep us focussed and positive for the future. Hope is the expectation that something good will happen, that something you’re working towards will come into being. That is why I am so pleased to see the Hope Collective bringing young people together to provide active engagement for change.  It is only though working together, with and for our communities, that all of our hopes will bear fruit.

As the Director of a Violence Reduction Unit, I provide leadership and strategic direction for public health approaches in reducing serious violence and preventing the exploitation of those most vulnerable by criminals who would expose them to abuse. 

Public health approaches encourage us to work together, using data and evidence, to solve our common problems.  Yet too often working together is seen as talking about what we do when we are apart.  We think of this as working “together-apart” whereas we believe we must work “together-together”.  This involves statutory agencies, other organisations and community partners coming together and sharing ideas and data within integrated teams and developing fully joined up ways to reduce serious violence. These approaches are broad and varied and include commissioning of one-to-one support through to encouraging whole system change.

The causes of violence often cluster, with other causes and bad outcomes, around the same people, their families, friends, communities, and neighbourhoods. These causes are rooted in poverty, inequality, racism, poor access to services and support, housing, education, and employment opportunities.  In bringing organisations and communities together we hope to provide the kind of collective impact that will eliminate these issues and prevent violence.

Damilola had a vision to remould and defend the world, he cared about people. I hope that we can all care as much and work together to make his vision come true for the common good. I hope we can make a place where we will all feel safe to speak out and follow our ambitions, where our children are protected and encouraged to join us to remould and defend our world.

Stan Gilmour, Director Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit.