FIRST STREET WARDENS TRAINED AND READY TO GO

New street wardens are ready to patrol neighbourhoods after completing their essential training course.

The 16 Hull wardens will be the first to hit the streets next month as part of a£50m programme to put hundreds more wardens in communities across the country.

Street wardens are trained to deal with a wide range of difficult situations such as drug misuse and supporting vulnerable members of the community.

The week-long course also taught them how to tackle environmental problems from graffiti to abandoned cars.

Regeneration minister Sally Keeble said:

'Hundreds more wardens will soon be patrolling streets across the country. It is essential to give them first class training so they have all the tools needed for their important jobs in the community. This course gives wardens the knowledge and skills needed to make the streets safer and cleaner for residents.'

'Wardens are an important part of our National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal. They provide a reassuring uniformed presence on local streets. With this new training, street wardens will be ready to go from day one.'

The£50m street warden programme will see 700 more wardens in communities across the country. National training will be a compulsory requirement for all street wardens and warden managers.

Manager of the Hull warden scheme, John Marshall, said:

'Training is a very important part of any successful warden scheme. The government has provided this course to us to help provide high quality training for warden and warden managers. If wardens are given the right skills they will be able to carry out their jobs to the best of their abilities from the moment they start.'

Mr Marshall added:

'Wardens don't just work with the local community in Hull, they have become part of it. People know there is always a friend to talk to if they need help.'

Notes

1. The£50m street warden programme, announced last April, builds on the success of the existing 85 neighbourhood warden schemes announced in the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal. The strategy, published in January 2001, is the government's commitment to improving the most deprived parts of the country.

2. Copies of the National Strategy are available by calling 0207 944 8383 or on the internet.

3. New street wardens receive a four week training programme. Today they completed the national week long component of the programme, accredited by the home office crime reduction college.

4. The new Hull street wardens will patrol the Hessle Road and Springbank neighbourhoods of the city. They are managed by community organisation the Goodwin Resource Centre Association (GRCA), based on the Thornton Estate. The centre is already responsible for another neighbourhood warden scheme that has five wardens. For more information, contact (GRCA) community safety manager John Marshall on 01482 594360.