Youth justice chairman visits pioneering service

LORD Tom McNally (centre), chairman of the Youth Justice Board with (from the left) Lisa Durkin, the head of the North-West Business Area at the Youth Justice Board, Steph Bolshaw, chief executive of Positive Steps, Paul Axon, head of Youth Justice at Positive Steps, and Dr Gillian Fairfield, chief executive of the Pennine Acute NHS Hospitals Trust

THE chairman of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales visited Oldham to learn about the support being offered to young people.

The Oldham Youth Justice Service ensires compliance with court orders among 10 to 18-year-olds, and works with their families to try to preent them returning to court.

Positive Steps, which runs the service from its base in Union Street, was visited by Youth Justice Board chairman Lord Tom McNally. The Oldham service is one of only two nationally not provided directly by the local council.

Steph Bolshaw, the new chief executive of Positive Steps, and the man replacing her as head of the Youth Justice Service, Paul Axon, showed Lord McNally the benefits of an independent approach.

Ms Bolshaw said: “What makes the Youth Justice Service in Oldham so special is that we can give young people access to a range of help depending on circumstances - which is why Lord McNally visited us, to see how effective our method is.

“If you simply work with a young person and send them back into the community you can miss an opportunity to tackle underlying issues.”

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