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Merseyside Police and partners say they are approaching the fight against serious and organised crime "from a new angle" with the roll out of ‘Dear Merseyside’ in secondary schools in EVOLVE areas – those worst affected by serious criminality. The spoken word events were launched during special assemblies at Ridgeway High School in Prenton and The Birkenhead Park School on Monday (March 31). ‘Dear Merseyside’ is in essence a love letter to Merseyside created by 21-year-old spoken word artist Joseph Roberts.
It features problems touching on gang culture and knife crime before talking about solutions and reflecting on the ‘love where you live’ ethos behind EVOLVE. Following the assemblies, children were then taken on a double decker media bus tour with Joseph and local media agency Springboard, to take part in focused workshops where they were taught how to write their own spoken word versions of ‘Dear Merseyside’. The children were also given a media brief and taught how to create engaging content for their key target market, resulting in young people creating content for people like them.
They were also taught how to create short form video and audio content. EVOLVE is Merseyside’s response to the Home Office’s Clear, Hold, Build strategy. It involves police and partners working together long-term to rid neighbourhoods of organised crime groups and build up community resilience to help protect the vulnerable and prevent further serious criminality to make these areas safer for generations to come.
Student from Birkenhead Park School takes part in spoken word event (Image: Merseyside Police) EVOLVE projects are taking place in Noctorum, Beechwood and Woodchurch and other parts of Merseyside. The ‘Dear Merseyside’ project was launched at a media event in the Odeon, Liverpool One shortly before Christmas featuring talks from Joseph Roberts, Catch22, Everton in the Community and the LFC Foundation to highlight the dangers of exploitation while showcasing some of the diversionary work taking place in the region to improve futures. The event was attended by more than 120 schoolchildren from EVOLVE schools, the families of murdered Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Ashley Dale, Sam Rimmer and Elle Edwards and partner agencies.
Wirral's Superintendent Matthew Moscrop addresses the audience at Ridgeway High School in spoken word event (Image: Merseyside Police) Chief Constable Chris Green said: "We recognise that if we want to continue making a big difference to the reduction of serious criminality, we need to be part of a solution that includes young people and that we make positive changes to their attitudes from a young age. "We hope the ‘Dear Merseyside’ project will empower children to be able to reject the traps set by gangs by encouraging them to see the devastation criminality causes and the importance of reaching out for help, while reflecting on all the positives to living in our fantastic region. "The project will encourage them to think about problem-solving and we will help them to bring their own ideas to the table, which we hope can contribute to making Merseyside safer.
"As part of our recognition of the important role young people play in our communities, EVOLVE Everton-Vauxhall will be holding a participatory budget event on April 29 at Notre Dame Catholic College where pupils will help decide which community groups' bids for a slice of a £50,000 funding pot to improve the areas are successful. Students from Ridgeway High School on bus tour following spoken word event earlier this week (Image: Merseyside Police) “We are committed to making a difference in Merseyside and tackling serious and organised crime in any way that we can. Young people are our future and we are determined to make sure that their futures remain bright.
" In July, Joseph will be holding the UK's first poetry expo at the Liverpool Exhibition Centre where these schoolchildren will also be given an opportunity to perform their poems to other children and the public. It is also hoped that the children’s love letters to Merseyside will later be displayed in key areas across the region. Any young person wishing to report a crime anonymously can do so by visiting Fearless, part of the national charity Crimestoppers, on https://crimestoppers-uk.
org/fearless/news/2025/fearless-in-merseyside or calling 0800 555 111..
