Working together to rid Stenhousemuir of anti-social behaviour

It began as a response to a group of young people who were out of control, wreaking havoc on their neighbourhood and on one local business in particular.
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But it has turned into a tale of a community coming together to make things better, says Councillor Gary Bouse, who has helped bring people onboard.

And there is quite a list already signed up: Larbert High School, community police officers, Stenhousemuir Football Club, Tryst Community Sports Club, Keep Larbert & Stenhousemuir Beautiful  and Falkirk Council are all ready and willing to play a part.

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Mr Bouse said: “I have been absolutely overwhelmed with the response.

“Normally when you have a meeting and ask who wants to be involved, people start to look at their feet – but when I asked the question every hand in the room went up.”

The new group has a working title of Community Projects Tryst and hopefully they’ll get a new name soon.

But it has something that will allow it to make a difference straight away – the promise of £10,000 a year from the company that had been worst affected.

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Carron Bathrooms had become a target for anti-social behaviour that was beyond the normal mischief of bored kids – including breaking into the factory, stealing, vandalising the property and even setting fires.

One fire in particular was the last straw. The damage done came close to ruining the business and putting 110 people out of work – and director James McMorrine was furious.

In anger, he wrote to the police and Councillor Bouse, pressing them to do something about the problem.

When the police spoke to him they began to realise just how serious the problem was for the business.

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PC Brown said: “I think it would be wrong of me to say the initial response to this was fantastic – it wasn’t. The officers acted with professionalism but I don’t think we took cognisance of of the full impact the crimes were having on the business.”

PC Brown and his colleagues Pete Dunlop and Iain O’Donnell decided they had to pursue what turned into “a protracted and complex” enquiry.

Eventually, they got what might be called a strong lead when one group who broke in left their names in grafitti.

They identified six youths – aged 12 to 16 – who were all dealt with by the Children’s Panel or non-custodial orders.

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But when the officers reported back to Mr McMorrine, they told him a bit about the young people who had caused so much destruction and this time it was Mr McMorrine’s turn to realise that there was more to this than met the eye. 

He began to realise that his company, with its proud link to the once dominant Carron Iron Works, was in a position to help make things better.

When the police and local councillors began to talk about how they could really get to grips with the anti-social behaviour he told them he would give them £10,000 a year to make it happen.

“When I heard from Graeme the background to these kids, I thought ‘how can we participate in making it better?” he said.

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He is reluctant to trumpet his company’s donation, saying: “I’m just giving money – the people here are giving their energy and that’s what will really make the difference.”

But Councillor Bouse, who has worked on the project with his SNP colleague Councillor Laura Murtagh, says the money will make a world of difference to the plans he and the group have for its work which will start in earnest in January.

The thread that ties all of the plans together is the 
support of Larbert High School.

Depute rector Karen Cullen said: “We can support this because we know the young people extremely well and we know who is vulnerable and the pupils who might benefit.”

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They are in no doubt that youngsters who have somewhere to go on a Friday or Saturday night will be much less likely to be found causing trouble elsewhere and less likely to follow ringleaders.

The school is also delighted that the discussions with Carron Bathrooms have also led to the company inviting pupils in to do work experience which could well lead to permanent jobs.

The project is in its very early stages, but there is no doubting the enthusiasm of those involved.

“We have had success with projects like this in the past,” said PC Brown. “There is a lot of evidence that they do make a difference.”

They would love to hear from others local businesses or groups that would like to get involved. To find out more email [email protected]

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