A NEW laptop could be the key to helping reduce crime in Northumberland.
The Northumbria Police Charities Fund has bought the kit for the Odysseus Mentoring Project (OMP), which works with young people in the community as part of the Northumbria Coalition Against Crime.
Its youth and community programmes help children and young people at risk of offending or going back to crime.
The OMP provides one-to-one support, education and guidance, with the aim to bring about a long-term sustainable change of attitude and behaviour.
Most of the people it works with are vulnerable, disadvantaged or come from areas of high deprivation.
Youth and Community Manager Heather Armstrong said: “Mentoring provides vital one-to-one support, providing a positive relationship with an adult, often for the first time in a child or young person’s life.
“The mentoring relationship is voluntary on both sides, has an extremely positive effect and brings a number of benefits, including raising self-esteem.”
The laptop will be used in all one-to-one meetings to help young people complete homework, write CVs, carry out job searches or fill in applications.