{"id":1850,"date":"2026-04-23T12:06:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/?p=1850"},"modified":"2026-04-23T12:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:12:37","slug":"raising-the-bar-for-young-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/raising-the-bar-for-young-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Raising the Bar for Young People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week\u2019s blog is written by Sarah Williams, Associate Director in Policing at UWE Bristol. In this article, Sarah reflects on an inspiring initiative aimed at widening participation both within higher education and across professional pathways. Brought to life at UWE by Kane Allen, Programme Leader in Primary Education, the initiative highlights the power of targeted outreach in raising aspirations, building confidence and providing practical insight into routes into university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Initiatives like this help ensure that talent is recognised and nurtured, by creating inclusive spaces where students can see themselves represented, ask questions without judgement and explore opportunities that may previously have felt out of reach. This is particularly important in professions such as policing, where trust, understanding and representation are essential to serving communities effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"765\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/Photo-set-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/Photo-set-1.jpg 765w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/Photo-set-1-300x190.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Author: Sarah Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2023, UWE launched \u2018Raise the Bar\u2019 \u2013 an outreach event&nbsp;outreach event for Black,&nbsp;Brown&nbsp;and Asian students who may be considering higher&nbsp;education&nbsp;but who&nbsp;may also&nbsp;face&nbsp;additional\u202fbarriers&nbsp;to transition.\u202fIntroduced by the School of Education and Childhood,&nbsp;Raise the Bar has now engaged well over 400 young people&nbsp;and is&nbsp;continuing to grow. This year, Policing is proud to have supported this fantastic event.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On February 3<sup>rd<\/sup>&nbsp;2026, 150 students from St Mary Redcliffe and Temple Sixth Form, Fairfield, Montpelier, St Brendan\u2019s, John Cabot, Bristol Cathedral, Redland&nbsp;Green&nbsp;and Cotham School attended UWE&nbsp;Frenchay&nbsp;campus. Starting with a&nbsp;session&nbsp;aimed at raising and addressing barriers to higher education, the students also had a tour of the campus, taking in Future Quest and attending a Graffiti workshop.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across the day, students threw themselves into a brilliant range of activities,&nbsp;including music, cookery, finance, robotics, and art.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 70 students attended the&nbsp;Policing,&nbsp;Criminology and&nbsp;Forensics workshop in UWE\u2019s simulation suite. This included a presentation about the programmes&nbsp;of study available, guidance on how to apply,&nbsp;and&nbsp;tips on how to&nbsp;understand and investigate crime and&nbsp;manage a crime scene. They then had the opportunity to practice their skills by investigating and processing a crime scene staged in the simulation rooms.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A great time&nbsp;was had by all, with many of the students reporting it as the \u201chighlight of the day.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UWE is committed to inclusive and widening participation in higher education and this&nbsp;great example&nbsp;of outreach shows how seriously&nbsp;UWE&nbsp;takes its position&nbsp;as a local gateway to&nbsp;our&nbsp;young people\u2019s future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We look forward to welcoming some of these students onto our programmes in the future and hope that their enjoyment of the day really does raise the bar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"663\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/Photo-set-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/Photo-set-3.jpg 663w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/Photo-set-3-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"91\" height=\"76\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2025\/10\/email.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1608\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Editorial Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief), Claudia McCready (Lecturer), Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer), Eve Smietanko (Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week\u2019s blog is written by Sarah Williams, Associate Director in Policing at UWE Bristol. In this article, Sarah reflects on an inspiring initiative aimed at widening participation both within higher education and across professional pathways. Brought to life at UWE by Kane Allen, Programme Leader in Primary Education, the initiative highlights the power of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/raising-the-bar-for-young-people\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Raising the Bar for Young People&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":1852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[177,179,169,176,174,180,3,171,178,175,172,33,173,5,170],"class_list":["post-1850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-bristol-cathedral","tag-cotham-school","tag-inclusion","tag-john-cabot","tag-montpelier","tag-outreach","tag-policing","tag-raise-the-bar","tag-redland-green-school","tag-st-brendans","tag-st-mary-redcliffe","tag-teamwork","tag-temple-sixth-form","tag-uwe-bristol","tag-widening-participation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1850"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1867,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions\/1867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}