Everton Charity Teams Up With Merseyside Police on New Initiative 2026

Key Points

• Everton in the Community VR project is an innovative tool which utilizes 360-degree virtual reality to raise awareness about child criminal exploitation.
• It has been created in cooperation with Merseyside Police considering the threats associated with County Lines and serious violence.
• The virtual environment demonstrates how children can be groomed using financial, material, status and inclusion incentives.
• The young generation is invited to recognize warning signs, analyze the situation and find safer routes.
• The video includes performances of actors who participate in Everton in the Community projects and Evertonian actor Philip Shaun McGuinness.
• The experience has been created by Ludovico and Juice Immersive.
• Merseyside Police and Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell have financed the project with the help of Hotspot Response Fund.
• This project is an extension of the previous virtual reality film dealing with knife crime watched by more than 1,000 young people.
• This collaboration also reports the decrease in crime levels in the area covered by the EVOLVE strategy such as 33% decline in Netherton.
• According to Youth Inclusion Manager Jen Harden, the aim of this project is to make safeguarding messages available for the youth.

Everton (Liverpool standard) August 11, 2026 – Community and Merseyside Police have launched a virtual reality initiative designed to help local young people understand and recognise the risks of child criminal exploitation.

The uk/local/everton/">Everton in the Community VR initiative places viewers inside a 360-degree scenario rather than presenting the subject through a conventional classroom talk or film. Young people are shown how apparently attractive offers, including easy money, gifts, social status and a sense of belonging, can become a route into criminal activity.

As reported by Charity Today News, the experience is intended to help young people recognise the signs of exploitation, make informed decisions and identify positive alternatives before criminal involvement develops. The article did not display an individual author’s name, so the coverage is attributed to Charity Today News rather than to a named journalist.

Child criminal exploitation occurs when a person uses someone under the age of 18 to commit criminal offences on their behalf. A young person may be asked to transport drugs, money or weapons, or to take part in other activity directed by older criminals.

The initiative also addresses the difficulty many victims face in recognising that they are being exploited. A child may believe they are accepting friendship, protection, money or an opportunity, while the person making the offer is gradually placing them under pressure or control.

What does the immersive film show?

The film takes viewers into a realistic situation involving the recruitment of young people into a gang. The format requires participants to use critical thinking as the scenario develops and as the consequences of apparently simple decisions become clearer.

According to Charity Today News, the experience highlights several warning signs that may indicate a child is being targeted. These include withdrawing from family and friends, spending time with a new peer group, and suddenly possessing unexplained money or expensive items.

The scenario is designed to show that exploitation may not begin with an obvious threat. Instead, grooming can develop through apparently generous offers or invitations. A young person may initially be told that they can earn money quickly, receive gifts or gain acceptance within a group.

The film then exposes what may exist behind those offers. As participants progress through the experience, they encounter the darker consequences associated with criminal exploitation, including the loss of control over their decisions and the pressure to carry out offences for other people.

This approach is intended to make the subject easier to understand for young people who may not identify with formal safeguarding language. Rather than describing exploitation only as a distant danger, the VR experience presents it as a series of choices and pressures that can emerge in familiar social situations.

Who helped create the project?

The VR experience was shaped with input from Everton in the Community participants. Actors from the charity’s programmes appear in the production alongside Philip Shaun McGuinness, an Everton supporter and actor known for roles in G’Wed and The Responder.

McGuinness plays a character who attempts to recruit young people into his gang. In a statement reported by Charity Today News, he said that he initially recognised the importance of the project after reading the script and understanding that the character’s offer could appear attractive to a young person at first.

McGuinness said the experience reveals “dark undertones and consequences” behind actions that may initially seem simple. His comments underline the central purpose of the film: to show how criminal exploitation can be presented as an opportunity before its coercive nature becomes clear.

The project was created and produced by Ludovico and Juice Immersive. It was filmed specifically for virtual reality headsets, allowing participants to look around the environment and experience the events from a more personal perspective than a standard video.

Why are Merseyside Police involved?

The initiative forms part of a 20-year partnership between Everton in the Community and Merseyside Police. The partnership focuses on crime prevention, early intervention and support for young people considered vulnerable to offending or exploitation.

The new film supports Merseyside Police’s EVOLVE: Clear, Hold, Build strategy. The strategy is intended to address areas affected by serious and organised crime by combining policing activity with longer-term work to strengthen communities and reduce vulnerability.

The report published by Charity Today News said the partnership had contributed to an overall reduction in crime in the areas where it operated. Netherton recorded the largest stated reduction at 33%, while knife crime in Knowsley fell by 12.5%. The report also said that community intelligence increased by more than 400%, which it presented as an indication of stronger trust and engagement between residents and agencies.

Targeted referrals have also enabled Everton in the Community to work with young people considered at risk of crime or exploitation. The charity said this preventative activity has contributed to reduced offending and positive outcomes among participants.

The earlier VR project in the partnership focused on the consequences of carrying a knife. The new criminal exploitation film extends that work by examining how young people may be drawn into offences before they fully understand the risks involved.

Merseyside Police previously reported that the knife-crime VR project had reached more than 1,000 young people. That experience allowed participants to make decisions within a first-person scenario, with their choices affecting how the story developed. The force said the project was created by Everton in the Community, Ludovico and Juice Immersive and funded through the same Hotspot Response Fund.

What has Jen Harden said about the initiative?

Jen Harden, Everton in the Community’s Youth Inclusion Manager, said child criminal exploitation could affect any young person and that children might struggle to understand what was happening to them.

As reported by Charity Today News, Harden said Everton in the Community’s experience of working with young people across the Liverpool City Region gave it an understanding of how to deliver safeguarding messages in a way that would resonate with participants.

She described the VR project as a safe and engaging way to bring the dangers of exploitation to life. Harden also said the charity was proud to have developed the resource with Merseyside Police and wanted to help young people recognise warning signs and make safer, more informed choices.

Her comments place the project within a wider programme of youth inclusion rather than presenting the VR film as a standalone response. The initiative is connected to referrals, community work and efforts to provide young people with positive pathways away from crime.

How is the project funded?

The initiative was funded by Merseyside Police and Emily Spurrell, the Police and Crime Commissioner for the region, through the Hotspot Response Fund.

The fund is a government-backed programme aimed at tackling antisocial behaviour and serious violence in areas identified as hotspots. Its use for the VR project means that funding has been directed towards prevention and education as well as enforcement.

Merseyside Police’s earlier statement about the partnership said that the force supported the development of the knife-crime experience to ensure that its situations reflected challenges faced by officers and circumstances young people might encounter. The force described education and early intervention as important elements of preventing serious violence.

The same prevention-focused approach is reflected in the criminal exploitation project. Instead of concentrating only on the criminal consequences for offenders, the film focuses on helping young people identify pressure, manipulation and grooming at an earlier stage.

What is the wider concern about County Lines?

The new experience responds to the continuing threat of child criminal exploitation across the Liverpool City Region and the wider United Kingdom, including activity associated with County Lines.

County Lines typically involves criminal networks using vulnerable people, including children, to move drugs or money between locations. Children may be asked to travel, deliver packages, store items or allow their homes to be used. The material supplied by Charity Today News identifies the movement of drugs, money and weapons as part of the risks connected with exploitation.

Victims may be reluctant to seek help because they fear being arrested, blamed or punished for offences they have been pressured or coerced into committing. That fear can make early identification difficult for parents, teachers, youth workers and police officers.

The VR initiative therefore presents recognition and conversation as important elements of prevention. By showing warning signs and the progression from an attractive offer to criminal pressure, the resource aims to give young people and the adults supporting them a clearer basis for identifying concerns.

What is the background to the development?

Everton in the Community and Merseyside Police have worked together for two decades on projects intended to prevent crime and create safer communities. Their work has included youth inclusion, targeted referrals and educational activity aimed at young people at risk of offending or exploitation.

The new criminal exploitation film follows an earlier knife-crime VR project. That production used immersive technology to show the possible consequences of carrying a knife and was delivered to more than 1,000 young people in Merseyside, according to the police.

The first project also established the production partnership involving Everton in the Community, Ludovico and Juice Immersive. Participants helped shape the material to make the scenarios more authentic and relevant to young people in the region.

The second VR experience applies the same broad model to child criminal exploitation. It combines the charity’s access to young people, police knowledge of serious violence and specialist immersive production.

How could the initiative affect young people and families?

The Everton in the Community VR initiative could give young people a more practical way to recognise grooming and exploitation than a general warning about gangs or County Lines. Its interactive format may help participants consider how decisions develop over time and how an offer of money, gifts or belonging can create pressure.

For families, the warning signs identified in the film may provide useful points for conversations about unexplained money, new possessions, changes in friendship groups or withdrawal from normal relationships. These signs do not automatically prove that exploitation is taking place, but they may indicate that a young person needs a supportive conversation with a trusted adult or professional.

For schools, youth services and community organisations, the film offers an additional educational resource for discussions about serious violence and safeguarding. Its value will depend on how it is used alongside trusted support, follow-up conversations and clear routes for reporting concerns.

The initiative is also likely to support Merseyside Police’s prevention work by improving awareness before a young person becomes deeply involved in criminal activity. However, the VR experience is one element of a wider response and cannot replace safeguarding intervention, specialist support or action against the adults directing exploitation.

The project’s impact should be assessed through continued information about its reach, participant feedback and whether referrals, safeguarding interventions or youth offending outcomes change over time. At launch, the confirmed purpose is educational: to help young people recognise exploitation, understand its consequences and make safer choices.