The 2026 Haringey Youth Summit, sponsored by Bridge Renewal Trust and The Safer Neighborhood Board Haringey and delivered by Hope in Haringey saw 75 attendees in a Police Engagement focused event at Park View School. 

By Omar Alleyne-Lawler, Mentoring and Engagements Manager

Focusing on the work delivered this academic year as part of the Youth Echo programme, the Youth Summit heard from more than 30 young people who spoke about their assemblies and workshops with Metropolitan Police and British Transport Police service officers since September 2025. 

Led by Hope in Haringey and hosted by Park View, the event also brought together students from Heartlands High School and Harris Academy Tottenham, with Mulberry Academy Woodside, Greig City Academy, Dukes Aldridge Academy and Gladesmore Community School also invited to attend.   

With each school leading on a focused topic, this year’s youth summit was structured so that young people would speak on the topics of: 

  • Experience of the HiH & Youth Echo Programme   
  • Policing through understanding 
  • Improving relations (between young people and the police) 
  • Improving schools-based engagements 
  • Building Relationships (between the local community and police) 

Focusing on youth participation and engagement, this year’s summit prioritised interactivity, with the stage being shared with young people throughout the event.  

This year’s Youth Summit Team was the youngest team entrusted to put on the summit with the average age of officers being just 19 years old.

Using the platform to speak honestly, students from each of the three schools reflected on their experiences both in the moment and looking back over the previous year of police engagement. 

Park View would be hosts of the 2026 Haringey Youth Summit. As the venue for the opening and closing police engagement sessions this academic year, it’s role as summit hosts felt like a ‘full circle’ moment.

This enabled the summit to broach the topics of trust, policing, stereotypes, social media and community relationships in a safe and trusted environment – allowing both supporters and detractors to speak freely and directly to the officers representing the Met’s Alpha Team and TSG divisions as well as The British Transport Police.

 Young people spoke positively about the sessions they engaged with in the previous year, expressing their positive alongside the opportunity to engage with police officers. Students from Heartlands High School shared that the sessions had helped to humanised the police and challenge some of their preconceptions, while Park View students wished for the return of School Liaison Officers as they believed the presence of SLO’s helped to build trust and help pupils to feel safe. 

One young person reflected: 

“Through the [HiH Engagement] session, I understand that the police are here to protect us, build trust to make us feel safer and more comfortable in our community.” 

Young people also shared constructive feedback about the sessions they engaged with. Expressing their feelings of intimidation when officers showcase their equipment into schools. As such, it will be noted how officers may better present their handcuffs, tasers and pepper spray when delivering engagement sessions in schools. 

Additionally, comments were made about the intimidating nature and design of the current MPS uniforms, with students requesting officers have different uniforms to highlight the different roles, responsibilities and requirements officers are employed to handle. Believing that this will help to break down misconceptions of the police, this suggestion highlights the desire young people have in wanting to help build relations between the police and community.  

Officers were given the opportunity to respond, with TSG Officers acknowledging the imperfect and mistakes they make as human beings, while Marco Di Paola from the British Transport Police explained that without opportunities like these engagement sessions, officers would not gain valuable insights from young people saying “Social media doesn’t paint the police in the best picture. We do our best. We make mistakes. We’re human.” 

However comments were not only made about the nature of policing. With time given to reflect on how young people feel connected to their community, a Heartlands studens expressed the following: 

 “I feel ashamed of my uniform and my age. I am treated like a problem in shops. Not every teenager is involved in crime.” 

“We need to recognise our cultural differences and commonalities and learn from one another. We shouldn’t judge people based on how other people act.” 

Overall, attendees would find this year’s summit overwhelmingly positive with Heartlands’ Mr Campbell saying it was “The best Youth Summit we’ve ever come to” and Sponsors, Bridge Renewal Trust wrting in their report “The Summit clearly demonstrated young people’s appetite to share their views openly and honestly in a safe environment where, as one participant described, “we’re not told what to say or think”.