Medics Against Violence
History
The organisation was founded in November 2008 by three Scottish Surgeons: Christine Goodall, Mark Devlin and David Koppel along with Karyn McCluskey from the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (VRU).{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/medics-on-anti-violence-crusade-deliver-stark-message-to-scots-pupils-1-1040540 |title=Medics on anti-violence crusade deliver stark message to Scots pupils |work=The Scotsman |date=1 June 2009 |accessdate=8 January 2017}} Their stated aims are the prevention of serious injury and death, particularly among the young people of Scotland, and to change attitudes to violence in Scotland through education and awareness raising. They had start up funding of £80,000 from the Scottish Government.{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/doctors-take-blade-message-into-city-schools-1-1279513 |title=Doctors take blade message into city schools |work=The Scotsman |date=18 November 2008 |accessdate=8 January 2017}} MAV is a participant in the World Health Organization's Violence Prevention Alliance.{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/violenceprevention/about/participants/mav/en/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020034612/http://www.who.int/violenceprevention/about/participants/mav/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 October 2014 |title=Medics against Violence |publisher=World Health Organization |website=www.who.int |accessdate=8 January 2017}} They became a charity registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in December 2009 (SC041153).{{cite web |url=http://www.oscr.org.uk/public/search-scottish-charity-register/charity-details?number=SC041153#results |title=Charity Details: Medics Against Violence, SC041153 |publisher=Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator |accessdate=9 January 2017}}
=School visits=
By June 2009, the first phase of MAV's schools project had trained 55 volunteers. Visits to 13- to 14-year-old pupils in schools were planned to commence at the start of the coming school year. Sessions would involve medics speaking to pupils about the consequences of violence using a set lesson plan and film, illustrating this with experiences from a wide range of medical specialties.{{cite web |url=http://careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/Medics_speaking_out_against_violence |title=Medics speaking out against violence |first=Sue |last=Learner|work=BMJ Careers |date=2 August 2011 |accessdate=19 November 2017}} MAV concentrated on schools in areas of urban deprivation or those with high levels of youth violence. There was a particular focus on issues around knife crime and gang membership. As of 2011 MAV had spoken to over 5000 young people in schools in the west of Scotland.
=Other professionals=
A joint initiative launched in 2010 with the VRU saw MAV train dentists to spot victims of domestic violence and signpost them towards help.{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/dentists-are-enlisted-to-identify-victims-of-domestic-abuse-1-835434 |title=Dentists are enlisted to identify victims of domestic abuse |first=Lyndsay |last=Moss |work=The Scotsman |date=23 November 2010 |accessdate=8 January 2017}} MAV also take part in the VRU project the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV)[https://web.archive.org/web/20100411051753/http://www.actiononviolence.co.uk/CIRV CIRV | actiononviolence.org.uk - Navigation | 3] and in the Scottish Government's project No Knives Better Lives.[http://www.noknivesbetterlives.com/ Make a stand | No Knives Better Lives]
They planned to pilot workshops for hairdressers at Ayrshire College in 2015.{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/training-for-salon-staff-to-spot-domestic-abuse-1-3620363 |title=Training for salon staff to spot domestic abuse |first=Dani |last=Garavelli |work=The Scotsman |date=30 November 2014 |accessdate=8 January 2017}} By September 2015, around 2,000 people had received training, including some hairdressers and members of the fire and rescue service as well as dentists, doctors and vets. At that point the Scottish Government announced £115,000 had been awarded to extend the Ask, Validate, Document and Refer (AVDR) programme to make it available to more professionals across Scotland.{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/hairdressers-and-vets-to-look-for-domestic-abuse-1-3886975 |title=Hairdressers and vets to look for domestic abuseScott MacNab |work=The Scotsman |date=15 September 2015 |accessdate=9 January 2017}}
Awards
They won a Scottish Policing Award in 2009 for their outstanding contribution to Criminal Justice and Tackling Crime{{cite news |url=https://glasgowguardian.co.uk/2009/11/09/news-in-brief-091109/ |title=Medics awarded for tackling knife crime |work=Glasgow University Guardian |date=9 November 2009 |accessdate=8 January 2017}} and in 2011 won the Public Service Award for Glasgow East in the Community Champion Awards.[http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/joy-for-local-heroes-1.1080951 Joy for local heroes - Evening Times | News | Editor's Picks]