Billy’s Wish wins county wide award

A charity set up in memory of a man who was murdered in Hemel Hempstead has won a prestigious award. Billy’s Wish was set up by the family of Billy Dove who was killed in November 2011. At the end of last month, the charity, led by Paul Dove who lives in Apsley, was awarded The Crimebeat Award for Hertfordshire from the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, Viscountess Trenchard. The charity also has strong links to Kings Langley as Billy was a pupil at Kings Langley School. Billy’s Wish has spent the last two years working to produce an Anti-Knife Crime Education Programme which consists of DVDs and lesson plans. This has now been delivered to every school in Dacorum to be taught to pupils in years 6, 7 and 8. After recently meeting with senior police officers, the charity is gearing up to launch its programme across Herts and beyond as part of a community safety initiative. Jan Maddern, charity director, said she was confident the charity could make a real difference to the lives of young people in Dacorum and beyond. She revealed: “We are planning meetings with head teachers and County Councillors across Hertfordshire, so that we can demonstrate the power of the programme. With full backing from Herts Police and HCC’s Director of Education I am certain that head teachers will see the benefit of our tiered programme.” In December 2013, Kings Langley county councillor Richard Roberts nominated the charity for a High Sheriff’s Award. Read more in April’s My Kings News