Man 'determined' to tackle youth violence is honoured

The brother of a man who was killed in an unprovoked attack says he is determined to prevent further violence more than 20 years on.

Lloyd Fouracre was killed in Taunton on the eve of his 18th birthday in 2005. He was kicked in the head and stamped on by a gang of drunken youths.

His brother, Adam Fouracre, later set up Stand Against Violence (SAV) and has now received a High Sheriff of Somerset Award in recognition of his services to the community.

"The fact that we're still here, still going strong and still determined to try and make a difference in our communities, I'm very, very proud," Fouracre said.

"Another generation knows Lloyd's name and what happened and the impact of that - I think that's really important for his [Lloyd's] legacy."

SAV started as a local campaign in Somerset but now delivers national violence prevention workshops to thousands of young people all over the UK.

"Our work is about making sure that Lloyd's pointless death wasn't a complete waste of life - 17 years of life snuffed out in a matter of minutes," he told BBC Radio Somerset.

"It's preventative work so, of course, we'll never know the true impact, but we do feedback questionnaires, both before and after to demonstrate pro-social attitude change."

Fouracre said they were "really pleased" to see the results "are always up".

"If we teach 30 kids in any one lesson, 86-91% of those young people say they are less likely to engage in violence, whether that's to commit an act of violence or recognise an impending act and remove themselves," he added.

Fouracre said the charity had "prevented some life-changing incidents" for families and young people and he was "proud of everything" he had achieved.

Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.