Free food and fizzy drinks! A sure-fire way to catch the attention of most teenagers, and in honesty probably most adults, although I am not sure that the fizzy drinks would not be quickly be replaced with another sort of beverage...

Pizza and cola, that's what was on offer last Thursday to local teenagers in the Trendlewood area of my beat. And if you all think that this was another Avon and Somerset initiative to get nuisance youths off the streets so we could claim that we are having a direct effect on anti-social behaviour in the area, then in a way you are right!

Pizza and cola evenings have been part of the neighbourhood policing teams' agenda for quite some time – I think the Hillfields team is on its sixth or seventh event – and have proven to be beneficial to teenagers, residents and the police.

So what is it all about?

For a start there is no catch and it is exactly as it says on the tin (or cardboard box, in this case).

With a small amount of funding, which can sometimes be provided by Safer Bristol or ourselves, we purchase a varying amount of pizzas and bottles of fizzy drinks, hire a small venue and invite local teenagers to the evening.

On arrival they are greeted by myself, my police community support officers, housing association staff and any other outside agencies who have an interest in youth policy, and we all sit down to eat, drink and discuss issues surrounding the area in which they live – such as how it can be improved, what part the teenagers may want to play in this improvement, and we also discuss any perceived lack of youth provisions they identify.

It's an informal meeting with a serious agenda; in this area, nuisance behaviour from teenagers has been highlighted as a PACT priority (Partners and Communities Together).

While there is a need to police such behaviour, this can sometimes be seen as a short-term solution.

How often have we all heard teenagers give the excuse of being bored or having nothing to do, when challenged about their behaviour?

In some cases it is a genuine concern, and by holding these events it allows the teenagers to voice their grievances to the relevant people. Together, we can look at identifying areas or interests where provisions are needed.

The teenagers know about lack of funding and they realise that these things will not appear overnight, but at least we can listen to them and attempt to put the wheels in motion.

And with their help and understanding, we can badger the relevant agencies to try and provide something, where in the past there has been nothing.

The teenagers who attended the meeting on Thur sday didn't want much – a healthy interest in football meant most of them would just like a local provision to play safely and without being a nuisance to the neighbours, be that by way of placing a set of goalposts in the nearby field or the arrangement and encouragement of a five-a-side team; nothing insurmountable and ideas which we are already working on,

There was one request that needed to be discouraged from the outset, and that was to visit Ashton Gate to watch City play.

This was quickly discouraged by yours truly, although pieces of pizza crust were thrown my way when I replied there was some things I was not prepared to do, and they would need to watch Rovers if they wanted to see a real football team play!