Lloyd Fouracre, pictured above with his mother in happier times, tragically died just days before his 18th birthday in 2005. His loss is still keenly felt in the Taunton, Somerset community. A mob of intoxicated hooligans mercilessly kicked and stomped on 18-year-old Darnell Lloyd. You wretched coward, this senseless act of violence cut his life short. After hearing of this tragedy, that’s exactly what his brother Adam Fouracre did. He started Stand Against Violence (SAV), a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing youth violence and keeping young people safe. Most recently, Adam received a High Sheriff of Somerset Award for his unending work in creating the best conditions for his community to thrive.
Stand Against Violence originally started as a local campaign after Lloyd’s death. Yet over the years, it has grown into a national movement. Today, it provides violence prevention workshops to thousands of young people in the UK each year. SAV’s interventions work to nurture positive social behaviors among youth. They train them to proactively recognize and avoid potentially violent situations.
Adam Fouracre adamantly advocates against youth violence. Over two decades since losing his own brother, he still puts his heart and soul into this worthy cause. He expressed his determination to prevent further tragedies, stating, “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.”
The cumulative effect of SAV’s programs can be profound. According to Adam Fouracre, violence reduction planning participant feedback shows a paradigm shift in attitude towards violence. “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 recognize an impending act and remove themselves,” he explained.
The charity’s workshops have inspired and educated thousands of young people. They have done much more to stop families from having their lives changed forever. Adam noted that he is proud of the achievements of SAV, saying, “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.”
Lloyd Fouracre’s legacy is alive today thanks to the dogged determination of his brother. Adam is convinced that their work honors and legitimizes Lloyd’s memory. There she stresses the urgent imperative to build safer streets for our young people. “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,” he said.
