A young author’s anti-bullying initiative has been taken up by other concerned members of the community.

Chefanices Williams is holding a day of children’s activities followed by an evening fundraiser for young people and adults to support her book A Place Without Bullies.

“The reason for writing it was my experience of dealing with bullying on a day-to-day basis,” Ms Williams told The Royal Gazette.

“Little did I know that what I encountered was of vastly more potential. It transitioned into gangs because bullying can lead to that.

“I decided to hold my event, which is a dinner and a show, in order to raise funds.

“The book targets primary to middle school students. It tells children how to deal with bullying in their own language — what you should and shouldn’t do.”

The November 21 fundraiser at Heritage Worship Centre on Dundonald Street, Hamilton starts at 10.30am with a free day of children’s activities, including face painting and a bouncy castle. From 7pm, a dinner and show will be held, with tickets at $60 for adults and $30 for young people.

As well as supporting Ms Williams’s publication, the event is in aid of Big Brothers and Big Sisters Bermuda, along with the Mirrors Programme.

Ms Williams, a 17-year-old S3 student at the Berkeley Institute, is being assisted by the community group the Young Progressives.

Group member Cleveland Simmons said he had become incensed at the persistent troubles afflicting the community in the wake of the October 23 murder of Rickai Swan. “We have been trying to head off this type of behaviour and the attitudes but we lost another young man to gun violence and all I could hear was talk about the America’s Cup,” Mr Simmons said.

With the help of Leon O’Brien, a business consultant whose group Black Alliance is aimed at helping the black community in Bermuda, they hope to support grass-roots efforts to effect positive change.

“Until we see the issues affecting the black community the same way as a cancer in our body that has to be cured, nothing will be done,” Mr O’Brien said.

“I don’t expect much from any politicians or political group. The people need to make it an issue within themselves. If we do not solve the issues affecting our unemployed young men, we will never solve it.

“Right now, it’s easier for a young man to sell drugs than find employment, and that’s an insult to us as one of the richest places in the world.

“Let’s start talking about it and acting real. We need to talk about it in your churches and our schools.

“It’s up to us to stand up and face it and get something done about it.”