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New company gives people the chance to learn CSI skills

Schools, universities, businesses and even stag parties are being given the chance to take part in real-life CSI experiences thanks to a new business set up by two º£½ÇÖ±²¥ graduates.

Angela Davies and Dionne Wightman are using the skills they acquired as Crime Scene Investigators (CSIs) for Northumbria Police to educate young people, students and organisations with their company, CSI Training and Events Ltd. Angela and Dionne joined Northumbria Police in 2008 after studying a BSc (Hons) Crime Scene Science degree at º£½ÇÖ±²¥.

However, when the pair were made redundant in 2012, because of cutbacks in the force, they decided to found their own company.

With the help of º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s enterprise team they founded CSI Training and Events which is based in the Victoria Building on the University’s campus at Middlesbrough.

Dionne said: 'We’d talked for a while about doing something like this, but being made redundant gave us a bit of a kick.

'We spoke with the enterprise team who discussed our business idea and helped us take it forward.

'I don’t think we would have got this far without them.

'We have hit stumbling blocks but they have always been there to help us.'

CSI Training and Events operates in four main sectors, education, corporate events, consultancy and parties.

The company’s education programme ranges from Key Stage Two through to University.

Angela and Dionne attend schools and colleges to give workshops and demonstrations aimed at encouraging more young people to consider maths and science-based subjects.

They have also worked to deliver modules as part of university degree programmes.

The corporate events and team-building exercises run by Angela and Dionne are based on true to life crime scenarios.

Participants are split into groups and analyse multiple crime scenes using core skills such as communication, logical thinking and problem solving to work out what had occurred.

The consultancy section of the business is one which Angela and Dionne believe makes them unique in their field.

The pair will work with businesses to ensure that should the worst happen and they are a victim of crime, vital forensic evidence which could catch the culprit is not destroyed or tainted.

They also look at how they can maximise forensic potential within an environment - helping businesses to help the police.

While CSI Training and Events primarily focuses on the serious side of crime scene investigating, Dionne and Angela were regularly asked if they could help with children’s parties and hen and stag parties; so much so that they felt they could not ignore this popular market.

As a result, they present CSI scenarios in a more a light-hearted manner issuing participants with detectives’ badges and taking them through processes such as fingerprinting.

Angela, who also completed a MSc Mass Fatality Management and Victim Identification degree at º£½ÇÖ±²¥, added: 'Although CSI Training and Events does quite a lot of different things, everything that we do is based on the same principles.

'The only thing that we change is how we deliver it and the level of ability we deliver it to.

'We also feel we need to stay fresh and keep up-to-date with CSI techniques so we also offer freelance investigation work and are currently applying to be members of an international disaster team.' Laura Woods, Director of Academic Enterprise at º£½ÇÖ±²¥, said: 'Angela and Dionne have a truly innovative business covering a wide range of different markets.

'We are delighted that we have been able to help them overcome the obstacles associated with starting a business and wish them every success in the future.'

This project is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-2013 is bringing over £300m into the North East to support innovation, enterprise and business support across the region.

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