Ceble Crockwell knows better than most how the new Peace Builder programme could make a difference to families feeling the pain of Bermuda’s gang violence epidemic.

Ms Crockwell said her family had few people at the hospital to turn to for support when her brother, Fiqre, was shot dead in June 2016.

Now Ms Crockwell has signed up as a Peace Builder, and vowed to be on the front line to comfort others in similar situations.

She was one of more than 60 people at a training session on Saturday for the Peace Builders initiative, which aims to give ordinary citizens the tools to support neighbourhoods, reduce tensions and offer reassurance during crises ranging from antisocial behaviour to natural disasters.

Ms Crockwell told The Royal Gazette: “I attended the session because my brother was murdered in 2016 and a Peace Builder is something or someone that I could have used in my experience of my brother’s passing.

“At the hospital, I only had the police to deal with and it wasn’t a pleasant experience, so a Peace Builder at the hospital at the time of my brother’s death would have been something I would have appreciated.”

Mr Crockwell was fatally wounded as revellers left a Bermuda Heroes Weekend function at the BAA car park in Pembroke. He was a Cup Match and Bermuda cricketer, and his death caused devastation for the sporting community as well as the Crockwell family.

Ms Crockwell, 35, from St George’s, said having someone outside the family to provide the “calmness we needed” would have been a great help.

She added: “I just hope that one day I could be that person for someone if they need the assistance.”

Ms Crockwell, who is also a member of violence support group Mothers on a Mission Bermuda, said she was “pleasantly surprised” by the programme.

“I just feel like our experience can help other families who are either going through it or in the future,” she said.

“I’m not hoping that it happens but if it does happen, we will be well-equipped and trained to assist other families.”

Shelley Steede, of Hamilton Parish, described Peace Builders as “important” and “overdue”.

“The training is good and I’ve learnt a few things from what has come up,” Ms Steede said.

“It makes us more prepared and enhances us as individuals. We will become assets and agents for change. It could be a hurricane, it could be something in your own neighbourhood and I believe that a lot of times, even though people want to help, we need boundaries.

“We need to know when to be quiet, we need to know when to listen, facilitate and how to do what we need to do.”

Ms Steede, who is over 60, said that people were needed from all walks of life and every part of Bermuda.

She added: “We need to be equipped and prepared because it is going to take us, as a community, to really make a difference in the community”.

John Maxwell, 62, said it was fantastic that the programme was attempting to get to the bottom of the island’s antisocial behaviour problems and change attitudes.

He said: “It’s excellent because it’s seeking to go to the core where the problem stems from in the community and bring remedy to that.”

Mr Maxwell said he could see people getting involved in the community without being asked and helping families “because often that’s what’s needed”.

A total of 61 people took part and Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, said it was “refreshing to see such significant community involvement”.

He added: “We believe that working together as a community is how we can reduce some of the gang-related and antisocial behaviour in the community.”

Mr Caines said Peace Builders would not police the community but provide assistance, guidance and be a reassuring, physical presence while also identifying needs in the community.

He added: “There are different levels of support that you could offer.

“There will be people on the front lines, there will be people behind the scenes, there will be people that are just going to donate financially.

“It is finding out where you fit in, where your strengths are, what your area of expertise is, what you’re passionate about, what your comfort level is and then finding the appropriate place where you can fit on this continuum.”

Pastor Leroy Bean, the island’s gang violence reduction co-ordinator, said he was pleased with number and diversity of people who signed up.

He said: “We have a mixed group of people, which is excellent, because this event was not just for a particular people — it was for all of Bermuda.”

Mr Bean said Saturday’s session provided training for dealing with the likes of gang violence, a hurricane or even a tsunami.

He explained that it was the first of three sessions and added that participants would be vetted before the next training.

Topics covered on Saturday included mental health and gangs, mental health first aid, managing a crisis, disaster management, understanding grief and getting people to understand their role at a crime scene.

Among the speakers were Carla Bean, Cherita Raynor, Shawnee Basden, Petra Spencer-Arscott, Steve Cosham, Superintendent Darrin Simons and Jeelise Allen.