Latest Edition		Archive		Shop		Email		Mersey Reporter

.CLICK TO SEE OUR RECOMMENDED BUSINESSES
 

Weekly Edition - Published  28 March 2016

Local News Report - Mobile Page

Grassroots organisations given funding from PCC to cut crime and protect communities

12 grassroots organisations which work to cut crime and protect communities on Merseyside have been awarded a share of more than £132,000 by the Police Commissioner.

Jane Kennedy received dozens of bids from community groups, charities and 3rd sector organisations after opening up applications for grants from her Crime Prevention Fund for the 3rd year running. A total of 116 bids were submitted for grants of between £5,000 and £25,000 with the total combined value being requested amounting to more than £1.7m.

The aim of the fund is to help local groups protect their communities, by stopping problems before they occur, reducing the opportunities for crime and by preventing people from becoming involved with anti social and illegal behaviour.

Jane has announced the 12 successful organisations which will each be given a share of this round of funding to make a difference in their neighbourhoods. Many of the organisations focus on preventing young people getting involved with crime and raising their awareness of key issues.

Among the successful organisations was the Royal Court Liverpool Trust, who was awarded £20,000, to continue to run their hard hitting drama Terriers. Terriers has received rave reviews from schools for helping to raise awareness among young people of the dangers of getting involved with gun and gang crime.

The Commissioner also awarded £15,000 to the Ariel Trust to help run their 'It's not OK!' project aimed at providing resources to support teachers to deliver preventative education to young people on a range of issues, including domestic, homophobic and online abuse.

The funding will also go to Breckfield and North Everton Neighbourhood Council (BNEC) to help them deliver their Making Waves project which delivers both outreach and centre-based services for young people living in areas of high deprivation. £18,000 was allocated to BNEC to help run a free gym and fitness sessions, as well as gun and knife crime awareness workshops.

A scheme to improve the skills, lives and well being of unemployed young people in some of Liverpool's most deprived areas will also benefit from the grants. Employability Solutions received £9,000 to help run their 'This is my Story' project which focuses on tackling gun and gang related problems in the Speke and Garston area.

Other successful projects will look to increase awareness of forced marriage in schools which have been identified as having high risk students, a scheme to prevent repeat incidents of domestic abuse, increase knowledge and awareness of abusing legal highs and substance in schools, colleges, workplaces and youth clubs across Merseyside and a scheme which supports serious substance misusers to recover from addiction.

The funding will also be used to support Liverpool Pride by providing funding for its 'COME OUT of the shadows' campaign which will see popular landmarks across the City lit up to help build awareness of LGBT issues. The project will initially see the Three Graces, the Radio City Tower and the Wheel of Liverpool illuminated.

Jane said:- "Once again I received a staggering response to my invitation for bids for my Crime Prevention Fund. The number and quality of the bids I received demonstrates the wealth of fantastic initiatives taking place across Merseyside to prevent and tackle crime and keep our communities safe. I am delighted to announce that 12 organisations will in 2016 benefit from a cash boost from the Fund. Each of these organisations are taking an innovative approach to addressing the issues they have identified in the communities they serve. They each showed genuine passion and a real drive to make a difference. Providing these small grants to prevent crime before it occurs can have a huge impact in the long term by helping to deter people, especially young people, from entering the criminal justice system, reducing the number of victims and making our communities better places to live. I look forward to seeing all these projects being delivered over 2016."

Organisations who applied for the funding needed to show how their project would work to tackle the objectives set out in the Commissioner's Police and Crime Plan. These include tackling serious and organised crime, preventing crime and anti social behaviour, providing a visible and accessible neighbourhood policing style, supporting victims, protecting vulnerable people and maintaining public safety.

Applications needed to demonstrate how the initiative would deter individuals from committing crime, reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system, or lower reoffending. They were also assessed to see how well they would protect vulnerable communities.

Read this page.