PCC confirms continued investment to protect young people from crime and serious violence

Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston has announced continued investment in youth projects designed to turn young people away from crime and serious violence.   

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough PCC has secured additional national grant funding worth £599k for 2025/26 as part of the Serious Violence Duty. This funding will be invested into interventions aimed at preventing serious violence and transforming young lives.  

Early Intervention and Prevention is a key pillar of the Commissioner’s new Police and Crime Plan, and he is working with a multitude of local partners to support young people from being drawn into crime.  

In 2024-25, almost 3,500 young people and over 300 adults were reached through funding secured by the Commissioner and partners as part of the Serious Violence Duty. The Duty, introduced in January 2023, requires organisations to work together to reduce and prevent serious violence by treating the root causes as part of a Public Health approach. 

In the first quarter of 2025/26 (April to June), over 250 young people and more than 50 adults have been reached with the funding supporting 16 different early intervention and prevention projects up to the end of March 2026. 

The Commissioner is working closely with partners to engage young people at the earliest opportunity to prevent them making harmful choices that could make them vulnerable to County Lines, serious violence, and other criminality.  

Projects being delivered in 2025/26 as part of the Serious Violence Duty include: 

• Detached youth work in serious violence and anti-social behaviour hotspot areas – supported by Cambridgeshire County Council, Romsey Mill and Peterborough City Council, this involves specialist youth workers engaging with young people in the spaces they choose to meet. 

• VAWG prevention initiatives, involving the countywide expansion of Businesses Against Abuse awareness training through a grant to Cambridge and Peterborough Rape Crisis Partnership for additional sessions. 

• The Trusted Adult Scheme through Anglia Ruskin University – this project provides opportunities for young people to participate in new activities and engage with trusted adults in a safe space. 

• Youth diversionary activities in each Community Safety Partnership area – this includes sports programmes, art projects, and the delivery of court experiences days. 

Two youth diversion projects, Fenland Youth Work Network and Fenland Youth Tribe, have received national recognition for their efforts supporting vulnerable young people aged 11-18 in after-school activity. The grassroots projects, which won a Local Government Chronicle national award for Community Involvement, provide a safe and nurturing environment for hundreds of young people where they can meet, connect with trusted adults, build self-esteem, and develop the skills needed to make positive life choices.  

The Commissioner chairs the Countywide High Harms Board and works side-by-side with partners to take a preventative approach to drugs, serious violence, serious and organised crime (SOC) and violence against women and girls (VAWG), maximising the impact of national funding opportunities.  

A key success for Cambridgeshire Constabulary has been the coordination of national funding streams to embed qualified young people’s workers from Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council with neighbourhood policing teams to patrol with officers, build bridges with young people in hotspot areas and to acquire a deeper understanding of why ASB and disorder is occurring.   

The workers have engaged one-on-one with several young people who are responsible for disproportionate volumes of ASB in their communities, ensuring they receive the right help to change their behaviour.  

Darryl said: “Crime and violence ruins lives. While we are fortunate not to experience the intensity of knife crime and violence as other larger cities, we cannot afford to allow these problems to gain a foothold in our communities. This means investing in prevention to tackle the risks now. 

“As a former police officer, I have seen firsthand the devastating consequences of violence, and I know how easily young and vulnerable people can cross the line when they feel there is no alternative. We cannot afford to allow this to happen. Working alongside our partners, I will ensure this funding is invested in the most effective and meaningful way to tackle the deep-rooted issues that can fuel criminal behaviour and violence to start with to permanently break the cycle.” 

In fulfilling his Early Intervention and Prevention priority, the Commissioner continues to fund and contract manage the Respect Young People Programme which works with young people and their families and carers over 12 weeks to address child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse, improving the safety and protection of parent/carers and other family members, changing behaviour and improving communication and reducing the risk of violence in the household