Police Commissioner awards more than £12,000 to projects for young people

JASON Ablewhite, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has today (23rd May) announced the new recipients of his Youth and Community Fund for 2019/20 totalling £12,494.

The projects, based all over Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, were all successful in bidding to the Commissioner’s Youth and Community Fund.

The Fund aims to engage young people in positive activities in their community in line with the Commissioner’s pledge to ‘support work with young people to divert them away from a life of crime’. The projects must aim to build relationships and improve engagement between young people and their communities. Charities and community groups are invited to bid for grants of up to £3,000.

The Commissioner’s Youth & Community Fund distributes funds from the Police Property Act Fund. This is not from the Police main budget, but was created from the sale of recovered stolen items where the owners are not known and cannot be traced. Items go to auction and the Commissioner uses these funds to support his Youth & Community grant.

The projects awarded were:

• The Muslim Council of Peterborough for a project providing safeguarding training to raise awareness of signs of abuse and ill-treatment of children and young people to isolated and vulnerable communities.

• Stretham Youth Centre for targeted work directing young people away from engaging in anti-social behaviour and low level criminality.

• Thrive Youth Work, a Christian project based in Huntingdon for their ‘Gauntlet Auto Project’, set up for students to build positive relationships and develop practical skills in motorcycle riding and mechanics.

• Ormiston Families for their ‘Breaking Barriers’ project across Cambridgeshire, as well as Bedfordshire and Essex to support young people who have a parent in prison.

• The Prince’s Trust for their Community Project to produce and deliver a video to raise awareness of knife crime and to deliver to a local school in Peterborough.

These four projects joined other organisations who have previously been awarded funding, such as ‘KICK Youth’ based in St Ives, a youth club for young people. Another was for a performing arts project run by ‘LEADA Cambs CIC’, both of which have worked to improve community relations and reduce the vulnerability of young people.

Successful recipients for 2018/2019 grants will be celebrated at a Youth and Community Fund celebration event in June, hosted by the Police and Crime Commissioner

Police and Crime Commissioner, Jason Ablewhite said:

“My Youth and Community Fund has enabled grassroots diversionary projects to get off the ground. From boxing clubs to projects helping care-leavers move into training, a host of projects has already benefitted from the funding.
“I am delighted to award these funds to support young people to participate in their local community. These projects encourage young people to engage more with their communities and learn new skills along the way.

“It is heart-warming to see how a small amount of money can make such a significant difference and lead to long term benefits for young people and the communities they are part of.”

More information about the funding can be found here: https://www.cambridgeshire-pcc.gov.uk/get-involved/funding/