News

Half a million pounds invested in diversionary activities for nearly 12,000 young people to keep serious violence falling

25.07.24 - Merseyside

As the school holidays get underway, a bumper half-a-million-pound cash injection is being invested in diversionary activities for nearly 12,000 young people, focused on helping to ensure violence keeps falling in our region.

The huge investment has been announced by the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, and the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership (MVRP) through their new Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) designed to help prevent spikes in violence and antisocial behaviour over the summer holidays, autumn half term and other key times by engaging and supporting young people.

The money has been awarded to 30 brilliant grassroots community organisations across Merseyside to provide free, safe, positive activities for thousands of young people, helping them to gain new skills, increase their confidence and resilience and fill their time with memorable experiences over the school holidays.

From youth workers going out to in hotspot areas to mental health courses and leadership training, the grants will be used to reach and support at risk young people, build their trust, and help to steer them away from behaviour which could be harmful or dangerous.

Serious violence has already fallen by 23% across Merseyside in the past three years and in the past year alone there has been a decrease of 47.9% in hotspot areas.

This funding is focused on driving those figures down even further by providing funding to organisations which are working with vulnerable young people and in the areas hardest hit by cuts.

The YES brings together two successful funding pots - the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Youth Diversion Fund and the MVRP’s Arts | Culture | Sports Fund - to create one new super youth fund designed to provide bigger grants to reach more young people through even more ambitious and engaging projects.

To mark today’s announcement, the Police and Crime Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, and members of the MVRP are visiting one of the successful projects, Waterloo Hotshots CIC who will be using their funding to offer activities for up to 600 young people aged between five and 12.

The Sefton-based charity have been awarded nearly £15,000 to work with young people in one of the region’s most deprived areas, offering free tennis coaching and a range of outdoor sports including dodgeball, rounders, dance, and obstacle courses as part of their holiday club which will run every weekday during the summer.

They will also be offering forest school activities, such as den building and bug collection within a woodland area on the club’s grounds, as well as arts and crafts sessions and boxing sessions in the evening. They will also use the funding to run three ‘Monster Smash’ events during the autumn half term.

Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, said: “From graffiti and art classes to music sessions and DJing, capoeira, boxing and football, our successful YES projects are set to offer a treasure trove of activities and opportunities for young people across our region all focused on keeping them safe and preventing them from getting drawn into harmful behaviour.

“We know that young people overwhelmingly want to spend their time doing something positive.

“But sadly, after years of budget cuts those opportunities aren’t always available to them. We know the school summer holidays, when there are long light nights with little for young people to do, can often be the time when they are vulnerable to getting enticed into activities which be antisocial, criminal, or even dangerous.

“Serious violence is already falling in our region. Through our Youth Empowerment Scheme, we’re determined to prevent even more youngsters getting drawn into crime and instead give them the chance to try exciting new experiences, gain qualifications and broaden their horizons.

“By doing so, we are creating brighter futures for them, while helping to create nicer, better places to live, and reducing the burden on the police during peaks times of the year.”

MVRP’s Director Superintendent Georgie Garvey added: “We firmly believe that violence isn’t inevitable - it’s preventable - and the best way to stop it is to get upstream and support young people to keep them safe.

“The huge number of applications we received shows just how much this investment in our young people is needed.

“It is also yet further proof of how many fantastic grassroot organisations we have in our region who are committed to supporting young people and helping them to develop and thrive.

“While I only wish we could have funded more of the organisations, I am really excited to see the fantastic array of diverse activities which will be offered to young people across our region by the 30 brilliant grassroot groups who have received this cash boost.”

The YES was announced in May, offering community and voluntary groups the chance to bid for up to £25,000. A total of 183 organisations submitted bids making a total request for funding of £3.5m.

Of the 30 successful organisations, 10 are based in Liverpool, eight in Sefton and four in Knowsley, St Helens and Wirral.

The successful projects

Knowsley - four successful projects sharing a total £77,422 to offer activities for 3,871 beneficiaries

• Prescot North – Evolving Mindset - £24,997 - 50 beneficiaries - to provide a variety of regular sessions for local young people aged 11-18 including arts, sports, and employability.
• Page Moss - L14 Community House - £25,000 – 3,600 beneficiaries - to provide a variety of training sessions, prevention courses, and activity workshops to at risk youth in Page Moss aged under 25.
• Stockbridge Village – Stockbridge Village Galaxy FC - £5,000 – 160 beneficiaries - to deliver football-related activities in Stockbridge, purchase new equipment and kits and pay for FA coaching badges and DBS checks for new coaches.
• Whitefield – First Step - £22,425 - 61 beneficiaries - to deliver direct support to children who have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse including drama and art workshops, sessions exclusively for teenagers, and excursions they may not otherwise be able to experience.

Liverpool - 10 successful projects sharing a total of £173,078 to offer activities for 4,095 beneficiaries.

• Speke/Garston – Autism Adventures - £14,980 - 75 beneficiaries - to provide autism friendly boxing sessions and homestead activities.
• Princes Park – Capoeira for all - £22,891 - 50 beneficiaries - to provide sessions focussed on art and podcasts to divert young people away from violence.
• Yew Tree – Dovecot and Princes Drive Community Association - £20,000 - 250 beneficiaries - to provide a variety of activities to young people aged up to 25 including women’s empowerment, neurodiversity engagement, art therapy, and employability development.
• Norris Green – Norris Green Community Alliance - £18,450 – 180 beneficiaries - to provide regular activities and support for 8–13-year-olds along with holiday activities and residential trips.
• Everton – Positive Pathways Northwest - £24,800 - 250 beneficiaries - to send youth workers out to hotspot areas in Liverpool to develop trust and connections amongst the young people to signpost them to additional support.
• St Michael’s - St Michael’s Lark Lane - £8,992 - 40 beneficiaries - to support staff costs and overheads to deliver family mediation and counselling support to those with trauma, additional needs, and vulnerabilities.
• Yew Tree - The Lodge Holistic, Beauty Spa and Wellness Centre - £9,000 - 400 beneficiaries - to deliver a wellness programme for children, young people and families to support those dealing with trauma or living with difficult circumstances such as domestic abuse or addiction. Provision will increase during school holiday periods.
• Princes Park – Tiber Community- £20,655 - 200 beneficiaries - to deliver football, fitness sessions and mental health support to vulnerable young people or those at risk of crime and ASB during the summer, October, and February holidays.
• County - Walton Youth Project - £20,115 - 120 beneficiaries - to offer twice weekly diversionary activities to children and young people aged 8-18 who don't engage with traditional youth club settings.
• Riverside – Yellow House - £13,195 - 2530 beneficiaries - to provide art sessions for at risk and SEN children during key periods.

Sefton – eight successful projects sharing a total of £106,435 to offer activities for 1,447 beneficiaries

• Linacre – Community by Nature - £23,834 – 100 beneficiaries - to provide a forest school for at risk young people.
• Linacre – Conquer Life - £10,101 - 512 beneficiaries - to implement a Youth Engagement Initiative including six summer events, 30 spin classes, 20 chill zone sessions, two Halloween/bonfire events, and two art and craft projects.
• Ford – Litherland Youth and Community Centre - £10,200 - 90 beneficiaries - to employ one lead worker and one youth support worker to provide educational intervention groups around antisocial behaviour over 4-6 weeks.
• St Oswald – Netherton Feelgood Factory - £10,000 – 30 beneficiaries - to provide afterschool activities for young children aged 8-16 with age specific activities provided. Weekly activities will continue through school holidays.
• Netherton and Orell – Netherton Park Community Association - £10,000 - 40 beneficiaries - to provide a variety of sport and art sessions alongside wellbeing sessions to support at risk youth.
• Dukes – Parenting 2000 - £8,500 - 35 beneficiaries - to provide two sport sessions a week featuring boxing and football.
• Linacre – The Inclusive Hub - £23,800 - 40 beneficiaries - to work with 16-18-year-olds who are at risk by providing physical activity and 1-2-1 sessions for goal setting and support.
• Waterloo and Linacre – Waterloo Hotshots - £10,000 - 600 beneficiaries - to deliver regular tennis and boxing sessions, including a summer holiday club and tournaments in the October half-term.

St Helens – four successful projects sharing a total of £54,675 to offer activities for 730 beneficiaries

• Parr – People Empowered CIC - £22,282 - 350 beneficiaries - to deliver weekly diversionary activities for 10-25-year-olds including art, dance, and drama.
• Blackbrook – Powered by Hip Hop - £7,393 - 100 beneficiaries - to provide graffiti, DJing and parkour activities regularly and through summer and October half term.
• Town Centre – St Helens YMCA - £12,500 - 130 beneficiaries - to deliver creative and active sessions to young people beginning in July, as well as offering leadership training to a small number of participants.
• Parr – Vibe - £12,500 - 150 beneficiaries - to engage and divert young people away from antisocial behaviour through a range of activities, sessions exploring themes such as relationships and choices/consequences and potential accreditation through the Lord Derby award.

Wirral – four successful projects sharing a total of £88,390 to offer activities for 1,490 beneficiaries

• Birkenhead/Tranmere – Comics Youth CIC - £19,000 - 150 beneficiaries - to support at risk SEND young people with art based and holistic support.
• Birkenhead/Tranmere – Future Yard CIC - £20,000 - 930 beneficiaries - to establish an early intervention scheme for at risk young people over 36 weeks using music and unique and diverse cultural events to engage with them.
• Rock Ferry – Utopia Project - £24,640 - 110 beneficiaries - to deliver mentoring, sports and arts sessions to neurodiverse young people during the school holidays and term-time for the duration of the funding period.
• Seacombe – Youth Federation - £24,750 - 300 beneficiaries - To relaunch the boxing club in Seacombe to deliver sessions to young people to improve. physical and mental wellbeing and reduce the risk of engaging in crime and ASB.

Merseyside - 30 projects totalling £500,000 for 11,633 beneficiaries

What is the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership?

In total, 20 Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) have been established across England and Wales to help deliver the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy to tackle knife and gun crime and homicide.

Police and Crime Commissioners lead on commissioning these multi-agency units in their areas, bringing together strategic partners to deliver system-wide interventions to prevent and reduce crime.

In Merseyside, we renamed our unit to the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) because we believe the word ‘partnership’ reflects the way we work and approach this challenge.

The VRP brings together Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue, local government, National Probation Service, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the county’s Youth Offending Service, health and education professionals, community leaders and other key partners, all with the aim of reducing and preventing serious violence.