News

More than 37,000 people set to benefit from 20 community-safety projects, thanks to PCC’s new fund

11.09.23 - Merseyside

More than 37,000 people across Merseyside are set to benefit from 20 projects funded by the region’s Police Commissioner to help increase safety and boost community spirit in their areas.

A community café for older people, a horticultural project for young people and a host of projects focused on tackling anti-social behaviour are all among the initiatives which have been awarded grants from Emily Spurrell’s new Neighbourhood Resilience Fund.

Neighbourhood groups are also set to use the funding to improve a shared garden, install CCTV, run classes for young people and hold sessions to increase community cohesion.

The Commissioner launched the Fund in June to help foster and maintain more resilient, safe, and caring communities across Merseyside.

It is designed to give community groups across Merseyside a small but vital cash boost to work with local police teams to solve problems in their area, and protect their neighbourhoods, while encouraging residents to be alert and aware of issues.

Among the organisations receiving funding are Onward Homes who have received a grant to provide two community hubs in areas which have been blighted by ASB. The events in Beechwood on the Wirral and on the border between North Liverpool and Knowsley will provide a safe space for residents to discuss their concerns with the police and other partners.

Also among the recipients are Maghull Town Council who will use the funding to create a Youth Council to increase understanding of what provision young people would like to see in the town and support the development of a volunteering scheme.

Several other organisations, including Rawden Residents Associations, Liscard Community Links and Team Oasis, will also use their grants to help transform and improve their spaces and create community gardens.

Funding will be used by the Fazakerley Federation to hold a weekly breakfast morning, while Age UK Wirral will put the money towards creating a community café in West Kirkby.

The launch of the Neighbourhood Resilience Fund is a key way the PCC is delivering on her priority of Supporting Victims and building Safer Communities.

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “Merseyside is full of communities that care. We benefit from having lots of brilliant community organisations which are working hard to make their areas safer, more resilient, and better connected.

“I launched my Neighbourhood Resilience to help support their efforts and empower local people to take action.

“From creating new communal spaces and green places to community cafes, breakfast clubs, improved CCTV and events to improve cohesion, there were some fantastic projects put forward.

“Whether it’s enabling a grassroots group to kickstart a new project or improve and expand their existing work, these grants are all designed to cultivate local resilience and security, whilst offering reassurance to the most vulnerable people living in their areas and boosting community spirit.

“I can’t wait to see the impact they have over the coming months and years.”

Groups applying to the funded needed to show how their project would prevent crime, increase community safety and cohesion, improve the environment or wellbeing of their community, make their roads safer, engage young people or build and enhance local networks.

The successful applications are as follows :

Cross Border

• Onward Homes to provide two community hubs in areas of high ASB to give communities a safe space to talk to services that are needed to improve community safety in the areas - Beechwood Wirral and North Liverpool (St Luke’s Close, North Liverpool)

Cross Border total = 1 project - £1,000 - 120 beneficiaries

Liverpool

• Rawden Residents Association - The project will offer planters and planting from a centralised community garden space to residents, building connections and improving the area and deterring crime and ASB. The project is also looking to use solar lighting in alleyways making dark spaces less hidden or discreet.

Cost: £798 - beneficiaries: 500

• Granby Toxteth Development Trust - The focus of the project will be working with 50 young members of the Roma community who are at risk of becoming criminalised and involved in ASB to help engage in positive.

Cost: £1000 - beneficiaries: 50

• The Shrewsbury Youth and Community Centre – To run a community evening once a week for 6 weeks in the China Street Park area with a BBQ and games for all community members and families helping to promote community cohesion, whilst also ensuring people are fed. The team will facilitate inter-generational discussions and will cross all aspects of the diversity in the community to encourage people to mix and build positive relationships within their community.

Cost: £1000 - beneficiaries: 40-150

• Fazakerley Federation- To hold weekly breakfast on a Friday morning in their community hub bringing together people in the community, where the local PCSO will be in attendance holding a police surgery. The community hub is perceived as a safe space, and this project will enhance opportunities for people to raise issues affecting their community safety and mental health.

Cost: £1000 - beneficiaries: 20

• Team Oasis – Dingle Liverpool South - The funds will help to continue with CCTV system. This contribution would assist in maintaining the safety and security of the community centre and surrounding area which has high levels of crime, ASB and deprivation.

Cost: £1,000 - beneficiaries: 300

• Bridge Community Centre – To provide a community hub, a safe space with trained volunteers for community members in Norris Green and Clubmoor to get help and support for a wide range of issues, such as ASB, domestic abuse, and wellbeing.

Cost: £1,000 - 800

 

St Helens:

• Think FAST Academy - Working with young people vulnerable to child exploitation using boxing and healthy exercise and strengthening resilience to make positive life choices.

Cost: £1000 - beneficiaries: 100

 

Knowsley: 

• Share Knowsley - to hold workshops with Refugees and Asylum Seekers on community integration, cultural awareness and how to stay safe in the community.

Cost: £700 - beneficiaries: 2,500

• Clockwork Studios Prescot CIC - to run art, tattoo, and graffiti projects for all ages in an area with high ASB.

Cost: £835 - beneficiaries: 100+

• Fairhaven Residents Association - CCTV provision, safety door chains, Neighbourhood watch posters for residents and to encourage drop ins with local police officers.

Cost: £1,000 - beneficiaries: 38

• Young Adults Respite CIC - Working in Huyton with a range of young adults with disabilities on what makes a good neighbour project finishing with a community cohesion event with neighbours in the surrounding area afterwards.

Cost: £1000 - beneficiaries: 100

 

Wirral

• Liscard Community Links- A horticultural project in Liscard Town Centre with residents and young people, and a refurbishment project of local youth provision at Wallasey Fire Station.

Cost: £1,000 - beneficiaries: 1,000+

• Wirral Change - Development of a community champion scheme training residents to tackle issues including hate crime and anti-social behaviour, and a diversity event fostering cultural appreciation and promoting community cohesion.

Cost: £1,000 - beneficiaries: 360

• YMCA Wirral - A partnership project between YMCA and Brooks Court to improve community cohesion and break down barriers between residents.

Cost: £650 - beneficiaries: 25

• Mid-Wirral Crime Prevention - To raise awareness and understanding of anti-social behaviour through informational leaflets, and a targeted poster campaign to encourage reporting.

Cost: £550 - beneficiaries: 2000

• Age UK Wirral - A new community café in West Kirby providing social value to residents through a free and safe community space and hosting key agencies including health and Local Policing to break down barriers.

Cost: £1,000 - beneficiaries: 9,000 (per month)

 

Sefton

• Friends of Maghull & District CIC (FOMD)- a social / environmental project to transform an inaccessible green space into an accessible place of wellness that will engage the community requires the construction and maintenance of a noticeboard to communicate support and engagement at every level in the town’s highest footfall area.

Cost: £1,000 - beneficiaries: 20,000

• Maghull Town Council - To engage the youth of Maghull by creating a Youth Council to improve the voice of young people and help the council understand what they need to improve provision for them, informing council actions. The Youth Council will also support the development of a Maghull Youth Volunteering scheme to engage students in local volunteering projects. These will include litter picks or engaging with projects such as the Cosy Club.

Cost: £1,000 - beneficiaries: Unknown at this stage

• Brunswick Youth and Community Centre - Residents will set up their own community steering group to meet monthly to discuss issues and solutions to help the community prosper and improve. Funding will support the development of this group and family activities to help divert children and young people away from anti-social behaviour and criminality. The group will also be used for community consultation and liaison with the police when asked to feed any concerns they have around crime in the Bootle Area.

Cost: £1,000 - Beneficiaries: Unknown at this stage