Young people from across County Durham and Darlington will be able to apply for funding to cut crime and improve the safety of their communities thanks to a new fund launched this week by Libby Wright the newly elected ‘Young’ Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.
The £20,000 fund is made up of £10,000 from Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner Ron Hogg and £10,000 from County Durham Community Foundation.
Part of Libby’s role is to encourage youth participation in activities that address crime, and to support youth community safety projects.
The Young PCVC Community Safety Fund will provide grants up to £5,000 for projects that address any of the following objectives from PCVC Ron Hogg’s Police, Crime and Victims’ Plan:
• Improving road safety
• Reducing anti-social behaviour
• Reducing rural crime
• Awareness of drug addictions or alcohol misuse
• Reducing re-offending
• Support for victims of crime and anti-social behaviour
• Meeting the needs of vulnerable people, such as people with mental health problems, or children at risk
• Raising awareness of cyber crime
• Domestic abuse and sexual violence
• Hate crime
• Emerging threats e.g. extremism
The Fund is open to any young person aged from 9 – 18 year old living in County Durham or Darlington to support community projects. To be eligible to apply, you must have the support of an organisation, youth group or school who knows you and can comment on your abilities to run your project. This might include charitable organisations, community organisations, Police Cadets, Fire Cadets or the Mini-Police, schools or uniformed services.
Libby said: “I am looking forward to working together with young people across County Durham and Darlington to make our communities safer for this generation and the next.”
Ron said: “It’s always great to see young people getting involved and trying to make a difference in our communities.”
You can apply by completing the online form available on County Durham Community Foundation’s website. Applications will be accepted from today until November 7. Libby will then chair a committee of young people to select the successful projects.
