Kevin Hurley, Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, has awarded a further £108,000 from his Community Safety Fund to organisations and projects supporting communities and promoting a sense of safety in Surrey.
A total of £627,370 was made available by the PCC for community projects to bid for in 2014/15. £100,000 of this has been committed to support domestic abuse outreach providers and a further £29,400 awarded to develop the service provided by the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre.
Organisations bidding for funds are expected to show how their work supports the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan and what the expected outcomes will be. Applications are assessed by a panel consisting of representatives from Surrey Police and the Office of the PCC, an independent member and the High Sheriff for Surrey.
Between April and June the PCC received seventeen applications totalling £235,862.00. Thirteen of these applications have been recommended for approval, totalling £108,001.
Kevin Hurley, Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, said:
“It is one of the privileges of this office to be able to support the many great organisations and people across the county who have the energy, ideas and commitment to do something positive for the community.
“The latest Community Safety Fund awards reflect our ambition to educate and divert people from falling into the trap of crime. Be it a teenager getting behind the wheel of their new car or a former serviceperson struggling to adapt to civilian life, one or two bad decisions can have catastrophic consequences. Hopefully, for some these projects will be the ‘stitch in time’ that will keep them safe and on the right path.
“I am also pleased to support projects to raise awareness of some highly important issues, including the appalling crime of Female Genital Mutilation; the implications of the war in Syria for young Muslims in Surrey; and the dangers faced by children using the internet.
“Moreover, it is good news that the support provided to young children who witness crimes can be boosted. The new team will be able to provide additional, specialist care to children at an extremely traumatic moment in their lives.
“I commend all of the projects and look forward to seeing their outcomes.”
Details of the successful projects are below:
Skaterham
£3540 has been awarded to this local voluntary organisation to subsidise a course in Cornwall for a group of six disenfranchised young people at risk of offending or exclusion from school. The organisation seeks to turn young people away from crime, improve their skills and build their respect for themselves and others. The organisation had raised two-thirds of the necessary funds themselves through sponsorship and other donations in order to help fund the trip.
Leatherhead Youth Project
£3500 was awarded to Leatherhead Youth Project to continue to run their weekly drop-in session for young men aged 14-18 who have been identified by the police as a concern or who are vulnerable/disadvantaged. The project aims to reduce ASB and helps young men to build better relationships within their communities.
Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum
£10,000 was awarded to pilot the delivery of awareness raising and educational sessions to address Domestic Abuse, Drug and Alcohol use, Gambling, and Mental Illness amongst Surrey’s minority communities, focusing on awareness, prevention, reducing stigma and partnership support.
Surrey Young Witness Service
This was a joint application submitted with support from Surrey Police to train and develop a new team of volunteers to support 4 to 11 year olds while they view their previously recorded video evidence. This reduces the demand on Police Officers who currently undertake this duty and who are not always able to provide the necessary level of support to a child victim. The new team will be able to spend more time and facilitate this viewing of evidence in the least traumatic manner. Surrey Police have committed to match fund the £3950 in order to maintain the service for two years.
The Eikon Charity
£3945 has been awarded to enable Eikon to provide football coaching sessions once a week over a period of 46 weeks to young people aged 13-19 years old. The training will be provided by two skilled youth workers, one of whom is a qualified football coach. This project has been piloted in the past and has been very successful building positive relationships between the young people and Surrey Police. The programme provides opportunities for young people to develop leadership skills and progress to coaching. The training sessions also focus on encouraging healthy lifestyles and include discussions on drug and alcohol issues.
York Road Project
The York Road Project requested £3781 to develop the skills of its residents in decorating and minor DIY. Many of the residents of York Road are repeat offenders and this project aims to offer them a route into employment by equipping them with tangible skills and boosting their self-esteem and confidence. This funding will enable the project to complete ten houses in the next year thereby also supporting vulnerable people who need help to maintain their homes.
Peer Productions
Peer Productions, an educational theatre charity, was awarded £12,000 to deliver workshops to junior schools to raise awareness of topics such as abuse in relationships, anti-social behaviour and substance misuse. The charity will also develop an interactive online toolkit covering the key issues which will be published and advertised to all schools.
Syria Community Consultation Event
The Surrey Police Prevent team were awarded a £500 contribution to run a conference in Woking to engage the communities with Police, Home Office and Foreign Office officials on the concerns arising from the ongoing conflict in Syria. The event aimed to provide an opportunity for open dialogue on between communities and those in authority to help improve the sense of safety in the area.
E-Safety Conference
A £5000 contribution was made towards a one day conference planned by Surrey County Council to raise awareness of the dangers faced by children and young people on the internet. The aim is to provide professionals with the practical advice on how they can minimise risk.
Safe Drive, Stay Alive
Surrey Fire and Rescue run an annual event to improve the road safety awareness of young people to improve attitudes to responsible driving. A grant of £35,000 was approved to provide transport for all schools to enable them to send their pupils to the events.
Gypsy Skills
Surrey County Council, Youth Support Service provide alternative education for young people from a Gypsy background who have disengaged from the education system. Currently they provide one day a week for 14 students and want to increase this to three days a week for a larger number of 13 to 15 year olds. It is estimated that no more than 20% of the Surrey Gypsy and Traveller communities attend secondary schools, funding was requested to provide English and maths education along with BTECs in either Home Economics or Construction. The panel though this application was extremely worthwhile but thought that funding should be matched by Surrey County Council. £12,600 was awarded and the Deputy PCC agreed to contact the Leader of SCC to encourage additional funding.
Female Genital Mutilation Conference
Surrey and Sussex Police are planning on running a joint multi-agency conference to raise awareness of Female Genital Mutilation. The aim is to improve how partners respond to concerns and incidences of FGM. Funding has been acquired from both forces, with the remaining costs being applied for from both OPCCs. Surrey PCC’s share of this is £2185.
Redeploy
Redeploy is a newly formed social enterprise, with the strategic aim of creating work for disadvantaged military personnel who have difficulty returning to civilian life. It is estimated that 60% of those leaving the forces end up unemployed, homeless or in prison. This scheme seeks to provide work in a supportive environment by providing a cleaning service. The panel agreed to fund £12,000 to assist with making improvements to the accommodation the company have.