Community projects aiming to prevent violent crime before it occurs will receive a share in the largest single investment in crime reduction ever made in Cleveland.
20 projects will receive a share in the £500,000 fund, launched earlier this year by the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV).
Applications were welcomed from community groups, social enterprises, public sector bodies and non-profit organisations with initiatives to support people affected by, at risk of, or involved in serious violence.
From the 47 applications received, 20 projects were selected for their proven success in delivering high-impact interventions and the value-for-money they offer.
The successful applicants are as follows:
Enhancing social skills
Chris Cave Foundation – £12,500
Arch Teesside – £21,298
Community Ventures (SHEROES) – £7,000
Three 13 – £28,087
Youth Focus North East – £27,064.74
Strength to Succeed (Elevate Programme) – £35,502
Barnardo’s (Bystander Project) – £30,873.44
Trauma-informed approaches
Daisy Chain – £7,424.20
Hazel Rockingham Neuro Linguistic Programming – £5,000
Safer Communities – £34,485
Barnardo’s (REACH Project) – £51,481
My Sister’s Place (Trauma-informed training for police officers) – £19,600
My Sister’s Place (Healing Together) – £11,695
Focused deterrence
Project Connect (Get Connected) – £30,000
Corner House Youth Project – £13,056
Sports projects
Teesside Lions – £30,000
Billingham Boxing Club – £10,000
The Lord’s Taverners (Wiketz Cricket) – £19,597
Hartlepool Huskies – £15,028.97
Night-time economy
Hartlepool Council – £30,585
Women’s Street Watch Middlesbrough – £20,000
Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner said: “We are just a few months into the long journey to dramatically reduce levels of violent crime in Cleveland.
“Already I’m delighted at the rapid progress we have made to help understand the drivers of violence and recruit a team dedicated to addressing them at their root cause.
“This is the largest investment in crime reduction measures ever seen in the Cleveland area. I cannot stress how important these interventions are in reversing the damage caused by violence.
“Many of the projects are aimed at people under the age of 24 and by working with people as young as 10 or 11, we have a chance to disrupt steps towards violence before they escalate.”
One of the successful initiatives is the Barnardo’s REACH project, which will receive £51,481 from the CURV fund to deliver services until March.
REACH is a music project, making use of a recording studio and highly skilled practitioners to use music as a therapeutic tool to address trauma in young people.
The project will specifically seek to work with children who display harmful sexual behaviour towards other young people, with an aim to reduce an escalation of their behaviour.
Clare Sullivan, Team Manager at Barnardo’s said: “We are delighted to be able to continue our valuable work supporting children and young people using music as a therapeutic tool.
“The enjoyment and progress that the young people have made so far has been fantastic to see and we look forward to seeing this continue.”
The delivery of the 20 intervention projects will be closely measured through an independent evaluation, to ensure they are making an impact on their target cohorts.
CURV was established earlier this year after the Government announced Cleveland will receive £3.5m over the next three years for a violence reduction unit.
The Unit seeks to develop a ‘whole-system’ approach to tackle the factors that cause violent crime at their source.