The Police and Crime Commissioner has agreed to give £356,795 in funding to Middlesbrough Borough Council, Crimestoppers, Teesside University and Safer Communities.
Funding will deliver agreed outputs for Safer Streets 3 in Middlesbrough Town Centre and Newport areas.
Between 3 June and 15 July 2021, the Home Office opened applications for the Safer
Streets 3 Fund.
Safer Streets aims to address crimes involving Violence Against Women and Girls
(VAWG).
Prior to preparing the bid, the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland (OPCC) consulted women, girls and women’s groups to gain an understanding of when and
where women felt unsafe in Cleveland.
The OPCC submitted bids in partnership with two local authorities, Crimestoppers
and with the support of local women’s charities.
The bid in partnership with Middlesbrough Borough Council was successful and received funding of £381,771.
The project will target Middlesbrough Town Centre and Newport, which were selected due to
disproportionally high levels of VAWG.
Aims of the project
Key aims of the project are the following:
- Promote awareness around VAWG crime;
- Increase opportunities to prevent VAWG;
- Improve support for victims/survivors.
The main outputs of the project are the following:
- Selfie courses for young people to highlight appropriate behaviours and attitudes;
- Specialist IDVA to support for women experiencing stalking and harassment;
- Roll out of the Ask Me scheme to encourage victims/survivors to talk about their experiences;
- Promotional material to highlight VAWG issues and where support is available;
- Crimestoppers campaign to highlight VAWG issues, which will be linked to regional and national campaigns;
- VAWG workplace champion – to engage with businesses to provide training and develop VAWG champions;
- Engagement with Teesside University to look at providing personal safety items (e.g. personal alarms, torches) for students;
- Installation of static and mobile CCTV cameras;
- Improved street lighting;
- Appointment of a victim support officer to work with victims/survivors of VAWG;
- Personal safety items (e.g. alarms, mobile phones) for vulnerable victims.
Breakdown of the funding is as follows:
- Middlesbrough Borough Council – £263,795
- Crimestoppers – £25,000
- Teesside University – £30,000
- Safer Communities (VCAS) – £38,000
- Oversight and administration (OPCC) – £24,976
Decision Record Form 2021-0007580. Safer Streets 3 funding (application, 153kB)