Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe (right) and Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Emma Daniell (left) are joined by grants winners and commissioned services providers in 2023/24.
Crime-busting projects and initiatives to support victims and improve community safety are receiving more than £2.2 million from Warwickshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe.
Funded from his annual Commissioner’s Grants Scheme and through his programme of commissioned services, the schemes all support the Commissioner’s overarching ambition to reduce crime, support victims and make communities safer.
This year, the Commissioner’s Grants Scheme is supporting more than 50 projects which sought to either prevent crime or anti-social behaviour or to divert people away from a life of crime. For road safety initiatives, schemes targeting unsafe road use or dangerous driving behaviours or provide interventions to encourage safer use of the roads were also supported.
When taken with the in-year funding for commissioned services and funding provided to the county’s Community Safety Partnerships, it means more than £2.2 million is being provided to fund projects supporting the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan for Warwickshire.
Among the new projects supported this year is the Helping Hands charity, with the funding helping to support people with homelessness, addiction and mental-health problems across Warwick District. These individuals would otherwise be on the fringes of the Criminal Justice System or at risk of victimisation themselves because of their circumstances.
The Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative will also receive funding to support its work targeting and preventing prolific offending in shops and licensed premises across the county.
In Nuneaton, a number of projects will benefit, including the CHESS Youth Club in Camp Hill through funding to Target Youth Support and the popular Aspire in Arts charity for its work on knife crime awareness in nine schools in the borough, as well as one in Rugby.
Meanwhile, the Rugby-based Futures Unlocked charity is one of several previous recipients of grants who have again been successful in this year’s awards. The charity works with people after their release from prison, providing practical support and advice to turn their lives around and break the cycle of offending.
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: “A key part of my role is to ensure that a wide range of projects which help prevent crime and anti-social behaviour or support people to move away from crime have the funding they need to make a real difference in Warwickshire.
“My annual grants scheme supports organisations of all shapes and sizes who do fantastic work to help make Warwickshire a safer place for us all. This year we have a range of projects which support different aspects of my Police and Crime Plan, with a mix of organisations which are new and others that are familiar to us.
“When considered alongside the other services for victims I fund through my commissioning programme, this makes for a multi-million pound commitment each year to reduce crime, support victims and make communities safer.”
Neil Henderson from Safeline presents to the event.
Representatives of the grants recipients and other services for victims commissioned by Mr Seccombe came together recently at The Benn Hall in Rugby, to receive thanks and showcase their work to a range of partners, including Warwickshire Police, Warwickshire County Council and Community Safety Partnerships.
The aim of the event was to enable greater co-ordination between services and boost knowledge among public-facing services of the range of specialist support that is available to help support victims and divert people away from crime.
Among those presenting at the event were Victim Support, domestic abuse charity Refuge, sexual violence support service Safeline, children’s charity Barnardo’s and the West Midlands Anti-Slavery Network. Drug and alcohol intervention specialists Change Grow Live and Compass also presented about their work helping adults and children and young people at risk in the Criminal Justice System.
Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Emma Daniell added: “A key aspect of the Commissioner’s funding programme is encouraging organisations big and small to work together for the benefit of the community. Our event at Benn Hall was a great opportunity to bring them together so they could showcase their projects and also hear from our range of commissioned services to understand what help and support is available for victims. We heard some inspiring stories and we are excited to see how some of those collaborations begin to come together.”
A full list of all of the organisations receiving a grant in 2023/24 can be found on the Police and Crime Commissioner’s website at: www.warwickshire-pcc.gov.uk/your-pcc/commissioners-grants/.
Service providers and grants recipients joined partners for the event at Rugby’s Benn Hall.
