Commissioner's Safety Fund

Organisations who support victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are being invited to apply for funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner.

For Round 6 of the Commissioner’s Safety Fund, £111k has been made available to fund domestic abuse and sexual violence services providing support to victims and witnesses affected by the delays in the Criminal Justice System.

In April 2022 criminal barristers in England and Wales begun industrial action which resulted in an indefinite strike which started on 5^th September. Whilst the Criminal Bar Association voted to end its strike on 10^th October, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures, more than 6,000 court hearings have been disrupted as a result of the dispute. Courts in England and Wales are already dealing with a large backlog of cases, made worse by the pandemic, and this has been exacerbated by the lack of available representation plus the strike action.

The Commissioner wishes to provide funding support to organisations delivering domestic abuse and sexual violence services who have been directly impacted by the recent delays in the Criminal Justice System.  He is keen to receive applications for projects which support victims directly whilst their cases are progressing through the criminal justice system. Applicants may bid for up to £10,000 for a 12-month project.

Full details of how to apply are held in the Guidance Notes which are available to download below with the rest of the relevant application information:

• Guidance Notes
• Application Form
• Eligibility Statement

To increase the 'Recreational Arts as Art Therapy' groups to provide mental health support, engage the homeless and vulnerable housed, keeping them off the streets for longer

• To provide grassroots crime prevention programmes and training to young black Africans at risk of offending
• To delivery pro-active anti-social behaviour and crime prevention amongst young black people In LLR
• To educate young black males on the Criminal Justice System and the Peelian Principles of Policing in England and Wales

• To provide 'The Jungle', a two day a week youth club open to young people between the ages of 11-14.  Sessions will run between 4pm and 5.30pm to allow young people to attend directly from school
• To engage 114 young people who will each have the opportunity to attend for a minimum of 6 weeks
• To provide a safe and aspirational setting to prevent yung people from participating in violent crime and harmful lifestyles

• To recruit a specialist Youth Worker to work with young people, assess their needs, refer onto youth mentoring and support programme
• To support young people who are at risk of falling into crime, by providing alternative activities and guiding them towards a positive life free from crime
• To tackle anti-social behaviour through delivering sessions of peer mentoring and providing a programme of positive actions

• To develop and expand existing Cops Community Consent project
• To run 3 Expo events in LLR Sixth Form or further Education colleges which will raise awareness of police careers and key anti-crime messages
• To expand and create new joint Police-SPC seminars titled 'Community Cases' which will focus on crime priorities
• To deliver 2 RISE establishment young adults' leadership programmes which will incorporate the raising of awareness of key crime priorities.  To be delivered in partnership with Leicestershire Police

• To provide an open-access weekly youth club located in St Matthews Centre every Wednesday 6pm to 9pm, targeting Somalie males aged 14-21
• To provide a safe space for young people to spend time, build positive relationships, try new activities and sports and become aducated and aware of key topics
• To strengthen protective factors in the Somali youth by providing positive role models through staff, positive opportunities and new activities to be delivered in line with advice and guidance from the VRN

£10,000.00

To fund a Senior Sports Coach and Assistant Sports Coach for 12 hours per week; management support for one hour per week; as well as other associated costs, enabling the beneficiary to facilitate the project.

The purposes of the project is to provide diversionary activity in the form of daily sports provision for yourng people, straight after school hours until the late evening and on teh weekends.  The activities will be aimed at 10 to 21 years who live in St Matthews and East Leicester Area

To fund 2 paid youth workers to facilitate youth drop-in sessions 3 times per week engaging 25-30 young people per session.

To provide a 'safe place' for young people with complex needs.  Providing a range of activities including pool, karaoke, arts and crafts and discussion circles as well as providing hot food and drink.  To develop the young peoples' confidence and encourage them to engage in new opportunities.

To provide face-to-face intervention sessions to girls (aged 10 to 16 years) currently working with youth services, focusing on prevention and future-focused positive engagement.  Interventions to consist of activities based around female empowerment with decisions made by young people to empower them and develop their emotional well-being.

To delivery weekly 2-hour sessions, engaging 8-12 young people in each session and 60 yung people across the whole project

To fund a Project Lead, 6 Youth Workers, a designated Safeguarding Lead and Therapist to deliver the project.

To deliver Strand 1 to medium to high-risk young people - key workers and trained therapists will work intensively on a one-to-one basis to help the children and young people integrate into Strand 2 of the project or refer them to partner agencies.  The purpose of Strand 1 is to engage and divert high-risk young people to move away from ASB and crime and reintegrate into community projects, formal agencies as well as family networks.  39 sessions will be delivered over a 12-month period, taking place on a weekly basis.

To deliver Strand 2 to low risk young people - three social action projects that have been chosen by children and young people in a recent consultation.

1. F.U.N.K.I.  Cafe (Fun, Unique, New, Kool, Inclusive): A cafe experience that includes cooking and eating, barista training and socialising
2. Teenfluencers:  A social media creative development and marketing project that aims to create and spread positive messages to young people with incentives of prizes and raffles to encourage creativity and online sharing.
3. Live the Game:  A football project that will develop football skills, improe physical fitness, encourage socialising and develop team building skills and confidence.

The purpose of the funding is to cover the cost of 2 assistant football coaches for 1 hour per week each (for 40 weeks), football field usage and assocaited costs, a boxing coach for 1 hour per week (for 40 weeks), venue hire for boxing sessions and venue hire for addiction support drop-in sessions.

The project will include:

• Football - providing FC Belgrave's existing schedule of football training sessions and expanding the current offering by holding new sessions in collaboration with Nirvana FC, engaging 150 young people weekly
• Boxing - partnering with the Gurdwara Shri Guru Dashmesh Sahib to hold new regular boxing training sessions
• Addiction Support - partnering with Jit Chauhan of 7events Local CIC to support community initiatives aimed at curbing addiction, engaging 150 young people monthly

Funding will contribute towards the cost of the staff,venue hire and the resources required to deliver the project.  The project will provide two 3-hour yough sessions weekly over 40 weeks with termly external visits during each 12 week block.  25 young people will be engaged in each session equating to 250 unique young people and 50 family members over the projects duration.

The purpose of the project is to offer diversionary activities and enable young people to engage in recreational activities alongside access to mentoring support from youth workers.  The young people will develop their understanding of risks of getting involved in criminal activity and their focus channelled into engaging in weekly activities that will aim to give young people a sense of community

Funding will contribute towards a Project Coordinator, Sessional Staff and delivery costs.

The project will offer a one year 'recovery' youth service for the Spinney Hills community.  Based in Wesley Hall Community Centre, it will support yung people aged 11-16, offering structured youth sessions including sports and arts, along with direcged intervention to promote communal understanding between different sections of the community.

Group sessions will operate three times per week on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Small groups and one-to-one support sessions will be booked on a needs basis to offer intensive support to help young people most at risk of engaging in anti-social behaviour.

The aim of the project is to get young people from all religions and back grounds to work together, to understand their differences whilst also recognising and building on their similiarities.

The project will support more than 200 young people in a year during three sessions per week for 48 weeks and offer approximately 20 young people one-to-one support and 10 small group sessions per year.

The purpose of the funding is to provide a Youth Worker, Assistant Youth Worker and cover associated project costs.

The project will provide a safe social space for young people to prevent isolation and boredom and sustain social networks, targeting refugees, unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people and new arrivals.  the project aims to support young people's personal and social development; improve young people's physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing; and raise young people's aspirations and build their resilience.

The Youth Club will run open drop-in sessions on Tuesday and Friday in the City Centre.  Activities ill include various indoor sporting activities and a cybercafe.

The funding will cover the costs of three members of staff, room hire, resources and refreshements.

The project will consist of a boys only session for ages 10-13 on a Thursday evening with a maximum of 10-12 young people.  30 young people will be supported over the 24-month project.  The sessions will take place at the Team Hub games room where the young people can take part in gaming and other activities available based on their interests.

Discussions will take place around the challenges the young people are facing and ways to suppor tthem to deal with issues ina more positive way.

Each young person will be allocated a mentor who will set out an individual support plan.

Sensational Vibes will collaborate with Street Vibes to deliver 3 elements of youth programme to young people from Street Vibe's fully equipped vehicle.  The funding will cover the cost of three staff members, associated administration and Street Vibe bus hire.

The project will include:

1. Diversionary activity: Music production, offering a variety of skills soft skills
2. Mentoring: Youth workers workwith each young person, identifying challenges and goals and working out how to achieve them step by step
3. Anti-knife crime programme: A mix of education, information, self-awareness and self-care

15, 2-hour sessions will take place over 12 months, delivered by three mentors at four crime hotspots in Leicester on weekend evenings.

The project is aimed at 11-19 year olds and will provde the young people with an opportunity to engage in purposeful activities in a way that is culturally appropriate and relevant to them.  They will be able to gain vocational qualifications that help to improve their soft skills and build their confidence, breaking down the barriers to employment and participation in further education.  The funding will cover the salary costs, staff costs and operational/activity costs associated with the delivery of this project.

The sessions (3 hour session, once a week on site) will take place at the Greenacres Travellers site just outside Market Harborough.  The project will be run in partnership with the Prince's Trust using their 'Achieve' programme of courses.  15-20 young people will be supported through this project over the 12-month period.