An Uttoxeter mental health charity has been awarded funding from Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis’ People Power Fund to offer support for young people.
Art and Soul Friendship Group is a non-referral support and drop in service that provides help and support for people that are suffering from severe and enduring mental health problems, giving them a safe and secure place to go.
The funding has allowed Art and Soul Friendship Group to extend their opening hours and open on Sundays, so that the service can benefit young people.
As part of his commitment to local communities, the Commissioner is providing £500,000 in 2015/16 through the People Power Fund in the form of grants of between £100 and £3,000.
The fund is supporting locally-driven community safety activities in communities throughout Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
Mr Ellis said: “In the past there has been high numbers of people in mental health crisis being locked up in a police custody cell which is fundamentally the wrong place for them to be held unless they have committed an offence. The ambition for cross-agency working in Staffordshire has really taken hold, which has led to a drop in detentions in custody.
“Art and Soul group offers a wide range of support to people, including youngsters, whilst working alongside the police to get people the right support when they need it.”
Vikki Baker, project manager for Art and Soul Friendship Group, said: “The funding was used for a Sunday session called PAUSE, which is a safe place for members of the public to come along on one of the loneliest days of the week.
“It offers people a get away from some of their feelings, namely isolation, loneliness, and thoughts of self-harm, when main stream services are closed. It is also an alternative place for the Police to sign post people who are in distress, as a significant amount of calls taken up by Staffordshire Police are mental health related.
“We work exceptionally well with the local police and PSCO’s, and we have been able to support them with members of the public on several occasions throughout the last couple of years, allowing them to go back to responding to other calls.
“Sunday PAUSE is open between 10am and 1pm and is also a day of relaxation, friendship, fun and laughter. Art and Soul continues to respond to the needs of the community.”
The People Power Fund is one part of £2.5 million of Commissioner’s Community Funding for 2015/16. The Commissioner’s Locality Deal Fund has allocated money to local areas through working in partnership with local district and borough councils. Meanwhile, the Commissioner’s Proceeds of Crime Fund is seeing 100 per cent of funding received by Staffordshire Police going back into local communities, through grants of between £3,000 and £15,000. It is made up of money seized from criminals as Staffordshire Police continue to strip offenders of their assets.
Successful projects in all three funding streams will deliver what’s important to local people based on the four priorities set out in the Commissioner’s Safer, Fairer, United Communities Strategy – tackling the root causes of crime through early intervention, supporting victims and witnesses better, reducing reoffending and increasing public confidence.
