A popular community cricket club near Burntwood has been awarded funding from Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis’ People Power Fund to help stop crime.
Hammerwich Cricket Club has been awarded £2,884 to help tackle anti-social behaviour and crime in the area.
Following a number of burglaries, the club has used the money to install crime prevention equipment including steel doors and alarm systems to all out buildings. This will benefit 90 members of the club, which has a thriving youth section, and also 50 members of neighbouring Hammerwich Bowling club.
As part of his commitment to local communities, the Commissioner is providing £500,000 in 2014/15 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: “I have significantly increased the funding that local areas in Staffordshire have to make their communities safer.
“The Commissioner’s People Power Fund puts half a million pounds back into local communities and is easy and simple to apply for.
“I was extremely disappointed to hear about people breaking into the cricket club and am thrilled that the funding has allowed them to install equipment to prevent crime.”
David Henn, Chairman of Hammerwich Cricket Club, said: “A grant from the People Power Fund has enabled the club to complete security measures such as a palisade entrance gate. A CCTV system has been installed in and around the clubhouse and anti-ram telescopic barriers have been fitted.
“The club has now carried out all it possibly can do to deter thieves thanks to the People Power Fund.
“The club’s committee are always looking to make improvements and to develop the club. The next major project is to improve the practice facilities to accommodate the increasing number of both junior and senior members.”
The People Power Fund is one part of £2.5 million of Commissioner’s Community Funding for 2014/15. 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.
For more information on funding visit www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/fund.
