A rapidly expanding Lichfield Scouts group has been awarded £2,726 from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s People Power Fund to get more young people involved in outdoor activities.
The 7th Lichfield Scout Group has been given the funding to buy camping equipment so children can develop new skills and learn to work together.
The group, which is made up of Scout, Cub and Beaver sections throughout the city, brings together over 200 boys and girls a week, making it one of the biggest in the country.
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: “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 really impressed with the vibrant state of the Scout group when I met dozens of young people and leaders in Lichfield.
“A bit like the Staffordshire Police Cadets, Scouting activities are great for young people to express themselves and gives them a chance to keep active, take responsibility and learn to work together.
“It is important to engage with young people which mean we can intervene early to tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour.”
Group Secretary Fiona Lever said: “This much-appreciated funding has enabled the 7th Lichfield Scout Group to purchase durable tents and cooking equipment allowing our newly expanded Sections to all camp together.
“In order to remove our waiting list of over 100 children, we opened three new sections, one each for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts but we didn’t have the equipment to allow the existing and new members to camp at the same time. Camping is a fundamental part of Scouting
building children’s self-reliance and confidence.
“This funding will allow children to engage simultaneously in well organised, constructive activities and to learn and develop skills. Enabling all Sections to camp together will also improve cohesion and engagement. The equipment is expected to last for years meaning that many of Lichfield’s children will benefit from it.”
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. More details are available now at www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/fund.
