Groups across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have just over one week left to bid for money to help make their communities safer from the latest round of Police and Crime Commissioner’s People Power Funding.
As part of his commitment to local communities, Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis is providing £500,000 in 2015/16 through the fund in the form of grants of between £100 and £3,000.
The window for the latest round of applications for People Power Funding opened on Saturday 1 August and closes on Monday 14 September.
The fund is supporting locally-driven community safety activities throughout Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. These could include providing long-term, sustainable positive activities for young people to help reduce anti-social behaviour, mentoring programmes for targeted local groups through to activities that reassure and improve the quality of life in local areas.
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. It’s about local ideas to sort out local issues like anti-social behaviour. If you’ve got a good idea, the People Power Fund may be able to help you achieve it.
“If you’re a community group with good ideas to cut crime or make your area safer go to the website now to find out more.”
People Power applications need to be sponsored by the group’s Neighbourhood Police Officer or PCSO and will initially be assessed by the local Community Safety Partnership.
The People Power Fund is one part of £2.5 million of Commissioner’s Community Funding for 2015/16. 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.
Partner agencies involved in community safety locally can apply individually or in collaboration.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner’s Locality Deal Fund has allocated money to local areas through working in partnership with local district and borough councils. Successful projects in all three funding streams are delivering 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, including application forms and animated videos about the funds, are available at www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/fund
