Press release issued on behalf of the Office for Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Clare Moody has awarded £449,000 in Police and Crime Grant funding to local authorities across Avon and Somerset.
Following successful bids for local crime prevention and community safety initiatives, the funding has been awarded to:
- Bath and North East Somerset Council,
- Bristol City Council,
- North Somerset Council,
- Somerset Council and
- South Gloucestershire Council.
Projects funded through the scheme include youth mentoring and sports programmes to:
- reduce antisocial behaviour,
- specialist support for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse,
- outreach youth work,
- substance misuse interventions and
- intensive support for people leaving custody and at risk of reoffending.
PCC Clare Moody said:
Preventing crime means more than responding when something has already gone wrong. It means investing in the people, services and opportunities that help stop harm from happening in the first place.
This funding will support projects across Avon and Somerset that are helping young people build positive futures, supporting victims and survivors, tackling antisocial behaviour and providing early help to people at risk of becoming involved in crime.
The projects receiving funding reflect the different needs of communities, but they share a common aim: intervening early, supporting those most at risk and preventing harm before it occurs.
Examples of projects receiving funding include:
- A sports and mentoring programme for girls and young women at risk of exploitation in Bristol
- A project in Somerset, providing trauma-informed support for women affected by addiction, homelessness and exploitation to reduce repeat shoplifting
- Intensive trauma-informed support for people with complex needs at key transition points, including release from custody, in North Somerset
- A specialist young people’s drug and alcohol worker in South Gloucestershire to provide targeted support linked to substance misuse, offending and antisocial behaviour
- Ongoing support for domestic abuse survivors and an intervention programme for young people at risk of criminal exploitation in Bath and North East Somerset
- Shared work across all five local authorities to improve the identification and safeguarding of victims of modern slavery
