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Community Fund projects 2019/20

£185,863 has been awarded to 28 projects

Kick Off@3, North Yorkshire Police

£902 Police Property funding awarded

Funding will enable a targeted group of young people from identified communities in North Yorkshire, to take part in a national police-led project that engages with young people through the medium of sports and music and raises awareness and funds for a range of charities that promote health and well-being in young people.

This police-led project will use sports and music to help break down barriers with vulnerable young people from hard to reach communities.   It will focus on teamwork, team building, health, positive relations and progression in life.

The project will help bring a range of communities and different backgrounds together though sport. Whilst doing this it reinforces a positive image of local policing, supports young people and police relationships and collaboration between two other local forces and Durham University.

Local neighbourhood teams will support the identification of young people to take part, aimed at diverting them away from anti-social behaviour with something constructive to focus on.

North Yorkshire Police Lifestyle Project, Countywide

£5,000 funding awarded

Lifestyle is a police-led competition that encourages groups of young people between the ages of 10 -17 to get involved in their community by designing and delivering a project to carry out over the summer holidays, that is of benefit to someone or something in the community.

It aims to reduce ASB and enhance community cohesion over this key time by having the participants involved in a positive venture, to improve relations between the police/partnership agencies and young people. Young people are given the opportunity to take an interest in their communities by looking to see what improvements can be made and how they can make life better for the residents.

Whilst Lifestyle is a fully inclusive competition, targeted work is carried out with those at risk of disengagement, who have already come to the attention of the police and/or social service/youth support services to support a positive change in behaviour and reduce their likelihood of becoming involved in offending or anti-social behaviour.

Begging Working Group, Harrogate Street Aid Project, Harrogate

£4,306 funding awarded

Harrogate Street Aid is a new initiative aimed at supporting the increased issue of street sleepers and beggars in the Harrogate District. Mirrored on the Cambridge Street Aid model, funding will support the development of a ‘tap’ terminal scheme, where the public are encouraged to donate via tap terminals rather than directly to individual beggars. 100% of the money donated goes directly to street sleepers and beggars via their support workers and charities – no cash is given.

The project’s approach will include a clear communication and education strategy. The initiative aims to:

  • highlight to the public the support partners who support beggars and street sleepers.
  • make grants available (not cash) to street sleepers and beggars to support them to make positive change;
  • demonstrate and educate the public that giving to individual beggars does not make real change.

Those in need of support will be identified by partners to the Community Safety Hub, to support as many as possible in different and individual ways, to lead to real change for street sleepers and beggars in the Harrogate District.

Directly supporting the Police and Crime Plan aims of Caring about the vulnerable and ambitious collaboration, the project aims to help provide an improved response to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of communities that are hard to reach. The initiative will maximise collaboration opportunities with local partners, including Harrogate Homeless Project, enhance community safety and related services including CCTV and will work with other areas, including York, who introduce a similar scheme, to share good practice and learning.

A planned, co-ordinated and collaborative demand reduction/prevention strategy that addresses the causes of demand to prevent harm, will aim to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour over the longer term.

Veloheads CIC Post 16 Programme, Harrogate

£17, 193 funding awarded

Veloheads deliver vocational, functional, independent living skills, personal development programmes and supported employment opportunities, to people between 16 and 25 with diganosed Social Emotional and Mental Health needs, who have current or past contact with the criminal justice system, to enable independent living by securing and maintaining employment.

Supporting the introduction of a new programme focusing on improving the employability and life chances of trainees between 16 and 25 who are in receipt of Education and Health Care plans and diagnosed with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH), funding will enable Veloheads to make the necessary improvements required at their Harrogate base.

Trainees will have previously experienced disrupted education through exclusions and some will have spent time in custody. 20 trainees will be referred through mainstream and special school careers advisers, Youth Justice Service, NYCC’s Early Care Team, Social Services , CAMHS and NYCC’s Area Reporting Officers. The full time trainees will engage with the flexible, personalised programme for 2 years, enabling young people leaving custody to be able to join the programme at any point in the academic year.

Addressing a gap in services with a key group, the programme aims to reduce the chances of trainees becoming victims of crime, whilst reducing the chances of them re-offending. Also supporting collaborative working, the project offers the opportunity for agencies and groups working with the trainees to have their objectives embedded in the trainee’s programme, whilst offering premises to meet the trainee and other professionals working towards the same objectives.

Scalby Sports Field Clubhouse Refurbishment and Security Improvements

£7,630 funding awarded

As part of a wider refurbishment project, funding will specifically support the crime prevention and security improvements required to a community building in an isolated rural location, to enable the local community to be and feel safer.

The project benefits a number of areas and the venue provides a range of sports for the local community to engage in, however due to its location, is also at risk of anti-social behaviour. An ability to target harden the building to support long-term use, will be enhanced by pro-active engagement from the local Neighbourhood Police Team.

The project aims to increase the number of people taking part in sport and using the facility, in conjunction with a reduction in incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour both at and near the ground.

York CVS Safe Places Scheme, York

£16,592 funding awarded

York CVS is a social action organisation that takes steps to make positive change, challenge issues and grow new ideas for the future which strengthen communities. Funding will support the continuation and expansion of York’s Safe Places Scheme.

Safe Places is a national voluntary scheme that provides safe and supportive places, which display a nationally recognised logo, in venues which are open to the general public, like libraries, shops, cafes and museums. These act as ‘go to’ places should a person experience any difficulties, feel unwell, lost or frightened. Staff in Safe Places help the individual if they can and direct them to assistance by contacting a nominated person whose contact details are listed on the individual’s Safe Place scheme card.

The scheme in York was designed to help people aged over 16 years who feel vulnerable to travel independently around the city centre. The training delivered to staff in Safe Places covers basic disability awareness and communication so staff feel confident assisting anyone experiencing difficulties and getting them the help they need.

The project aims to help vulnerable people be and feel safer, a key aim of the Police and Crime Plan, whilst encouraging the reporting of hate crime / incidents and empowering the community to care for vulnerable individuals. Safe Places provide a lower level intervention which may reduce pressure on police resources by informing staff how to assist vulnerable individuals and when to escalate to a police response.

Continuing to work collaboratively with a range of partners, the scheme aims to increase the number of Safe Places in York from 16 to 30.

North Yorkshire Sport ‘I–CAN’

£7,000 funding awarded – Countywide

Working closely with the North Yorkshire and York Youth Justice Services and the Early Help/Intervention teams, 55 young people will be identified who would benefit from 1-2-1 support from a trained Athlete mentor and can be engaged through Sport and Physical Activity.

Each individual will be identified by Youth Justice and/or Early Help Intervention Teams who will do an  initial assessment of interest and strength. Equipment will then be purchased to support the young person to be physically active in and around their own home, for example Boxing Gloves and Focus Mit sets or Resistance bands as access to traditional clubs and facilities is restricted.

The young people will also benefit from 1-2-1 mentoring support through a partnership with former Olympic Athlete James Kirton.  James has vast experience working with young people in a mentoring capacity and can draw on his career and experiences to improve resilience and build confidence, drawing parallels with his own sporting career.

A broader outcome is strengthening the family unit that supports a young person.  To ensure that a holistic approach is taken, the intervention can be opened up to family members/siblings surrounding the identified young person

Project Amplify – North Yorkshire Police / North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

£6,140 funding awarded – Countywide

Project Amplify seeks to work collaboratively between North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to upskill staff in front-line services, such as PCs, PCSOs and Community Safety Officers, in deaf awareness and basic sign language skills. These people will then act as ambassadors in the community, and will be able to provide support and guidance to colleagues.

This pilot project aims to provide an evidence base for force-wide roll out.

Re-Imagine Bentham – Pioneer Projects (Celebratory Arts Ltd)

£1,893 funding awarded – Craven

Awarded funding for a three month pilot, community development project that engages targeted young people in Bentham.

Focusing on key locations within the community and working alongside North Yorkshire olice, the project aims to engage young people in a creative project that enhances the locations for the whole community to benefit.

The pilot project aims to evidence sustained engagement to support continuation.

HOPE – North Yorkshire Horizons – Harrogate

£1,680 funding awarded

This project is part of the 2017-18 successful HOPE project and has been awarded additional funding to ensure a full 12-month project is able to take place and maximise benefit.

Colburn Youth Project Targeted Group

£15,000 awarded – Richmondshire

Funding awarded for expansion of pilot dance and DJ project, with targeted group of young people in key, priority location.

Positive impact has been seen from the initial project to date and this funding will enable further diversionary activity to be provided at key times over the coming year.

Young people will be actively involved in the project’s development and have also expressed interest in re-sitting exams, working towards key skills and gaining confidence. Young people will also have the opportunity to run events to raise money for their chosen charities and showcase their work

Boxing – Scarborough Pupil Referral Service

£3,490 funding awarded – Scarborough

Awarded funding to support Boxing Sessions (1:1 and Group work) for targeted young people at the Pupil Referral Service, supporting their participation and engagement in a positive, diversionary activity.

Building on the delivery of successful sessions to date, this year-long project will enable some of the most challenging young people in the Scarborough area to learn social skills and develop positive relationships alongside the techniques of boxing, to support positive change with attitude and behaviour, providing an alternative focus to on-street anti-social behaviour

Boxing aims to help the young people focus on positive aspects of their lives, relieving symptoms of anxiety and depression and introducing positive role models to help teach discipline, aspiration and respect for others.

Chapel Haddlesey Community Garden – Chapel Haddlesey Primary School

£978 funding awarded from the Police Property Fund – Selby

Funding will support the development of a community garden in rural community, based in the grounds of the primary school, but accessible to all the community, even when school is closed.

The project aims to support community cohesion and will encourage selling the produce to support sustainability.

NightSafe – York University Student Union

£2,866 funding awarded – York

Funding will enable this student run, night-time economy volunteering project, to provide support and keep vulnerable students safe on student club nights in the city.

Provision includes physical and mental health first aid, supporting vulnerable students to get home safely and links with YUSU DoorSafe scheme in ensuring the safety of those who have consumed excessive drugs or alcohol. The project is aimed at students but support can be provided to anyone in need.

All About Respect – York St John University

£11,200 funding awarded – York

All About Respect, is a student-led, collaborative (IDAS and Survive) project designed to prevent sexual violence on campus through training, workshops and promotional, awareness raising material.

Funding will enable the scheme to extend into a city-wide initiative and work more closely alongside police and bars/clubs.

Our Space and Time – Youth Zone – The Island

£19,125 funding awarded – York

The Island supports vulnerable children and young people aged between 8 to 18 in York, to build confidence, resilience, self-esteem and potential through positive mentoring relationships and unique programmes.

Funding will enable the development of a specific weekly session with mentoring support, for young people referred by York Youth Justice Service as a preventative or exit strategy.

Volunteer mentors, including police officers, will provide a positive role model for this key group of young people and support them to develop positive change in their behaviour, whilst enabling access to local activity.

Pilot Sex Work Project – Changing Lives

£7,750 funding awarded – York

This project pilot will build upon the 18/19 PFCC-funded Peer Research Project (PRP) which explored sex work, survival sex and sexual exploitation in York and Scarborough. Findings have highlighted the complexity of support needs of women engaged in York, including: homelessness, addiction, domestic abuse, grooming for exploitation, mental ill-health and experience of the Criminal Justice System alongside a gap in existing provision to support addressing these issues.

Funding will support two part-time Project Workers to engage women involved in sex work, and those vulnerable to sexual exploitation over a 6 week period in York. Assertive outreach in places women feel safe will support engagement, delivering drop-ins and structured sessions in the York Women’s Wellness Hub.

The Project Workers will build on positive relationships already established with women in order to enable longer-term recovery, as well as ensuring immediate needs are met. This project will link in with other Changing Lives services, including accommodation and recovery services and will also link in with partner organisations in the wider community/ YWWC to address other support needs such as offending, domestic abuse, mental health and physical health.

Alarmingly Safe

£598 from the Police Property Fund – Scarborough

Funding will provide Yorkshire Coast Sight Support’s 150 visually impaired (and new) members with a UNIKIA clip on panic attack personal alarm safety security key, 140db loud.

The project is aiming to support vulnerable individuals enabling them to feel safe and empowered, especially at night.

The project will also link with the We Care scheme in York to explore widening reach.

Pomoc – Improving Access to Services for Eastern European Migrants in Scarborough

£9306 funding awarded – Scarborough

This Council-led project will provide information, advice, guidance and signposting to members of the Town’s Eastern European Community so they are able to adequately navigate the landscape of services locally and fully engage with community life in Scarborough.

Through the employment of two part-time project workers and a team of volunteers with an understanding of Eastern European Communities and language skills, the project will establish a number of recognised drop-ins and contact points whereby Eastern European residents can present and receive free assistance in accessing services including the reporting of hate crime and exploitation.

This assistance will include; interpretation and translation, support in filling in documentation (including the EU Settlement Scheme which all EU Nationals are required to register with to legally live and work in the UK post-Brexit), signposting to relevant services including accompanying clients to meetings and appointments, acting as a first point of contact for individuals in crisis and a supporting presence through service journeys.

Rescue Boat Vehicle Replacement

£6,994 funding awarded – York

Independent Lifeboat and water search and rescue team, helping to save lives around York’s waterways, with assistance provided to NYFRS and NYP.

Supporting the Police and Crime plan of keeping people safe, funding will support the purchase of new safety equipment as part of the wider vehicle replacement project.  This includes a trauma kit, defibrillator and search and rescue poles.

KickOff 20 – North yorkshire Police

£1,729 funding awarded – Countywide

Funding will enable targeted groups of young people from identified communities in North Yorkshire, to take part in a NY police-led project that engages through the medium of sport, alongisde education awareness of Knife Crime, Hate Crime, Gang Violence and Health &Well-Being.

The project will help bring a range of communities and different backgrounds together, whilst reinforcing a positive image of local policing.

The event is also supported by West and South Yorkshire forces and will focus on teamwork, team building, health and positive relations.

Local neighbourhood teams will support the identification of young people to take part, aimed at diverting them away from anti-social behaviour with something constructive to focus on.

SELFA Thrive

£15,953.00 funding awarded – Craven

12-months funding awarded to intensively engage with 16 targeted children aged 7-11, facing a range of adverse childhood experiences and identified by priority referrers as at risk and in need of early intervention approach.

Project will deliver a new and innovative weekly peer-support and therapy group, individual mentoring and psychotherapy sessions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the children in the group, a key policing priority in this area.

Northallerton Street Angels

£5,485.00 funding awarded – Hambleton

Church-led, volunteer run scheme in Northallerton supporting vulnerable people at night. The volunteer-led project provides assistance to local police teams and partners during the night-time economy, addressing anti-social behaviour, impacting positively on local community safety and supporting vulnerable people to feel and be safe.

Funding will support resources and equipment for the volunteers during wintry months and enable a pro-active approach to increasing the number of volunteers.

Reaching Out – Harrogate Pride in Diversity

£2,360.00 funding awarded – Harrogate

Funding will enable the purchase of key resources to support this LGBTQ+ partnership project to deliver a pop-up exhibition at Harrogate Pride.

The project, aiming to increase awareness and pro-actively engage people vulnerable to hate crime / incidents includes “oral history recordings”, loaned objects and photographs, based on the experiences of individuals from a cross-section of Harrogate’s LGBTQ+ community, creating opportunities for conversation and learning.

The group will have a visible presence and actively promote Hate Crime reporting routes in North Yorkshire;

The group are aiming to ‘travel’ the exhibition after this initial event and expand to other vulnerable groups.

Harrogate Town Kicks – Harrogate Town AFC Community Foundation

£3,600.79 funding awarded – Harrogate

Funding will enable the delivery of a series of pilot summer holiday time pop up sessions, at agreed priority locations for young people aged 9 – 16.

Young people will be identified and targeted through agreed pathways with local partner agencies, including the Community Safety Hub, Neighbourhood Police Team and Youth Justice Service, ensuring those most in need are able to benefit from the project.

The project will recruit and train 12-14 young coaches from the club’s BTEC Programme.

Take Control Schools Project – Inspire Youth

£7,340.00 funding awarded – Harrogate

Funding will enable a 12-month project to deliver drug awareness assemblies to all pupils in year 7 and year 9 (with age appropriate delivery) at 9 priority and identified secondary schools in the Harrogate area.

In addition, an 8-week intervention programme will be delivered for young people who are identified for coming to attention through school, wider services including the Community Safety Hub and Neighbourhood Police Team for Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and low-level criminality.

This partnership programme will be delivered in schools with groups of up to 8 young people focussing on educating young people about ASB and risk taking behaviour.

The project will support a local, joined up approach in partnership with NYP and partners to key issues, ensuring messages are consistent and appropriate throughout.

Goathland Community Hub and Sports Pavilion

£711 funding awarded – Scarborough

Awarded £711.04 from the Police Property Fund

Funding will support the purchase of 25 soft seated stacking chairs & storage trolley to be used by the people attending the Basic IT Course.

The course is targeted at older people with limited knowledge of internet to reduce vulnerability to scams & phishing.

John Muir Award – Friends of Rowntree Park

£1,959 funding awarded – York

Awarded £1,959.00 (£959 Community Fund and £1000 Police Property Fund)

Funding will support environmental project in partnership with Millthorpe Secondary School, aiming to reduce anti-social behaviour within Rowntree Park. 24 targeted young people (2 groups) will attend 25 sessions between April and December 20 to achieve the award.

The scheme will also link with the local police team to ensure links are made and young people are targeted in partnership to engage.