Community Fund projects 2021/22
On this page
- Author Visit – Raising Awareness of County Lines
- Upper Wharfedale Rural Watch Group – Laptops
- Driveway Car Port
- Robert Street Gates
- Kyra Women’s Project
- Ripon Community Awareness Campaign
- Filling the Gap
- Filey Skate Park
- City Kickabout
- Community Buddies
- The Martial Way
- Water Activities
- York Rescue Boat – medical training and equipment
- Skipton Youth Voice and Good Citizenship Project
- Replacement of essential boxing equipment
- Age UK York – Home Services Directory
- Adfam@Home
- The Dales, Safe for Everyone
- Specialist sexual violence and domestic abuse training for volunteers
- Foss Fairy Trail
- Skelton Layby ‘Citizens Involved Problem’ solving project
- North Yorkshire Police
- Hull Road Park Woodworking Project
Author Visit – Raising Awareness of County Lines
Poems & Pictures Ltd – £9,400.00 awarded – Countywide
- Funding will enable author visits into 20 schools across North Yorkshire and York, with the support of PCSOs and Schools Liaison Officers, on the topic of county lines, grooming and consequences of carrying knives;
- Project will be aimed towards Years 6 and 7 to ensure early intervention; schools will be targeted using an informed approach, in partnership with NYP and NYCC, ensuring age and development appropriate content with an evidence based resource;
- Supported delivery by NYP School Liaison Officers will ensure consistent and appropriate messages, together with further support if required;
- The schools will be provided with the resource and knowledge base to self-deliver the product yearly as part of their Crime & Punishment curriculum.
Raising Awareness of County Lines – Case Study
About the Project:
Author Visits project educates young people about grooming, county lines, the consequences of carrying a knife, and the risks of being involved with drugs.
This is delivered using project lead Christina Gabbitas’ book, ‘No More Knives or County Lines.’ During each session, Christina discusses her work as an author and the research she did for the book. The story follows a group of young people who are recruited into county lines and go through dangerous circumstances including drugs and knives. The book is shown as an animated video and followed by a Question and Answer session, jointly delivered with North Yorkshire Police.
A total of 38 sessions across 26 North Yorkshire schools, most of which were primary schools have been delivered.
Key Impacts from the project:
- Helped young people to understand more about what being groomed means, county lines terminology, the dangers of taking drugs and the consequences carrying knives can bring.
- Continued learning through the story resource. The story will also help parents and carers to understand what is meant by county lines.
Main challenges:
- The project continued to deliver during the Covid-19 pandemic, adapting to suit the numbers and differing situations within each school setting.
Good News/Positive Feedback/Personal Stories:
- A lot of positive feedback and encouragement has been shown by students, teachers, and parents for this project.
- The project is now reaching a larger audience outside of schools.
- Christina Gabbitas has received direct messages from a student saying that their mother found the book educational and is using it to educate people in her workplace.
- The pupils have all engaged with the policing team involved and even requested them to sign their books.
- The scheme has received a lot of attention via radio and newspaper pieces, including an interview on BBC York Radio and Greatest Hits Radio.
Upper Wharfedale Rural Watch Group – Laptops
Upper Wharfedale Rural Watch Group – £2,994.95 awarded – Craven
- UWRWG are a group of local people within Upper Wharfedale from all backgrounds that are committed to supporting the police in the prevention of crime. They go out on a regular basis to provide intelligence, report active crime to support local policing;
- Funding will be used for the purchase of 5 x laptops and software package, to greater support Upper Wharfedale Rural Watch to provide North Yorkshire Police with improved information;
- 5 laptops will enable video conferencing and support the vast geographical coverage of Craven.
Driveway Car Port
Resurrection Bikes – £1,230.14 awarded – Harrogate
Resurrection Bikes is a community project whose aims are to fix up donated bikes and sell them to raise funds for several charities; to donate fixed bikes to people in need and unfixed bikes for use in prison training projects.
This one-off funding will enable the project to erect a car port to support socially distanced appointments and enhance use of space;
Carport will also provide shelter for pop up events on the driveway and allow more people working in the workshops to expand capacity to take short term volunteers;
Project will link with Neighbourhood Police, Youth Justice Service, North Yorkshire Sport “Stepping Up project” and North Yorkshire Youth “Change Direction”, to ensure a targeted approach to referrals / development of volunteers and provide additional mentoring / diversion opportunities.
Robert Street Gates
Robert Street Residents – £4,500.00 awarded – Selby
Funding will enable installation of gates at the Finkle Street end of Robert Street in Selby to help eliminate constant late night noise and anti-social behaviour;
The aim of the project is to eliminate late night anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and vandalism, improving the quality of life and safety of the residents of the street.
The project hopes to improve the wellbeing of the thirteen households and four businesses situated on the street, as well as freeing up police resources at peak times and reducing crime figures.
The project is linked and supported by the local Community Safety and police team to support a joined-up approach.
Kyra Women’s Project
Safe and Strong – £6,410.00 awarded – York
- Funding will support a new project for 24 women, consisting of Self-Defence and Self-Esteem (ESTA) courses;
- ESTA is designed specifically to address the low self-efficacy and self-esteem of some women. Through a wide range of practical, hands-on workshop activities, ESTA will build women’s strength and self-confidence;
- Four blocks of courses will be run between July 2021 and January 2022;
- KYRA have introduced a blended model of delivery and seen an increase in demand; supported links with York Women’s Wellness Centre and other organisations will ensure a targeted approach to those most in need.
Ripon Community Awareness Campaign
Crimestoppers Trust – £5,500.00 awarded – Harrogate
Funding will enable two targeted Crimestoppers and Fearless (young people) social media campaigns in Ripon, aiming to educate communities on the importance of reporting crime.
Crimestoppers will link with other existing work taking place in the area to support a joined-up approach, including with North Yorkshire Police, Community Safety Hub and local youth projects.
Filling the Gap
Futureworks NY – Scarborough – £8,600.00 awarded
Funding will support a new 26-week project, delivered to 15 young people who have dropped out of education over the past 12 months, engaging them in training and education within Furniture Works project and supporting them to move on to further learning.
Targeted promotion of the project will take place to ensure appropriate referral pathways in place;
- Youth justice
- Early Help
- Social care
- Local schools
- Neighbourhood police
- Community Impact team
Futureworks will adopt a pro-active approach to ensuring young people remain engaged in the project until completion, with a planned exit strategy. Programme includes mix of education/careers, personal development, practical, volunteering.
Filey Skate Park
Scarborough Borough Council partnership with Ravine Skate Park Group – Scarborough – £8,500.00 awarded
Funding will support flood lighting as part of a new concrete skate park facility in Filey. Flood lighting will help create a safe and welcoming environment to maximise the skate park’s usage in the winter months.
City Kickabout
York City Football Club Foundation – York – £13,100.00 awarded
Funding will support the full re-establishment of physical activity youth sessions for two evenings per week in Huntington and Acomb between September and July 22. City Kickabout sessions are football drop in, informal and diversionary activities for ages 8-12 and 13-17.
Aimed at young people who don’t not normally engage in physical activity and to address increase in anti-social behaviour, the project will ensure referrals are targeted through North Yorkshire Police, Youth Justice Service, Community Safety Hub, North Yorkshire Youth.
Community Buddies
Broadacres Housing Association – Hambleton, Richmondshire, Scarborough – £3,974.66 awarded
Broadacres deliver housing related support to adults with severe and enduring mental health needs, based in Richmondshire, Hambleton and Scarborough. Funding will enable physically inactive tenants access to outdoor gym equipment.
Staff will offer support to individuals to promote general well-being; support planning and agreed goals. Outdoor gym equipment will provide a stepping-stone for the tenants within the scheme to build confidence to access locally available gyms and other fitness opportunities.
All 18 vulnerable individuals at any one time living in the supported accommodation due to their diagnosed mental health conditions will be actively encouraged to access the equipment to support positive mental health.
Broadacres will adopt a pro-active approach to engaging with local police, community safety and fire teams to support relationships, especially when new tenants move into the accommodation.
The Martial Way
Broughton Road Community Centre – Craven – £19,617.60 awarded
Funding will support delivery of martial arts and wrestling sessions at Broughton Road Community Centre to local young people. 5 sessions will run each week over 50 weeks, engaging up to 15 young people in each session.
A key focus of the project will be to divert young people from engaging in anti-social or offending behaviour. Project will link with NYP, NYFRS and other partners to ensure a targeted approach to referrals, as well as support with delivery of additional sessions covering crime and safety issues.
Water Activities
6th Ripon Cathedral Scout Group – Harrogate – £987.56 awarded
The Police Property Fund Funding will support purchase of PPE replacement kit to support water based activities and increase participation for young people in water sports.
The project will promote a targeted, linked approach to attracting new young people who wouldn’t normally be able to benefit / access through local links with Community Safety Hub and Neighbourhood Police Team.
York Rescue Boat – medical training and equipment
York Rescue Boat – York – £3,664.67 awarded
Funding will support medical training equipment for the Defra Flood Rescue Team. The equipment will ensure the team stay qualified in the use of IGel airways. This includes airways management training aids that will last a number of years and spare consumables including lungs, airways and lubricants. York Rescue boat will ensure a collaborative approach to training opportunities through links with NYP and NYFRS.
Skipton Youth Voice and Good Citizenship Project
Leaders Unlocked – Craven – £18,000.00 awarded
Skipton Youth Voice and Good Citizenship Project is a peer-led delivery model that equips and supports young people from the area to engage with a larger number of other young people through a ‘Big Conversation’ to explore the issues and potential solutions to the problems they face. The project will provide a structured method that enables young people aged 14-25 to shape and influence decisions about their area.
Project will recruit and equip a group of 12-15 young adults aged 14-25-year-olds, that represent the diverse communities living in the local area. They will be provided with the skills training, tools, and support to engage other young people in a ‘Big Conversation’ about their key issues.
The members will conduct vital peer-to-peer research with other young people in their community, with a focus on hearing from young individuals living in the Broughton Road area to establish what changes they want.
Replacement of essential boxing equipment
Northallerton Amateur Boxing Club – Hambleton – £2,320.00 awarded
Funding will support the club with the purchase of new, essential equipment. The club is aiming to expand so that it provides a venue for children and young people to train five evenings a week from the Town Hall.
Local, targeted young people will encouraged to attend and support improved links with local police team.
Age UK York – Home Services Directory
Age UK – York – £3,262.00 awarded
Funding will support production of 2,000 trusted Home Services Directories, so that older people can live safely and independently in their own homes in York. The directory, also available online, will include the details of tradespeople and service providers in York as well as information on how to be scam aware.
Age UK will carry out appropriate checks in line with online trusted trader schemes and traders will be issued with an identification badge to show.
The Directory will be promoted at events and with partner organisations.
Link to Trusted Traders: Trusted traders in York (ageuk.org.uk)
Adfam@Home
Adfam – Countywide – £19,656.00 awarded
Funding will enable a pilot on-line service, that supports families affected by a loved one’s substance misuse, to prepare them for release or provide support within the community.
Provision will be extended to pilot a specific support service for 50 individual family members per annum whose loved one is in prison or on probation.
Adfam@Home will provide family members with up to 6 one-to-one sessions with a professional family support worker, who will provide adult family members with the support, information and tools they need to play a positive role in their loved one’s recovery while engaged in the criminal justice system.
The service offers remote one to one support sessions via telephone or Zoom. Service will work closely with local partners to ensure effective referral pathways and commissioners to support longevity.
The Dales, Safe for Everyone
Cave Rescue Organisation, partnered with Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association and MOSAIC Outdoors – Craven – £988.00 warded from the Police Property Fund
Funding will support partnership project with communication approaches to potential Dales visitors from BAME communities and other vulnerable groups , to give them confidence to go into the hills, help them to be properly prepared and equipped to go safely, then know what to do if help is needed.
Part One of the project will involve constructing a frame with printed banners to advise on preparedness for the hills, rescue team awareness and how to call for help. These will direct people to a simple free leaflet on the same themes, being given out, on site.
Part Two of the project will involve the production of short videos for posting on social media, ‘fronted’ by presenters with whom people from those communities will identify, speaking against backdrops of iconic Dales scenery, with which they can also identify.
Attention will be drawn to these videos in relevant media – on-line and print – but also by the distribution of small promotional posters to community centres and other meeting points, close to where the ‘target audience’ communities live.
Specialist sexual violence and domestic abuse training for volunteers
York Women’s Counselling – York – awarded £3,050.00
Funding will enable the service’s 21 volunteer counsellors to receive specialist domestic abuse, coercive control and sexual / violent trauma training from IDAS.
This will ensure all are specially equipped to work with survivors of domestic abuse, sexual trauma and childhood trauma, enhancing and adding value to existing services.
This will support long-term cope and recovery and reduce the waiting time.
Service will ensure victims of crime are also made aware of and actively encouraged to access Supporting Victims and associated counselling services.
Foss Fairy Trail
Foss Fairy Trail – York – £1,000.00 awarded from the Police Property Fund
Funding will support continued development of the ‘magical walkway’ Fairy Trail, set up to enhance community cohesion and encourage people outdoors on previously disused land with issues of Anti-Social Behaviour.
Foss Fairy Trail- Case Study
About the Project:
This project aimed to support the community feel safer, by transforming an unappealing river walkway to discourage anti-social behaviour and provide a safer and more relaxing environment for the local community. This safe environment now allows poorer families and people who suffer mental health issues to retreat to a relaxing, safe community and social hub.
Fairy houses and bug houses were created and placed along the walkway. Children’s dens and seating areas were placed along the trail, and a fortress is also currently being made by York Men’s Shed.
The project worked closely with the police and local PCSOs to try and reduce crime in the area. Local schools and councillors have also been involved with the project. Signs were put into place to encourage reporting to 101 and to preserve the area.
Key Impacts from the project:
- A website has been created (https://www.fossfairytrail.com/)
- Antisocial behaviour has decreased with the help of the continued liaison with the police and an increase in visitors
- Families, students, and local groups now use the area for picnic, studying, workshops, and activities. Community projects have been held in the area; for example, ‘Think it Theatre’.
- Events and workshops have been held for families which have proved to be very popular.
- The community have been very welcoming to the developments being made whilst they are also encouraged to get involved.
- Sponsors such as Tesco, Morrisons, Dunelm, Travis Perkins and Henry Boot have approached to support the project.
- A section of the cycle path being used for illegal activity has been cordoned off
- National Lottery funding has been used to install step down from the cycle tracks.
Main challenges:
- Initial challenges as a result of the criminal and antisocial behaviour taking place; project worked with Environmental Health, Changing Lives and the local PCSO’s to look at ways to deal with these, to ensure all the community benefits from the area.
- Sporadic reporting with limited information.
Good News/Positive Feedback/Personal Stories:
- Positive feedback on the success of the project in improving wellbeing;
- Visitors have varied from being lonely in lockdown, depressed, suffering from addictions or long-term mental health diagnoses;
- People are enthusiastic about the trail and have made their own houses to add to the path and joined the activities provided.
- A woman suffering with mental health concerns, takes daily walks along the path to take a moment and sit in her favourite spot to relax and reflect. She has added her own pieces to the trail and helps the team with any damage.
- A homeless man sits along the trail watching and chatting to the people going by. He bought some solar fairy lights for the trail and said the efforts by the trail group have inspired him to be a better person.
Skelton Layby ‘Citizens Involved Problem’ solving project
Skelton Layby ‘Citizens Involved Problem’ solving Partnership project – York – £18,000.00 awarded
This is a pilot partnership project to test the ‘Citizens Involved Problem Solving Framework’, developed to facilitate multi-stakeholder problem solving to achieve an agreed consensus on solutions and the ‘Roadmap’ of implementation.
The project seeks to understand if there can be a change in public perception in regard to who is deemed responsible to for solving community issues, where historically it’s been seen to be the role of the Police.
The funding will enable the purchase and installation of a fence to reduce the impact of criminal behaviour and enhance community safety.
The ‘Friends of Skelton Layby Group’ will maintain the fence, which will include cutting back of vegetation and litter picking.
North Yorkshire Police
Police Community Boxing Club (Fighting for Communities) – York – £2,940.00 awarded
Funding will enable the start up of a police led community boxing club, one evening per week, working directly with Youth Justice, School Liaison Officers, Social Services and the local community, to help vulnerable young people in a diversionary setting, improving engagement and breaking down barriers.
The club will be used as an early intervention scheme, introducing positive role models from the community, through boxing and other sports, to help divert young people away from external influences and reduce the risk of offending or other risky behaviours.
The project will look to build confidence, discipline, teamwork and respect, by introducing boxing as a diversionary tool whilst supporting health and fitness.
Hull Road Park Woodworking Project
Peasholme Charity – York – £18,208.17 awarded
12-month’s funding will support woodwork diversionary project for those with lived experience of homelessness and / or substance misuse.
Funding will enable initial staffing and set up to engage people in the project, with the aim of leading to peer support group after 12 months.
This partnership project will enable local community work to take place, such as links with parks and bird box building.