Community Fund projects 2025/26

Extension Sandylands Sports Centre

Sandylands Sports Centre £5,000.00 Craven

Funding will support the Changing Places fully accessible Toilet as part of wider project extension. Centre is aiming to increase use, and enhance inclusivity and will work with local partners to support this.

VIY project at Gallows Close

VIY £15,150.00 Scarborough

This project covers the delivery of a new VIY youth and community improvement project at Gallows Close Centre in Scarborough, involving and benefitting at least 15 vulnerable young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET – including those involved in/at risk of becoming involved in crime. Through a 2 week project, VIY will work with the young people (identified in partnership) to prioritise and complete works to the centre they use and benefit from, including creating a 121 meeting space, bespoke storage solutions to maximise safer space, developing a sensory garden including sensory wall, seating, raised planters, wildlife learning zone and replacement shed and redecoration of their main hall. Project outputs/outcomes will include 15 young people receiving hands-on training and mentoring, at least 75% of the young people reporting achieving an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds skills accreditation, increased sense of work-readiness, improved softer/broader employability skills, raised job/career aspirations, increased feeling of happiness and wellbeing, at least 2 young people progressing to an employment/further/higher-level training opportunity post the project. Young people will be surveyed on project exit. VIY will also follow up with young people/referral partners beyond the end of the project up to 12 months, and support those who opt in for our onwards progression support to support them into positive outcomes.

Safety Training Boat

YORK SEA CADETS £6,730.00 York

York Sea Cadets has been donated a boat by the canal and river trust to be used for powerboat training. This boat needs some work and the funding will get this project going and provide training to York Sea Cadets, York Rescue Boat, the Canal and River Trust and other partners. The project is a joint one between York Sea Cadets who will manage the boat and conduct the training, The Canal and River trust who provided the boat and York Rescue boat who will provide an instructor and in due course mooring for the boat. Currently, York Sea Cadets, York Rescue Boat and the Canal and River trust operate boats on the river Ouse, to train young people, support the emergency services and manage and maintain the river, all respectively. The current situation is that these organisations all have to travel a considerable distance and expend a considerable amount on this training to gain the relevant certification in boat operation. Refurbishing this training boat will allow that training to take place in York and provide a reserve rescue boat, supporting safer communities. NYFRS Prevention team will support with engagement work with young people and volunteers about water safety.

All About Respect

University of York £14,483.92 York

Recent discussions with safeguarding leads, the local police, and partners from the council have highlighted that the use of inappropriate and discriminatory language is an increasing problem across schools in the City. This behaviour happens both in school and online through social media and group chats. The language use is of an increasingly hostile, discriminatory and harmful nature and is a behaviour that impacts both on individual students and the whole school environment. Therefore, the aim of this project is to pilot a co-produced whole-school intervention to highlight the nature and impact of inappropriate language use, and to introduce simple bystander behaviours that children can use to challenge this behaviour and check in on their peers. This project builds upon work with the All About Respect project, adapting materials and activities for a younger age, together with a new project called ‘Words Hurt’ as part of the All About Respect Project. Project will co-create a toolkit of in-school activities designed to raise awareness of the nature and impact of inappropriate language use on primary school childrens’ mental health. This toolkit will then be piloted in settings agreed in partnership. Activities will include an assembly and an interactive stall. The funding will enable further development of All About Respect, by employing a project officer to deliver the initiative in schools, and undertake focus groups to explore whether awareness-raising activities are effective in achieving the aims.

Call it Out

York College £19,700.00 – Countywide

Call it Out is a new project developed in response to evidence gathered through student focus groups, safeguarding data, and input from external partners including North Yorkshire Police and All About Respect. It addresses a clear gap in post-16 education: the lack of sustained, student-led work to challenge inappropriate language, sexual harassment, and discriminatory behaviours that often go unreported or unchallenged. Call it Out fills this gap by embedding early intervention, promoting respectful challenge, and empowering students and staff to recognise and address harmful behaviours. It connects directly to safeguarding and wellbeing concerns identified in college and supports a regional, joined-up approach. The project aims to ensure these behaviours are no longer tolerated or minimised in post-16 settings. The Call it Out initiative will build upon participation with the All About Respect Project and their Words Hurt project and is grounded in partnership work already underway with North Yorkshire Police, City of York and North Yorkshire Children’s Safeguarding Partnerships. Funding from the Community Fund will:

• Deliver professional bystander intervention training to both staff and students.
• Run interactive awareness-raising events and campaigns shaped by the student voice.
• Develop resources and workshops to help staff and students recognise and challenge harmful behaviours.
• Create a replicable model of good practice that can be shared across education providers in York and North Yorkshire.

The Call it Out project will be delivered by York College’s Student and Apprenticeship Services Team which includes, Safeguarding, Wellbeing and student Voice Officers. Project will work closely with the local neighbourhood policing team, including the Schools Liaison Officers and Partnership Officers from North Yorkshire Police, who support delivery of sessions around harassment, hate crime, and personal safety. In addition, regular contact with the City of York and North Yorkshire Children’s Safeguarding Partnerships to ensure work aligns with regional safeguarding priorities.

Water Safety Education Programme

York Rescue Boat £7,200.00 – Countywide

York Rescue Boat have developed new education packages which have been recognised by organisations such as the National Water Safety Forum and many other organisations that come under its umbrella. North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (NYFRS) Youth and Schools Engagement Team also support these new packages of education. This new project is prevention driven. The packages are ready to deliver not only to schools but also to out-of-school activity groups e.g. sea cadets, scouts, cubs, brownies, etc. The over 18 packages also support national campaigns such as Don’t Drink and Drown, which target universities and colleges, whilst the formal charity packages target WI groups and other formal organisations. In addition a makaton and deaf package are now included in the Water Safety Code education to make it more inclusive to those with SEND needs. Funding of suitable equipment will help deliver this programme of education, develop education work further and ensure a larger pool of volunteers are able to deliver this programme. The long term aim is to work with swim schools in delivering water safety education to trainee swim teachers so that they have a greater understanding of the Water Safety Code as well as local risks. Delivery will take place throughout the year to a range of organisations agreed in partnership. Project will be complemented by the NYFRS Youth and Schools Engagement Team.

Drugs Testing on Arrest

North Yorkshire Police £20,000.00 – Countywide

The Community Fund will support NYP with interim funding for testing equipment. This is a new project following a pilot in 2023/24. Drugs Testing on Arrest (DToA) has been a tool available to police since 2003 and all forces have been able to use DToA without additional authorisation from the Home Office since 2011. Thirty Nine of the Forty-Three police forces were active in the DToA programme, when North Yorkshire police commenced a pilot in December 2023 we were the 39th force. By not having a DToA programme in place, NYP are missing opportunities to address the root cause of violent crime and to change behaviour in the community that we serve by missing the opportunity to focus on prevention and early intervention. NYP wish to identify drug misusers and address risk at the earliest stage by maximising the use of commissioned support services and reducing future reoffending in North Yorkshire. Drugs Testing on Arrest (DToA) is an instrument available to the police to help combat drug related offending, requiring those testing positive for cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin to attend drug treatment. This preventative programme is an initiative aimed at identifying drug misusers and addressing the problem at the earliest stage by maximising the use of commissioned support services and reducing future reoffending. NYP piloted DToA in 2023-2024 with the support of Home Office funding. Project will use a testing strategy that focuses on violence and sexual offences, and should testing volumes allow, county lines and the supply of drugs. Project will target testing for maximum impact and success as well as maximising the use of commissioned support services which are already in place.

Catterick Whizz Kids

Catterick Whizz Kids £1,857.92 (£857.92 Community Fund, £1,000 Police Property Fund) – Richmondshire

Project has identified that there is a gap in provision for this age group 8-12 years and will provide activities that will help young people grow give back to the community, grow in confidence, transferable skills and have a safe space to meet with friends. The aim of the project is a Youth club that is open to all, with a focus on activities which will give the young people new skills and to get them out of their comfort zone. The project offers a diverse and inclusive place for young people to meet feel safe and have fun. The club will run weekly with activities planned with the young people to meet the needs of the group with additional sessions in the holidays of more adventurous outdoor activities like camping and water sports. The objective is to give the young people the opportunity to develop new skills at their own pace by providing the resources and opportunities in a safe space where they feel comfortable. The project aims for young people to grow in confidence and experience through the activities and will encourage the young people to become peer mentors support each other in achieving their own personal goals. Catterick Whizz Kidz will be delivered solely by the volunteers however they have become members of North Yorkshire Youth who will provide training, support and advice. Project will work with other agencies for further support the police, NHS, community safety partnership and will make contact with Community First Yorkshire to access their support.

York Community Connections and Cultural Cohesion Project

Afghanistan & Central Asian Association £16,480.00 – York

The York Community Connections and Cultural Cohesion Project is a new, innovative initiative developed by the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA) to address growing concerns around youth crime, social isolation, hate crime, and lack of community cohesion among young people in York, particularly in diverse areas including Guildhall ward.This is a new project designed specifically for York, addressing a significant gap in culturally tailored early intervention for vulnerable young people from refugee and ethnic minority backgrounds. This project fills that gap by offering structured, trauma-informed activities focused on community safety, cohesion, and resilience. It will engage at-risk youth aged 11–18 in positive social, educational, and creative programmes that promote inclusion and reduce anti-social behaviour. The project will also address local concerns around youth violence, hate crime, and community tension in hotspot areas. By creating a welcoming, preventative support system tailored to York’s changing population, this initiative will build safer, more connected communities while helping young people thrive and avoid negative pathways. This year-long project (September 2025–September 2026) will provide a series of structured, accessible activities for vulnerable young people aged 11–18, particularly those from ethnic minorities including refugee, asylum-seeking, and ethnic minority backgrounds, including Afghan, Ukrainian, and Black communities. The project aims to prevent youth crime, reduce the risk of victimisation and reoffending, and promote cultural understanding, inclusion, and mental wellbeing. Funding will enable ACAA to deliver 56 high-quality, trauma-informed sessions, engage at least 100 young people directly, and support a further 50 individuals indirectly through family and community outreach.

Bruce Project

York MIND £15,150.00 – York

This project will be a development of the CF funded Bruce Project, running groups for young people which used creative means to explore emotions and behaviours as a form of early intervention for mental health. The project has been an overwhelming success with an attendance rate of 85 % and 100% of YP accessing the groups completed the course of six weeks. This funding will enable the sustainability of this creative group offer for young people in York but tailor it to address emerging themes arising in the group and highlighted by referral partners, namely around self-esteem, misogyny and healthy relationships, whilst also allowing for more tailored support through increased 1:1s and the addition of a sessional group assistant to support the running of the groups. This project will focus on prevention and early intervention, providing young people who are experiencing mental ill health, and are therefore at increased risk of becoming both perpetrators and victims of crime, with a safe, creative space to address underlying beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that can lead to youth offending. The project will mirror the successful format of the existing Bruce Project. Each cohort of 6–8 young people will attend six group sessions, delivered outside school hours, with three cohorts running across the life of the project. Sessions will combine peer support and psychoeducation with creative activities like clay and painting to encourage open discussion, specifically around the themes of self esteem, misogyny and healthy relationships. Each participant will also receive a one-to-one session before and after the group work to provide more tailored support for individuals in recognition of the increased sensitivity of the subjects and to allow more targeted support around specific risk factors for each individual. The pre-session will enable the facilitator to identify individual needs and support young people to set personal goals for the intervention, while the post-session will enable them to reflect on their progress and strengths and support them to create a ‘moving on plan’ to build resilience and signpost to further support, including York Mind services. This project will work with mixed-gender groups to foster empathy, model respectful interactions, and challenge harmful language or behaviours in real time.

CARA (Cautioning and Relationship Abuse)

Restorative Solutions £51,669.96 Community Safety funding £6,752.04 Community Fund funding – Countywide

CARA (Cautioning and Relationship Abuse) is an innovative, award-winning early intervention for domestic abuse offenders who have received a Conditional Caution. CARA has been designed to increase not only awareness of domestic abuse but also self-awareness and the motivation to address behaviours and make changes. It supports offenders in understanding what domestic abuse is, the harm their actions have caused, the impact this has had on their partners, children and relationships, and how to make different choices going forward and prevent these harmful behaviours from becoming more entrenched. The workshops offer support relevant to the needs of the participants and signpost to further specialist help, including comprehensive behaviour change programmes.