Grants of up to £4,000 are being made available for the second year running for projects to help make communities safer.
One of Youth Connect South West’s completed graffiti projects | Photo courtesy of B&NES Council
The Violence Reduction Grants from the Bath and North East Somerset Community Safety & Safeguarding Partnership are open for applications for community projects that are working towards preventing and reducing violence across the area.
The scheme ran for the first time last year and helped to provide positive activities and opportunities for young people vulnerable to violence.
The projects that were successful in securing funding included a graffiti project and a Street to Studio Music Project organised by Youth Connect South West.
Stand Against Violence were also supported to run a County Lines and Grooming Awareness Project.
Councillor Dine Romero, cabinet member for Children and Young People, Communities and Culture at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “This funding will help make our streets safer for everyone.
“As we’ve seen from the successful projects that were funded last year, a community-based and targeted approach to tackling the causes of serious violence is so effective.
“The grants will support young people away from becoming a victim or an offender and find a different path.”
George Saunders, Youth Work Manager at Youth Connect South West, said: “This was a brilliant project which involved showcasing young people’s artistic skills.
“It was really meaningful to Southside and the Whiteway community because it represented the pandemic and the NHS.
“It transformed a negative into a positive meaning young people who had previously vandalised, had the opportunity to work with a graffiti worker and youth worker to graffiti something relatable and powerful with consent.
“It is important that we work with young people and give them the tools to be creative and expressive.
“Through doing the project, the young people were able to build positive relationships with the workers and look at ways to channel graffiti work in a positive and consensual manner.”
Eligible projects must address at least one area of local concern:
- Work with children and young people under-25 to reduce or prevent their involvement in violence either as victims or offenders.
- Aim to prevent vulnerable people over the age of 25 becoming victims of violent crime or involvement as offenders.
- Work in hotspot areas, including Bath City Centre, Keynsham, Twerton and Somer Valley to address violence and improve resilience.
- Work in new or emerging hotspot areas where there is evidence of violence.
- Work to support potential victims of knife crime who are overwhelmingly male aged 25-34.
- Work in communities to address domestic abuse, including awareness-raising.
- Work to support young women and girls at risk of becoming involved in violence.
The grant scheme supports the Bath and North East Somerset Community Safety & Safeguarding Partnership approach to early help and intervention and helps address serious and violent crime in Bath and North East Somerset.
The grant also supports the aims of the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy and the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Serious Violence Strategy for Avon & Somerset, to tackle serious violent crime at a local, regional, and national level.
For more information, and to apply for a grant, visit: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/apply-serious-violence-reduction-grant.
