Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Lord Willy Bach today welcomed additional government funding worth almost £350k to prevent youth crime and serious violence across the county.
The Commissioner has been allocated £347,272 from the Home Office’s Early Intervention Youth Fund to rehabilitate young people on the criminal path and protect those at risk of offending from engaging in serious violence.
It is part of a £3.3m funding pot being distributed to projects across 10 areas of England in the final round of the Home Office’s Early Intervention Youth Fund initiative.
Leicestershire will be investing the funds into services which support the work of the People Zones in New Parks, Leicester, the Bell Foundry Estate in Loughborough and Coalville as well as areas identified as knife crime hotspots.
It will help fund dedicated Youth Offending Service workers to engage with those at risk of offending and protect them from Child Criminal Exploitation as well as providing specialist support to help young offenders gain employment.
The funding will also help develop grassroots community projects with the aim of mentoring hard-to-engage youngsters.
The Home Office previously allocated £17.7m of the Early Intervention Youth Fund to 29 projects endorsed by PCCs in November last year.
Commenting on the funding, Willy Bach said: “I am absolutely delighted our bid has been successful and that the hard work of the team has been rewarded.
“This grant acknowledges that extra resources are critical to turn the tide on youth violence and knife crime and brings meaningful support to the work that is already underway in the county.
“We will not end serious violence or knife crime overnight but clearly we need to support young people to make better decisions and life choices to have an impact in the long-term. Without guidance or support to transform, the reality is they will look for direction in the wrong places.
“Leicestershire is no worse affected by knife crime and violence than anyone else in the country but we are determined to make a difference and this investment will certainly help.”
Across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, the PCC will be working with Leicestershire Cares to support young people aged 18-25 who have a criminal record into employment. This will involve one-to-one support to help young people resolve practical issues which can prevent them from gaining employment, education or training.
Meanwhile, group wellbeing sessions will be delivered to help young people cope with stress, anxiety and lack of confidence.
Young people will be later supported to find a mentored work placement to help them develop workplace skills and develop a reference to support future applications, ultimately leading to employment, training or education.
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Posted on Wednesday 26th June 2019