YOUNG people from two communities in Warrington have benefited from Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer’s Community Action Fund, allowing them to pour their energy into positive activities.
Each year the Commissioner sets aside £100,000 to fund projects or initiatives that will deliver community safety or crime prevention activities.
LiveWire, a Community Interest Company (CIC) that has been managing leisure, library and lifestyle services in Warrington since May 2012 is delivering sessions of Warrington Safer Together Through Sport (STTS).
SSTS incorporates positive activities and training and empowering workshops and discussions that tackle issues relevant to the area. This includes the issue of anti-social behaviour, which the program aims to tackle by empowering and engaging young people in activities they enjoy.
LiveWire successfully applied for £2,800 from the Commissioner’s Fund and welcomed the Commissioner to the Bewsey and Dallam Community Hub, to see how the funding was being used to support their Box Clever project, providing an outlet for young people in the community through boxing classes.
Mr Dwyer, said: “I got to see first-hand the great facilities that are available to young people in the area. The Box Clever project enables young people to break down the barriers with a variety of people, including the police in their communities.
“Providing diversionary activities like this is important as it provides young people with a channel to pour their positive energy into. They benefit individually, their families benefit and the whole community benefits too. It’s fantastic to see communities empowered in this way through my Community Action Fund and it shows how collaborative working can prevent and tackle some of the low-level crime issues we all face.”
Locklynne Hall, LiveWire Health and Wellbeing Director, said: “We were delighted to give the Police and Crime Commissioner a tour of Bewsey & Dallam Community Hub. John is a keen advocate of all our work here at LiveWire, in particular our outreach projects with children and young people and his financial support has been much appreciated and helps fund projects like our Box Clever project, which is run at both our Bewsey & Dallam and Orford Hubs. It was a pleasure to show John around Bewsey & Dallam and chat about the work being done with the local community.”
Mr Dwyer added: “In my Police and Crime Plan, I made it clear that as part of my priority to prevent and tackle crime I would work with the Constabulary, other agencies and our communities to tackle anti-social behaviour.
“Anti-social behaviour is one of the top issues that people tell me they experience in their communities. Projects like this will go some way to providing preventative measures to nip this issue in the bud.”
More information about the Community Action Fund is available here: www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/what-i-do/making-cheshire-safer/community-action-fund/
