Funding confirmed for Merseyside communities blighted by gun crime
It comes after four fatal shootings on Merseyside since last summer
Investments in increased CCTV and community organisations will be made through a financial support package following a series of tragic shootings last summer across Liverpool.
In the space of just seven days last August, three people across the city were senselessly gunned down. Sam Rimmer, 22, was killed in Dingle on August 16, while within 24 hours, Knowsley Council worker Ashley Dale, 28, and Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, were murdered in their homes.
In response to the killings, then Home Secretary Priti Patel announced cash would be directed into communities around where they had occurred to support residents and strengthen resilience. That money must be spent by March 31 this year and where it will be allocated has now been confirmed.
A report to Liverpool Council’s neighbourhoods committee has revealed how the £140,000 fund from the Home Office will be broken down. It said the time criticial cash had been awarded to the city “for education, community resilience, therapeutic and partnership activities to help affected communities recover after the three fatal shootings in the summer, with a particular focus on the Knowsley/Liverpool border near where Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed.
“Officers are working closely with colleagues from Knowsley, School Improvement Liverpool and the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership.”
From the funding, £47,000 will be spent on CCTV in key hotspot areas in Yewtree/Dovecot and the upgrading of existing infrastructure on Deysbrook Lane. A further £50,000 is to be allocated to the Clear Hold Build participatory budget for community groups to bid into, which will include a young persons element.
The Clear Hold Build initiative included a proactive policing response and multi-agency working to support communities worst affected by Organised Crime Groups to make them more resilient and less susceptible to their activities. Perception Theatre development and delivery work will be boosted by £20,000 for a primary age production, while Deysbrook Village Centre is receiving £7,000 for a adult learning parents and carers course.
Additional support is to be awarded for a primary schools project through £10,000 awarded to the Foundation for Peace. It was revealed earlier this month that a new memorial park will be created and named after nine-year-old Olivia.
The Dovecot and wider West Derby community is coming together to create the new green space just a minute from where she lived. The planned memorial park has the full support of Olivia’s family and is backed by local community groups, faith leaders and councillors.