Young people on Teesside to play part in serious violence funding outcomes
Young people and members of the community will play a role in discussing bids to a £500,000 serious violence fund available to organisations on Teesside.
There have been 47 applications in total to the fund which was only announced in July by Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner.
The aim is to fund potential interventions from groups and public sector bodies seeking to reduce violence.
The deadline for applications to the fund has now passed and a panel will meet next week to discuss how the money will be spent.
A spokeswoman for Mr Turner’s office told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that where possible young people and members of the community would be involved in the process.
The applications will be assessed by a panel which will include representatives from the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV) strategic partnership.
The partnership is being financed with £3.5m by the Government confirmed earlier this year and will bring together the likes of the police, local councils, public health organisations and the community and voluntary sector to identify the local drivers and root-causes of serious violence and agree and implement a multi-agency response to them.
The spokeswoman said that all applications would be considered on their own merits and regular, random audits would be carried out on successful grant applicants.
She said the results from the evaluations of projects that receive cash would be “critical” in informing CURV’s direction from next April onwards.
In 2021/22 Cleveland experienced a 15.7% leap in violent crime, compared to 12 months earlier, the third highest level of any force area in England and Wales.
Medical staff at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital recently revealed its A&E was dealing with a victim of knife crime every three days and described how multiple stabbings could occur over the course of a single night which they would have to deal with.
Conservative Mr Turner has previously described creating “safe spaces where at-risk individuals can be given the tools to live a happy, positive life – rather than becoming involved in crime and using violence without a second thought”.
He said the ultimate aim was educating young people and “reducing violent crime at its source before it happens”, but warned it could take up to five years before any positive impact was felt by measures being taken on Teesside.