Barking and Dagenham Council is encouraging community and voluntary organisations to apply for funding to help with their work to reduce crime and improve community safety in the borough.
The Mayor of Policing and Crime (MOPAC) provides London Crime Prevention Fund (LCPF) to local councils to commission services and interventions to support crime reduction. The east London council has allocated funding to the community and voluntary sector to apply for as long as they offer services and interventions to meet the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) priorities, which include:
- Keeping children and young people safe
- Reducing reoffending
- Standing up to hate crime, intolerance and extremism
- Tackling crimes that affect people the most
- Tackling violence against women and girls
The council would also like organisations to focus on support for victims, perceptions of safety and reduction of violence.
Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said: “There are some great organisations in the borough that do fantastic work to reduce crime and help people go down a better path.
“As a council, we want to support these groups and I strongly encourage them to apply for the funding, so they can continue supporting our residents.”
In total, there is a £100,469 funding available and this must be spent by organisations by 31 March 2024.
The council now has a Community Safety Enforcement Team that focuses on areas that have been highlighted as hot spots for antisocial behaviour and patrol them seven days a week.
In recent years, the council has also run several initiatives to reduce youth violence in the borough, through a campaign called Lost Hours where parents are being asked to take more responsibility for their children as well as showcasing the work the council is doing to reduce antisocial behaviour and crime in the borough.
Organisations have until Monday 20 February to submit their applications and can apply on the council’s consultation portal.