Grants up to £10,000 for projects that help communities become safer.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) has set up this fund in partnership with Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) and Quartet Community Foundation (QCF).
The funding can be used to support projects in a particular neighbourhood where everyone will benefit from reduced crime and antisocial behaviour, or for a specific group of people who are at higher risk of being the victims or perpetrators of crime and antisocial behaviour.
The type of activities they want to support include:
- Services for young people, so they can develop social and emotional skills that may help them avoid contact with the criminal justice system.
- Events that bring people together who might not otherwise get to know each other. This can help build community cohesion, which in turn can combat things like antisocial behaviour and hate crime.
- Raising awareness, so certain groups become less likely to fall victim to a crime. For example, a project that teaches older people about how to spot online fraud, or training for frontline staff and volunteers to spot the signs of someone being at risk of crime.
The funding must contribute to the Police and Crime Plan 2021 – 2025.
Grants can be used for:
- people’s time to deliver the project
- a contribution towards people’s time to manage your group
- travel
- buying small items of equipment
- a contribution towards your group’s core running costs, like training and development.
You can only apply if your group
- is based in BANES, Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset, or South Gloucestershire
- is run by a committee or board of at least 3 unrelated people
- has a governing document or set of rules
- has an appropriate level of free reserves (if this is more than 12 months running costs, then you should have a policy explaining why).
- has a safeguarding policy
- has a bank account in its name, which requires two unrelated signatories.
- is for everyone in a neighbourhood, or
- is for specific groups of people who are at higher risk of becoming victims or perpetrators.
Eligible groups include:
- community groups
- registered charities
- community amateur sports clubs
- community interest companies (CIC) limited by guarantee that have a clear asset lock benefitting local communities
- companies limited by guarantee that are not-for-profit with all surpluses re-invested back into the organisation
- faith organisations, but not for the promotion of religion
- community benefit societies.
Please note that they can consider applications from national or regional organisations but only where there is no local organisation undertaking the work in question. In such cases they will only consider projects that are clearly targeted in our area, and not contributions to national campaigns.
There are 2 opportunities to apply in 2024/25. The first opportunity is open now and closes on 1 July 2024. The second opportunity will open in early January 2025.