today (Wednesday 26 June)
announced that the remaining £3.3 million of the £22
million Early Intervention Youth Fund would be distributed
to 10 areas to support projects for young people to prevent
them getting drawn into crime and to help them make more
positive life choices.
The Home Secretary also revealed there will be an
additional £1.5 million of funding for the third year of
the Anti-Knife Crime Community Fund, which will go towards
small community projects to reduce knife crime. The fund
has already supported 115 projects over the 2 years it has
been running.
Speaking after chairing the Serious Violence Taskforce
today Home Secretary said:
Intervening early in the lives of vulnerable young people
is a central part of our blueprint to tackle serious
violence.
That’s why we are investing millions in community
projects and organisations across the country.
It’s vital that all youngsters are given the
opportunities they need to turn away from a life of
violent crime and lead positive lives.
The government previously allocated £17.7 million of the
Early Intervention Youth Fund to 29 projects endorsed by
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in November 2018. In
addition, further funding was provided to PCCs for
additional specific projects as well as more than £500,000
to the Evening Standard’s Save London Lives campaign.
The Anti-Knife Crime Community Fund first launched in
October 2017 is now open to bids from grassroots
organisations and trusts for the third year of funding.
The Early Intervention Youth Fund and the Anti-Knife Crime
Community Fund follow a number of new measures recently
announced by the government to tackle violent crime,
including:
- up to £35 million to 18 PCCs in areas worst affected by
serious violence to set up Violence Reduction Units
- an additional £63.4 million surge funding to 18 forces
across England and Wales and £1.6 million to ensure police
forces have better data to help their planning.
The Home Office also supports early intervention through
the £200 million Youth Endowment Fund, which is managed by
the charitable foundation Impetus and will support
organisations with a proven track record of diverting
vulnerable young people away from violent crime. This
started in April and will provide funding over the next 10
years.
Earlier today the Home Secretary chaired the Serious
Violence Taskforce, which was also attended by , Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and
Vulnerability, and , Minister for Policing and
the Fire Service. Speakers at the Taskforce included Bill
Bush, Executive Director at Premier League, who spoke about
the success of Premier League Kicks, a community programme
that uses football to inspire and engage thousands of young
people in deprived areas in England and Wales.
