Projects in the Lancaster area have received a boost from a fund set up to re-invest money seized from criminals back into the communities they exploited.
A total of £156,000 has been awarded to schemes that help tackle and deter crime in Lancashire, from the Police and Crime Commissioner's initiative.
Lancaster City Council has been awarded £10,000 towards its Bystander Awareness programme, targeting students and key groups to address anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse, supported by Lancaster University funding.
The Lancaster-based youth charity Escape2Make has also been awarded £10,000 for its Green Festival workshops in the area.
Funding comes from Commissioner Andrew Snowden’s Safer Lancashire Neighbourhood’s Fund (SLNF).
The total amount of cash seized from criminals which has gone back into the communities that offenders have exploited is now £1.6m, since the fund launched in March 2022.
Fifteen new projects across Lancashire in total have been being backed through the community-focused strand of the fund.
The idea is to fund activities that address local anti-social behaviour concerns through "diversionary activity and targeted interventions, support for vulnerable people and education on issues such as dangerous driving".
“I’m really pleased that I have again been able to use cash taken from offenders to help make the communities they have blighted safer," said Mr Snowden.
“Alongside our work seizing cash to show criminals crime will never pay here in Lancashire, this also allows us to put this money to good use protecting the public, which is exactly what my Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund is all about.
“By focusing on the root causes of offending, lessening the likelihood of people becoming victims of crime or getting involved in it themselves, we are supporting our proactive enforcement that where needed will put criminals where they should be, behind bars.
“I will continue to work closely with the Chief Constable to ensure that we are delivering on the priorities that the public tell me they want to see, punishing those who make life a misery for others and keeping Lancashire safe.”
Other Lancashire projects to receive money included the SafeNet ISVA Service to support Sexual Violence Victim/Survivors which was awarded £9,900, Spring into Safe Relationships was awarded £10,000, Operation Scoreboard - aiming to equip Lancashire with drone detection equipment to combat illegal contraband entering prisons was awarded £11,634, and Video Doorbells - which aims to instal video doorbells in residential properties across Lancashire, strategically placed to cover entrances and doorways, aiming to deter anti-social behaviour, burglary, robbery, and tackle domestic abuse and sexual violence - was awarded £19,922.
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