Youth charity receives £37k boost from PCC to expand its work diverting young people from crime and ASB

Young people living in Cornforth and nearby areas will have improved access to leisure and learning opportunities thanks to a funding boost worth almost £37k.
Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen has agreed to provide funding just shy of £37k to The Cornforth Partnership to support its plans to expand youth provision in the Cornforth, Bishop Middleham, Ferryhill, Chilton and Newton Aycliffe areas to prevent crime and keep young people safe.

The award-winning charity has been delivering youth and community work for more than 26 years, clocking up significant experience designing projects aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour (ASB).

The PCC’s grant will support a new pilot involving Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations, local authorities, schools and the police with four key goals:

• To create an Area Youth Forum bringing providers and services together regularly to discuss how to improve outcomes for young people in the area and agree a collective plan of action based on data.

• To deliver youth work training to increase the capacity and skills of the local community to provide additional youth programmes and work and increase the skills of staff and volunteers at local organisations.

• To recruit dedicated youth work staff who will coordinate the project and work with schools, youth organisations and communities to gather feedback on the needs of youth people and relay this to the Area Youth Forum.

• To provide funding for social activities and new opportunities to engage young people, covering the purchase of equipment and resources to add value to existing provision.  

This week, the Commissioner visited the charity to hear first-hand about its plans for improved provision in the area and how it ties in with her own Police and Crime Plan priorities.

The PCC has been at the forefront of national efforts to improve the response to ASB, jointly funding an array of diversionary projects to educate young people on the consequences of ASB through interactive performances in schools.

As part of a determined effort to increase young people’s involvement in crime prevention, the PCC launched her own rewards-based Commissioner’s Challenge programme and has received national recognition for engaging young police cadets in the delivery of crime prevention advice as part of a national ‘hotspot’ policing pilot across 34 ASB hotspots across the county.  

Overall, ASB incidents have fallen 11% across County Durham and Darlington but honouring her original Police and Crime Plan commitments, the PCC is determined to invest in further work to prevent young people from engaging in ASB which could escalate to more serious offending if left unchallenged.

Commissioner Allen said: “One of the many strengths of this project is the attention being given to gathering the voice of young people themselves. We know from experience that programmes driven and designed by young people for young people are more successful, and I am pleased that project leaders recognise this and have built in continuous engagement with young people moving forward.  

“We know that a lack of meaningful activities and safe spaces for young people to socialise and develop can contribute to increased ASB. This funding not only will build on current provision but will create the right infrastructure to sustain youth provision in the future with the roll out of important training. I am looking forward to monitoring the achievements of the programme in the future.”

The funding will enable the appointment of both a full-time and part-time youth worker role whose responsibilities will be to work with schools to deliver awareness raising sessions around prominent issues impacting young people including online safety, substance misuse, vaping and sex and relationships. The sessions will be aimed at instilling confidence, knowledge and skills within young people to help them make safer life choices to reduce their engagement in risk taking and unhealthy behaviours.

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