Empowering Communities To Build Safer Neighbourhoods

Home Office announces £14 million fund to empower communities and build safer neighbourhoods

Two new funds totalling £14 million are being made available to the voluntary sector to empower communities to take action against crime and antisocial behaviour.

As part of the government’s ambition to drive up community activism and build safer neighbourhoods, organisations from the voluntary sector across England and Wales are being invited to apply for a share of two new funds to support local areas in tackling the issues that matter most to them. The funds are:

The Home Office is inviting applications from the voluntary sector for two funds:
Community Action Against Crime: Innovation Fund

The purpose of the Innovation Fund is to stimulate creative new approaches to tackling crime. It will do so by empowering local groups to develop innovative projects to tackle local community safety problems.

The Home Office is particularly keen for the fund to be made available to grass roots community activists who are not traditional recipients of government grants.

The Home Office also wants the fund to encourage the voluntary sector to work more closely with local Community Safety Partnerships, and other statutory agencies that impact on community safety, to drive co-design and co-delivery of services.

The Innovation Fund will be worth £5 million in 2011-12 with a further £5 million set aside for 2012-13. Applications will be invited from voluntary and community sector organisations.

Full details of the application process for 2011-12 will be made available on the Home Office website shortly.

Further enquiries on the ‘Community Action Against Crime: Innovation Fund’ should be addressed to: CAACFunding@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Choices Fund
Choices is focused on preventing and reducing substance misuse and related offending amongst vulnerable groups of young people who are most likely to be at risk of, or already starting to become involved in substance misuse or related offending.

The programme is designed to encourage the national voluntary sector to support small grass roots organisations to deliver targeted prevention and early intervention programmes. 

The Home Office wants to encourage the transfer of skills, expertise and knowledge between national voluntary sector organisations and smaller voluntary sector and community groups in developing local approaches and practices that are effective in reducing substance misuse and related offending.

The Home Office has made £4 million available in 2011-12 and is inviting applications from national voluntary sector organisations. 

The deadline for applications is Thursday 18 August 2011. Further information on Choices and how to apply.(Opens in a new window)

For further information contact the Home Office press office on 020 7035 3535.

last updated on 27th July 2011