Merseyside Police announce 23 projects for Youth Diversion Fund

‘My goal is to keep more young people safe and engaged this summer’ says PCC Emily Spurrell

Merseyside Police Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, has said her goal is to ‘keep more young people safe and engaged this summer’ as she announces the 23 projects which will share a total of £100,000 from her Youth Diversion Fund.

More than 2,500 young people are set to benefit from safe, positive activities running across the region during the six-week school break, thanks to grants from the latest round of Emily Spurrell’s funding pot.

This is the second summer, the Police Commissioner has run the Youth Diversion Fund, which is designed to give young people, particularly from deprived areas more opportunities during the school break when they may have little to do, while helping to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour which can spike when schools close.

The funding has been shared among eight grassroots community groups in Liverpool, five in Sefton, four successful organisations in Knowsley, and Wirral, and two from St Helens. Many of the organisations will also provide meals for the young people to ensure they are not going without during the school holidays.

Innovative projects including Beautiful New Beginnings who will use nearly £5,000 of funding to run six weeks of forest school activities for 100 children with additional needs, Blue River Support Services Cycle of Life who will offer bike maintenance and skills for young people form Toxteth and the L20 Hub who will offer art and craft sessions for 220 young people in Sefton, getting them involved in tidying up the area and creating a mural with a local artist.

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:

“From survival skills to virtual reality gaming and badminton to boxing, my Youth Diversion Fund is going to fund a treasure trove of activities for young people this summer.

“My goal is to keep more young people safe and engaged in positive activities this summer, giving them the chance to try new experiences, learn extra skills and gain in confidence and self-esteem. 

“We know the vast majority of young people who get involved in crime and ASB are bored and fed up. They want to do something positive with their time, but after years of austerity there is often very little to do in their areas and their families may not be able to afford holidays or expensive summer clubs.

“By offering them more exciting and interesting opportunities, we can prevent them from ever going down the path, broadening their horizons and giving them vital life skills. This has the great knock-on effect of reducing the pressure on the police, reducing the number of victims and making our communities safer, nicer places to live.”

A total of 112 applications requesting a total of nearly £450,000 were submitted for this round of funding – the most ever received by the Police Commissioner. 

By working closely with her community safety partners, Emily was able to allocate the funding to 23 fantastic grassroots projects which are best placed to provide support for young people across the region. 

The Youth Diversion Fund is administered by the Community Foundation for Merseyside, (CFM) on behalf of the Commissioner. CFM holds funds from individuals and organisations as donors who wish to support deserving causes in Merseyside.

CFM’s Programmes Director James Proctor said:

“The Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner’s Youth Diversion Fund is a fantastic funding opportunity to support our local grassroots community organisations and their engagement work with young people.

“It is so important to recognise the valuable community projects on offer over the summer school holidays which allow young people to get involved in sporting, cultural, educational and crucially, fun activities which keeps them safe and helps to reduce instances of anti-social behaviour”.  

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