Community funding available to tackle violence in Bath

Grants for projects that make communities safer are now available from the Bath and North East Somerset Community Safety and Safeguarding Partnership.

The Violence Reduction Grants provide from £200 up to £4,000 to projects that are working towards preventing and reducing violence across the area.

Eligible projects must address at least one area of local concern, including working with young people to reduce or prevent involvement in violence as victims or offenders, preventing vulnerable people from becoming victims of violent crime or offenders, and working to address crime in hotspot areas including the city centre, Keynsham and Twerton.

The scheme also supports projects that work to support potential victims of knife crime, address domestic abuse, and support young women and girls at risk of becoming involved in violence.

The scheme ran for the first time last year and helped provide positive activities and opportunities for young people vulnerable to violence.

Cllr Dine Romero, cabinet member for children and young people, communities and culture at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: ‘This funding will help make our streets safer for everyone. As we’ve seen from the successful projects that were funded last year, a community-based and targeted approach to tackling the causes of serious violence is so effective. The grants will support young people away from becoming a victim or an offender and find a different path.’

The projects that were successful last year included a graffiti project and a Street to Studio music project organised by Youth Connect South West.

George Saunders, youth work manager at Youth Connect South West, said: ‘This was a brilliant project which involved showcasing young people’s artistic skills. It was really meaningful to Southside and the Whiteway community because it represented the pandemic and the NHS. It transformed a negative into a positive meaning young people who had previously vandalised, had the opportunity to work with a graffiti worker and youth worker to graffiti something relatable and powerful with consent.

‘It is important that we work with young people and give them the tools to be creative and expressive. Through doing the project, the young people were able to build positive relationships with the workers and look at ways to channel graffiti work in a positive and consensual manner.’

In related news, a scheme which helps homeless young people in Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) is appealing for new host households to get involved.

Photo by Liv Cashman