LONDON, June 19, 2012 - The Jason Roberts Foundation is pleased to announce they have been awarded a second year of funding with a grant of £9,600 to continue their Respect Brent CAGGK Project tackling youth crime in Brent.
The Respect Brent CAGGK Project is financed by the Home Office through the Communities Against Gangs, Guns and Knives Fund.
Over the last year the project has delivered, from the Stonebridge Pavilion in Brent, a weekly programme of sports based activities, including football and basketball, to deter gang related activity and promote community cohesion.
The project has been supported by a volunteer and mentoring programme to provide training and progression routes to participants. A number of non-accredited workshops have also been delivered including; What is a gang, Conflict Resolution, Peer Mentoring Training and Gun and Crime Culture – to educate young people from the local area on these issues, and to encourage them to take ownership of the project and their community.
Otis Roberts, CEO of the Foundation said, “The Respect Brent CAGGK Project has been a great success over the last year, and we are grateful to have received further funding from the Home Office through the Communities Against Gangs, Guns and Knives Fund. During 2011/12 we have seen over 350 young people regularly attending our sports and gang prevention programmes. By providing regular and structured activities we are creating a safe and familiar environment for local young people to come to and spend their time. This additional funding will enable us to continue the project and to expand this work by delivering additional sessions and providing pathways into volunteering, employment and further education.”
Click on the link to see an interview with two of the participants involved in Corner League – a 12-week football tournament with young people from local estates including Chalk Hill, Church Road, Harlesden, Stonebridge Sudbury and Wilesden, coming together every Monday demonstrating they were able to unite using a common interest.
The Communities Against Guns, Gangs and Knives (CAGGK) fund will provide £4 million for the voluntary and community sector over the next two years: £2 million was made available during 2011/12 and a further £2 million during 2012/13.
The funding criteria are focused on voluntary sector organisations working with young people at risk of involvement in gang, gun and knife crime or to support those who are involved to leave.
Each successful organisation will receive up to £10,000 each per year to prevent the involvement of teenagers in gun, gang and knife crime.
The Home Office has committed £18 million of funding for 2011-2013 to support the police, local agencies and the voluntary sector to tackle knife, gun and gang-related violence and prevent young people entering a cycle of crime.
The funding will support enforcement and prevention work by police in three crime hotspot areas. It will sit alongside positive activities for young people and local work to bring about long-term changes in attitudes and behaviours. The money includes up to:
· £3.75 million for the three police forces areas where more than half of the country’s knife crime occurs – London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
· £4 million for local voluntary organisations across England and Wales working with young people to stop involvement in knife and gang violence – the Communities Against Guns, Gangs and Knives Fund.
· £10 million for prevention and diversionary activities and engagement with young people at risk of becoming involved in crime, including knife related violence, through the Positive Futures Programme.
· £250,000 for one further year of the Ben Kinsella fund for young people to run anti-knife crime projects in their local area.
The funding will run from April 2011 to March 2013, when police and crime commissioners will be in place.
To read more about the work of the Home Office on Knife, gun and gang-related violence visithttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/knife-gun-gang-youth-violence/
If you would like more information about the Foundation’s Respect Brent – CAGGK Project or would like to get involved please email info@jasonrobertsfoundation.org
For more information about the work of the Foundation please visit www.jasonrobertsfoundation.com
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