Safer Communities Fund projects
Herefordshire Council developed the Safer Communities Fund grant scheme in partnership with the Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia and West Mercia Police, to support projects that focus on early prevention, tackling the root causes of crime, vulnerability, exploitation and anti-social behaviour within the county, specifically focusing on children and young people.
The projects currently supported are:
CLD Trust – Safe and Strong Project
Funding to extend the benefits of the Strong Young Minds project. The project supports young people who are vulnerable due to poor mental health but at a stage below Early Help and CAMHS thresholds. It does this by providing both therapeutic mental health support through a counsellor when needed and the support of a mental health support worker who can provide longer term informal mentoring and advocacy support. This support will be offered from CLD Trusts Hereford base, through youth groups across the county but also by introducing an innovative collaborative Green Care (outdoor) approach. CLD Trust work closely in partnership with other support organisations in the county - Vennture, The Cart Shed and Homestart - and have active links with Hereford Community Farm, Turning Point and West Mercia Women’s Aid.
St Martins Primary School (with Marlbrook Primary School) – Caring in Action
The schools will work together with Putson Baptist Church and South Wye Police Boxing Academy to identify particular families in need and offer targeted support. The funding will be used to employ two case workers who will work with children and their families to mentor and coordinate support working with other organisations. They will offer targeted interventions for struggling families, including home visits and work in different premises outside school. This would improve attendance and behaviour, as well as improving their future life chances.
Hereford Community Farm Nurture in Nature: Raising aspirations using the Green Care Model
This project is focused on families living in South Wye and families with children from across Herefordshire with SEND. Hereford Community Farm will offer a range of Family Fun Days taking a whole family approach, offering supported land based activities, taster sessions, an information hub to signpost people to other agencies and services and the presence of a Support Worker to facilitate families to access more targeted support for emerging problems. The Support Worker would maintain contact with the family beyond the Family Fun Day as a trusted point of contact to enable people to access the early help that they need. A series of participatory holiday workshop sessions targeted at young people potentially 13-18 years (up to 25 for SEND) will be offered. These will introduce a range of meaningful practical skills that build confidence, self-esteem and raise aspirations of what can be achieved.
Rural Media Charity – Break Out
A youth participation project that will see Herefordshire young people create impactful social media content which leads to powerful peer-to-peer then youth-to-stakeholder conversations about positive masculinity, healthy behaviours, personal safety and productive role modelling. Working with pupils from primary and secondary schools - Fairfield and Bishops. 85 to 100 direct beneficiaries plus social media reach of at least 1000. Creation of media content that will be shared as legacy for the project.
Haygrove Community Gardens Charity – Family Link Project
To set up a Family Hub at Ross Community Garden, activities to support children and families, for example, drop in café, parenting courses. To work closely with local primary and secondary schools in Ross, particularly Brampton Abbotts Primary School and John Kyrle High School. Recruit and train a group of up to 20 volunteers to support the project. Develop free school uniform exchange. Work closely with Talk Community Team, volunteers and other local organisations to sustain the benefits of the project.
West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre
This projects focuses on children and young people who are exhibiting inappropriate sexual behaviours, targeting a group of children and young people that are not getting psychosocial education or support because they do not fit into any existing funded pathway and/or their behaviours do not meet thresholds. By delivering psychosocial education and support at the earliest stage and enabling teachers and educators to identify these behaviours we can work to prevent child on child abuse in Herefordshire. This project will be open for all schools in Herefordshire and will enable any school to contact WMRSASC for advice and information around problematic sexual behaviour and/or to refer a child or young person or family.
Hope Support Services – Youth Together in Herefordshire
Hope Support Services provide support to young people when a loved one has a serious or terminal illness. This project will expand Hope’s existing service provision enabling them to support 60 additional families. The funding will enable the employment of 1.5 FTE additional support workers who will deliver one to one support services, develop three new monthly youth groups and enable access to a range of group activities such as climbing, boxing, film making and cooking. The support workers will also set up whole family activities to help build a strong, resilient support network for families across the county.
St Thomas Cantilupe CE Primary School – Family Learning Mentor
St Thomas Cantilupe School is based in a deprived area of central Hereford, 65% of their pupils have EAL and many are newly arrived in the UK. The School will employ a Family Learning Mentor to improve the outcomes and opportunities for the pupils aged 5-11 years old and their families. The Family Learning Mentor will work directly with vulnerable families, and their children in order to promote, strengthen and develop the potential of parents/carers and children. They will provide bespoke support for families and act as a link between the school and families, liaising with a range of professionals, including social workers and speech and language therapists, to ensure that families are accessing all services available. The support provided might be short or long-term, but it will always be tailored to meet the needs of the children and their families.
Hinton Community Association Ltd
Hinton Community Association Ltd runs Hinton Community Centre in the St Martins and Hinton Ward area of Hereford. This area is ranked in the top 10% most socio-economically deprived areas of England. The project will provide a recognised training programme for children and young people aged 5 to 18 years that have been excluded or are at risk of permanent exclusion from schools, or have been identified as having anti-social behaviours, have a criminal record or are at risk of offending behaviour. Funding will provide non-contact boxing, leading to a boxing certificate and focus in self-control, integrity, anger management, respect and discipline to a target of 750 recipients.
John Masefield High School
Family Support Worker for 35hrs per week to work closely with families and young people who have emerging problems or additional needs that require targeted support. Additional level support will be promptly available to support pre-EHA work at level 2.
Locally Encouraging All to Flourish (LEAF)
LEAF is a Charity established to develop a range of projects aimed at improving the ‘well-being’ of people within Ledbury. With this funding LEAF will grow its programme of mentoring, specialist counselling and targeted level 2 support for children attending Ledbury Primary School and their families.
Young Cart Shed
The project aims to run three woodland programmes a week for 48 weeks, for young people aged:
- 10-13 who are transitioning to High School
- 14-18 who are struggling to attend school/have disengaged from learning
- 18-25 who have additional needs and who are struggling to attend college or employment or who may be in contact with the criminal justice system who need distraction and meaningful activities to overcome the challenges they are facing