Belfast Telegraph
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
More than £140,000 has been allocated by Ards Community Safety Partnership to projects which will tackle violent crime, fear of crime and anti-social behaviour over the next two years.
A total of five projects have received confirmation of substantial grants until 2011, with money set aside also to assist smaller community safety schemes.
Approximately £20,000 will go to North Down and Ards Women's Aid to fund the continued work of a domestic violence school officer.
The officer spends time with 15 and 16-year-olds encouraging discussion of what is and is not acceptable behaviour in relationships and the acute effects of abusive relationships.
A further £17,000 will benefit people in the Ards who live alone and at times can feel vulnerable and isolated.
The ‘Good Morning' project, managed by Age Concern, sees trained operators telephone older or vulnerable people each morning between the hours of 9am and 10.30am simply to say hello, but also to ensure that if a particular person is showing signs of distress, a relative or other agency is contacted to provide help. The service helps those who live alone to feel safer and supported.
Building on the relationships and links between young and old in several communities in the Ards Borough is the focus of the Ards Intergenerational Project, which is to receive £10,000 a year.
Primary school children are the beneficiaries of the ‘Be Safe' scheme which helps those of a young age to understand and deal with serious safety issues.
These issues include how to keep safe near or on water, on buses and in the home, the dangers of electricity and fires, and how to cope with emergencies. Their personal well-being is also being covered with information on internet safety and bullying also included on the programme.
Reducing anti-social behaviour associated with bonfires is the aim of the final project to receive community safety funding.
The Bonfire Management Project, a partnership between local communities and a range of organisations, will target 18 communities in the area, with each receiving grants towards the staging of family-oriented events on July 11.
Further smaller projects will also be funded by grants of up to £1,000 throughout the course of the next two years.
The funding, secured by the Ards Community Safety Partnership from central governments’s Community Safety Unit, will support these projects until 2011.
