Grants for groups to prevent youngsters turning to violence in Doncaster

Thirteen groups from across Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield have received funding from the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Fund to support initiatives and projects aimed at preventing young people from becoming involved in violence.

Among these is Worth Limited in Doncaster, which will receive funding to help reducing fixed term exclusions in Doncaster schools.

They will offer one-to-one support as early intervention for school exclusions.

EPIC in Doncaster have also been awarded funding for their pop up youth space outreach work in the Frenchgate Centre to deal with anti-social behaviour.

In2Change will run sessions to educate young people across South Yorkshire on what constitutes domestic abuse and sexual harassment. This will include how to spot the signs of abuse and harassment and who to turn to for help if they or someone they know is a victim of domestic abuse.

The Streetdoctors will run a South Yorkshire wide peer-mentoring programme for 24 young people from 16-years to 25-years who are at risk of involvement in serious violence.

This will support participants to consider careers in the health and social care sector and train them to become active first responders in emergencies.

Graham Jones, Head of the South Violence Reduction Unit said: “We have awarded grant funding to some very exceptional groups, who are all committed to working in partnership with us to reduce violence by trying to prevent it happening in the first place.

“The fund was heavily oversubscribed with some excellent applications.

"The panel has some difficult decisions to make and unfortunately were we only able to provide funding to thirteen groups.

"This does show that there are many organisations in South Yorkshire working with the aim of supporting young people away from harm and violence.

“We will work with our successful recipients across the year and look forward to seeing the outcomes of their hard work.”

The fund received 83 applications from community groups and organisations across South Yorkshire.

All unsuccessful recipients have been advised of local community grant schemes that they can still apply to including South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation and the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s Community Grant Scheme.

Dr Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner said: “I am very aware that many young people in South Yorkshire are exposed to violence – they see it and can be influenced by it, and this can quickly blight the rest of their lives unless there is timely and skilled intervention.

“This is why the work of the Violence Reduction Unit is so critical. It seeks to tackle the root causes of violence and prevent our young people from being drawn into it.

“I am pleased that we can support the vital work of so many groups in the community and voluntary sector from every part of the county where children and young people are at greatest risk.

“Many young people will be helped to keep away from violence and anti-social behaviour as a result of the projects and programmes being funded.”

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