Almost £1,000,000 of Home Office funding comes to Dorset
A wide range of initiatives all aimed at making our county safer will receive funding after a successful bid was made to the Home Office’s Safer Street Fund by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, BCP Council and Dorset Council.
The county has been awarded £964,055 to drive forward projects and initiatives which centre on the safety of women and girl within night-time economy as well as tackling crime in Dorset’s more rural communities.
Safer Streets will see the introduction of a Women’s Night Safety Charter that will see businesses nominating a champion within their organisation to actively promote women’s night safety and one thousand ‘Theft and Burglary’ prevention packs to mark rural farm property will be given out to members of our rural communities.
Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick said: “I am delighted with this result – to have almost £1 million coming into Dorset in one go is unprecedented. The range of projects that will receive help is on a scale that we haven’t seen before, from providing vulnerable victims of burglary with video doorbell systems to supporting the Pineapple Project in Weymouth with their ‘Guardians’ project, this money will go toward helping more people feel safe and be safe in their homes and in their communities.”
“The benefit of this funding will be felt across the whole county – with more CCTV cameras being put up in Weymouth and Sherborne, and cameras being put into areas such as Horseshoe Common and West Hill in Bournemouth. A significant number of existing CCTV cameras from rural areas will also be integrated into the Dorset Council main CCTV control room – meaning the capability, monitoring and reach of the existing CCTV system in some of our more remote areas will greatly improve.”
Commenting on the successful bid, Dorset Police Assistant Chief Constable Mark Callaghan said: “This is a remarkable result, and our thanks go to all those involved in this successful bid. The money will give a tremendous boost to the efforts of both Dorset Police and its partners to keep women and girls safe in the evening and night-time economy and provide reassurance to our rural communities.”
Cllr. Laura Beddow, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Communities for Dorset Council continued: “This is fantastic news for Dorset. It shows what can be achieved working in collaboration with our partners and will allow us to build upon the initiatives we’ve already got in place to protect our residents and support local businesses. Crime prevention and public safety will always be key priorities for our communities, and this funding will help deliver innovative projects to ensure Dorset remains a safe area to live and work.”
Councillor Vikki Slade, Leader of BCP Council and Portfolio Holder for Dynamic Places, said: “As Leader of the council, ensuring the safety and security of people in our communities remains one of my highest priorities. I am very grateful for this investment, which will support us in creating a safer night-time economy for all residents whilst also tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), which I appreciate is an issue of great concern.
“Recently, we initiated our Town Team campaign with Dorset Police and other multi-agency partners; reassuring residents and communities that a year-round partnership is working collaboratively to prevent anti-social behaviour (ASB) and crime in Bournemouth town centre.
“That partnership is already seeing positive results, with the team having completed over 260 engagements with local businesses and members of the public, provided over 17 welfare checks to vulnerable people and identified more than 40 breaches of legislation in a six-week period.
“This funding will help us to develop this service further, alongside supporting the introduction of other crime prevention initiatives that will help to keep people safe on our streets, in night-time venues and in their homes.”