Continuing to Fix the Future for a safer Dorset

This week, I was delighted to launch round two of my Fix the Future Community Fund. Enforcement alone cannot combat the crimes affecting our communities. To truly tackle the root cause, we must also have clear prevention and education pathways. The Fix the Future Fund aims to help create more prevention and diversion schemes across Dorset by supporting projects and initiatives which will benefit young people and their local community.

We have some great young people in Dorset, but we also have some who may get into trouble or start being involved in crime and ASB. This fund is about offering opportunities for those young people at risk to do something different.

The first round of the fund was hugely successful with over £40,000 being awarded to nine community projects across Dorset. Earlier in the year I went to visit some of the funded projects and was impressed with the impact they are having not just on the young people involved but on the wider community.

In Sherborne, Future Roots received funding for a youth outreach project that sees staff patrol hotspots where young people hang out, acting as a friendly face and a deterrent to bad behaviour. I spoke to two local supermarkets that are visited as part of the patrols and both reported seeing a decrease in incidents of ASB and abuse towards staff since the outreach programme launched. (You can find out more about this project in the video here.)

I also visited the Andrew Simpson Foundation Centre at Portland Sailing Academy, where funding was used to launch a Maritime Education Project in partnership with Compass Learning Centre. The project saw at-risk young people develop new skills, build confidence, and learn about career opportunities in the Maritime industry, opening up their future options by offering practical experiences. The Compass Learning Centre deputy head teacher told me that he’d seen an improvement in students’ behaviour both in and outside of school as a result of the project. (You can find out more about this project in the video here.)

These are just two examples out of the nine projects funded through the first round and I am eager to see more great projects supported across Dorset. That’s why I am pleased to say that applications are now, once again, open for community groups and organisations to bid for funding for projects and initiatives that reflect the needs of younger people, give them development opportunities, add value to the community and ultimately, make Dorset a safer place to live.

Applications from £100 up to £5,000 are welcomed, the projects must meet the funding criteria and have a local focus. The fund is particularly aimed at helping those from deprived or isolated areas. So, if you are a charity or local project and you fit the criteria – I would encourage you to bid for funding. Together, we can Fix the Future and make our county safer for everyone.

Find out more: https://www.dorset.pcc.police.uk/working-in-partnership/fix-the-future-fund/