(Photo courtesy of Fotonow)
As part of the Stronger North Stonehouse project, which has received over £500,000 from the Home Office’s Safer Street fund, grants are available to individuals and organisations which will help them organise activities and projects that make North Stonehouse a stronger, safer and better place to live.
Stronger North Stonehouse has been established with support from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Plymouth City Council and the Community Safety Partnership, Devon and Cornwall Police who are all working with already established community organisations, like Cliik and Nudge Community, to deliver a project which will have a lasting legacy for North Stonehouse.
The community sparks fund will support small initiatives which enhance the area, that deter antisocial behaviour and make a space more ‘friendly’ and safe for residents.
All a project needs to demonstrate is a positive impact on the neighbourhood in ways which help people feel safe and engender a greater sense of belonging and involvement.
Two levels of funding are available.
Small sparks - small-scale projects requiring up to £250. These projects are likely to involve a small number of people, maybe a couple of local residents who want to do something close to home to improve the street that they live on.
Big Sparks - Larger-scale projects requiring up to £3,000 and these projects are likely to involve more people, to bring people together within a neighbourhood and spark a longer-lasting legacy of collaborating to continue the momentum of positive change.
“Sometimes a community just needs a reminder that the glass is half full and not half empty,” said Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez.
“By focusing on the strengths and assets of a community, it can create a very different picture to what are its perceived needs.
“Safer Streets funding will focus largely on improving infrastructure by investing in new CCTV cameras and improving street-lighting so the community sparks fund is a great opportunity for some of that money to be focussed on supporting community improvement at the grass roots.
“It will be fascinating to see what projects come forward seeking support.”
Applicants must simply submit a 400-word statement or a three-minute video/audio file, outlining the project and the expected impact on the community.
The deadline for applications is 20 January 2021. The project must take place within the designated area for Safer North Stonehouse and be completed by 31 March 2021.
Applications can be emailed to: hello@strongernorthstonehouse.co.uk or by post to: SNS Community Sparks, C/O Cliik, The Talk Shop, 3 Wyndham Place, Stoke road, Plymouth.
Please note: Applications for projects in areas between Union Street and the project area will also be considered where they can demonstrate that the impact will have a positive benefit to the overall aims of the North Stonehouse bid in reducing crime and the fear of crime in the project area.
For more information about Stronger North Stonehouse follow them on Twitter (@NorthStonehouse) and Facebook (Stronger North Stonehouse).