Safer Communities
The principle aim of 'Safer Communities' is to tackle the fear of crime, antisocial behaviour and re-offending.
Many communities in the South East have a negative perception of young people. Actual crime levels are apparently falling, but the perception and ‘fear’ of crime continues to grow.
It is true though that low-level crime such as graffiti and vandalism, and other antisocial behaviour, has seen an increase in recent years. In some communities, there is poor provision for young people and a lack of opportunity in terms of employment and training. This can lead to disillusionment and criminality. Habitual petty offending can often lead to more serious crimes in later life.
As an ex-offender, your chances of being jailed again are very high with some 60% re-offending within 2 years of release. Many cite the main reasons for this as housing and employment. It is clear from our experience that opportunities and support for ex-offenders is not as comprehensive as it could be.
In setting up the ‘Safer Communities’ programme, Groundwork committed to develop our work to deliver ‘products’ that tackle these key issues. So, over the last 18 months, Groundwork has been building momentum around 3 key products/themes:
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Blue Sky – please see attached case study for details. The regional team has been working to extend Blue Sky to new areas in the South East Region.
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Positive Activities for Young People – We are awaiting the result of a major Family Learning application to the Big Lottery (result due: Nov 08). This project, if successful, will deliver fishing coaching to 600 families of disengaged young people across the South East. It will be focused on family time and learning together, and is intended to help parents be better parents and take more of an interest in their children’s development.
Children will also learn a greater appreciation of the natural environment and fishing which we hope will help us achieve key outcomes of the project to decrease antisocial behaviour locally and increase educational achievement in the long term.
The project represents a major partnership between the Environment Agency, Get Hooked on Fishing, Groundwork and host of local referral/delivery organisations. We will deliver it in 3 areas across the South East.
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Junior Wardens - A further product that is in very early development as a regional product, but is in delivery already as local project in Solent, is Junior Wardens. This approach encourages young people to become stewards of their local environment, encouraging greater responsibility and pride in a local area – it is proven to reduce antisocial behaviour, and is breaking down intergenerational barriers. We are currently planning to formalise the Junior Warden scheme and promote it more widely.