Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit grant award recipients
Today Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit announced 18 organisations across Southend, Essex and Thurrock that would be receiving some financial support to continue their work in supporting vulnerable children and young people.
The Essex VVU created the Community Grant Fund in order to help organisations struggling to deliver planned work to reduce crime and safeguard young people because of the impact and restrictions of COVID-19.
The work which the money is funding ranges from sports sessions – karate and boxing – male mentoring, film production workshops, school sessions and mental health support. The groups have been awarded the funds as all the activities mentioned are designed to support those participating to build confidence and resilience, understand risky decision making, promote healthy behaviours and good mental health.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, speaking for the Violence and Vulnerability Unit said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to help so many organisations carry on their fantastic work with children and young people. It has been a really tough year for so many people and so many organisations, yet the determination these groups have to make lives better for our children is incredible. Well done to them all and I look forward to seeing the results of their work in 2021.”
The full list of organisations and their location is below, along with details of what their grant will be spent on. The money needs to be spent by the end of financial year 2020 / 2021.
| Organisation | Location | Activities | Grant |
| Changing Lives | Harlow | Outreach programmes including mental health sessions, wellbeing and sports for those aged between 11 – 25, taking referrals from schools and other agencies in Harlow for children who are at risk of serious violence. Supporting the development of a hub in Harlow town centre. | £10,000 |
| Lads Need Dads | Colchester | Personal development programme for a cohort of boys age 11 – 12 years living in Colchester; to build resilience through male-led group mentoring, to enable them to cope with problems and issues faced at home and school and explore the important choices they face in their adolescent development, to prevent escalation of negative behaviour. | £6,632 |
| YMCA | Southend | RESET programme to help young people (aged 10- 20) to consider and work through the risks and consequences associated with life choices (particularly around unhealthy and exploitative relationships and criminal activity). | £9,072 |
| Evolve Intervention | Countywide | Workshops in school around ‘risky’ behaviours with a focus on building self-esteem. Develop provision to be able to offer funded coaching and mentoring sessions to children or young people who are at risk of criminal exploitation, with both parents and professionals being able to make a referral. | £8,975 |
| Maru Karate Kai | Basildon | Karate provision for identified children and young people from the local area. | £2,950 |
| Safe Steps | County Wide | Develop a hub of information for young people, parents and professionals working with young people, including information for all of Essex; content and structure to be able to deliver a professionally constructed online programme, including information about safe relationships. | £9,135 |
| UTurn4Support | Tendring | The provision of educational and awareness sessions to provide advice, guidance and supporting actions which advance the young person’s knowledge, and skills set to reduce their risk of further victimisation or offending. | £6,200 |
| Street Pastors | Basildon | A Safe Space hub on the high street in Basildon, allowing young people to attend twice a week to engage with the street pastors and key partners (contacting previous children and young people who have accessed the service out on the streets, inviting them to take part) | £9,901 |
| London Bus Theatre Company | Castle Point | Produce a young people led short film project on County Lines, with 35 vulnerable young people aged 13-18 (from Castle Point), developing a wide range of transferable life skills, reduce their isolation and improve overall well-being. Share the film with the local community and more widely. | £9,850 |
| Holland shore boxing club | Tendring | Sports provision, with volunteers from the community, and working with vulnerable children and young people, in Jaywick. Developing respect and life skills through boxing while maintaining a healthy lifestyle through exercise, helping the young people to keep a positive attitude. | £4,250 |
| Essex Boys and Girls Clubs | Emotional wellbeing outdoor events with young people aged between 11-16. | £5,100 | |
| Gateway Radio club | Basildon | Working with a cohort of young people in Basildon, using radio as a way to raise self-esteem and confidence. | £9,000 |
| Proximity Schools | Thurrock | To continue to deliver the ‘Engagement Pathway’ programme. This is a project that spans primary and secondary schools in Thurrock, working with ages 8 to 16. Services provided through local schools, include drop-in cafe, assemblies and drop-in reflective spaces; group interventions and workshops; and bespoke 1:1 mentoring for young people. | £9,122 |
| St Stephens Community Trust | Thurrock (focused on Purfleet) | Youth & Community Support Worker for 2 days per week to support an intervention strategy that will benefit young people, help them to make positive choices to keep themselves safe, build confidence and resilience. | £7,061 |
| Crimestoppers Essex | County wide | Print and distribute Fearless materials to secondary schools and youth organisations across Essex, supported by targeted social media. | £8,400 |
| ‘Keep It 100’ | Chelmsford | ‘Keep It 100’ – on the unveiling of the Knife Crime Angel, to be placed in a Chelmsford park in 2021 – to hold activities to mark this, working with Chelmsford Community Safety Partnership. | £2,032 |
| Inclusion Venture | Tendring | Provide diversionary activities for young people in Tendring aged 13- 21 years; provide trips to expand awareness, challenge current perceptions and develop resilience beyond their current environments. | £4,000 |
| Project Mind Empower | Colchester | Provide two six-week specialist programmes, in Colchester, deliverable to up to 15 beneficiaries per group. The referrals will be from supporting agencies, and young people who are identified as at risk of involvement in serious violence, aiming to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors. | £8,291 |
