Posted: Mon 6th Mar 2017

Pioneering Project to Tackle Anti-Social Behaviour in Wrexham Given Funding Boost

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 6th, 2017

A pioneering project which will use football to tackle anti-social behaviour in two Wrexham communities has been given a major boost – thanks to cash confiscated from crooks.

The Racecourse Community Foundation – the charity arm of Wrexham FC – plans to run regular Friday night ‘turn up-and-play soccer’ sessions for young people aged between 16 and 25 from Acrefair and Plas Madoc.

To help kick start the scheme, ‘Night Strikers’ has been awarded £2,500 from the Proceeds of Crime Act – an initiative which ploughs cash seized from offenders back into the community.

The remainder of the money for the scheme will come from the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Arfon Jones, who presented the funding with Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard at the Your Community, Your Choice ceremony.

A key aspect of the Racecourse Community Foundation’s strategy is the use of football as a vehicle to bring about positive change with the local community.

Currently the project runs a number of activities aimed at increasing physical activity, improving health and wellbeing, improving literacy and numeracy standards, educating participants on diet, smoking, drugs and alcohol.

During the Your Community, Your Choice presentation ceremony at North Wales Police headquarters in Colwyn Bay the Foundation’s business manager Matthew Jones explained how the funding will be used to benefit the local community.

“We’ll use the funding to run a project that uses football to tackle anti-social behaviour, drinking, drug abuse, arson and crime in two areas that suffer from these problems, Acrefair and Plas Madoc,” said Matthew.

“The plan is to set-up football sessions at a local leisure centre on Friday evenings between 7pm-9pm, during the peak hours when anti-social behaviour becomes most prevalent.

“The sessions will be open to all 16-25 year olds – boys and girls – and will be free. The project will work closely with the local police officers and Police Community Support Officers to ensure that those taking part are not getting into trouble away from the football sessions.

“If they do so they can be suspended from participating in future, which is aimed at discouraging young people from being involved in any criminal activity.”

He added: “Football is a powerful tool in influencing behaviour and that’s why we have decided to use it and this project simply couldn’t go ahead without this funding from Your Community, Your Choice.”

The grant for Night Strikers is one of 15 totalling over £40,000 to be awarded to community organisations across the region. Almost 10,000 votes were cast online to decide which of the 29 schemes should receive a share of the funding.

CAIS, a drug and rehabilitation service in Wrexham, also received a grant of £2,500 for their Recovery in Action scheme.

Members of the Recovery in Action Group at Champions House, the Grove Park Road based centre for people who have suffered from drug and alcohol addiction, recently teamed up with Keep Wales Tidy, North Wales Police, Wrexham County Borough Council and the wider community to carry out a clean-up of Rhosddu Park.

Recovery in Action project manager Elen Richards said: “The clean-up significantly improved the area and also empowered the community by demonstrating what a difference they can make and how quickly.

“This funding will enable the group to deliver a more comprehensive and targeted training programme to people who have already shown a commitment to help Wrexham and themselves.

“This will lead to further community led initiatives, will make a difference to Wrexham, and will significantly increase the employability of people in recovery.”

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones, said he was “delighted” to continue the “good work of the Your Community, Your Choice fund and support community projects across North Wales.”

Mr Jones said: “This unique fund allows our communities to decide which projects should get financial support, and I would like to thank all of this year applicants who submitted innovative and interesting projects, and for the public for taking part in the decision-making through our on-line voting system.

“This year 29 projects went forward to the public vote and almost 10,000 votes were cast and that response demonstrated to me that communities can work together to make our public places safer.

“Community groups such as yours are vital to the citizens of north Wales and in helping to ensure that our communities continue to be some of the safest places to live, work and visit in the UK.”

Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard added: “The funding which you have received has been made available by the Police and Crime Commissioner and through assets seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

“This is a particularly vital message as, through the professionalism of North Wales Police Officers and with the support of the Courts, we are able to hit the criminals where it hurts – in their pockets.

“Operation Scorpion aims to target all types of serious crime and to date it has recovered £1.3m worth of cash and assets and almost £300,000 worth of illegal drugs and ensured that 87 criminals are spending over 350 years behind bars.

“Money confiscated from these criminals is now helping to support communities such as yours.

“Every day our work involves working closely with communities and organisations across the whole of North Wales, and it is vital that these strong ties and links continue so that we can continue to make North Wales a safer place.”



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