Sussex Police secures more than £500,000 extra funding to tackle serious violence

It takes the total amount of additional funding for tackling serious violence in Sussex to just under £2million.

The Sussex Violence Reduction Partnership has been successful in their bids for more than £500,000 of additional funding to help support the county’s most vulnerable young people and combat the root causes of violent crime. 

The Violence Reduction Partnership – a multi-agency group which identifies and tackles the root causes of violent crime involving young people – has been awarded £518,862 of additional Government funding for two programmes aimed at reducing young people’s risk and vulnerability to serious violence.

An investment of £228,084 will fund the continuation of the SWITCH programme, a youth mentoring service delivered by Albion in the Community (AITC), the official charity of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club.

SWITCH provides independent mentoring for young care leavers who are victims of exploitation, at risk of falling into criminality or already perpetrators of violent crime.

Young adults aged between 17 and 25 are offered immediate support if they are taken into custody, preparing to leave care or are brought to the attention of local authorities due to a violent incident.

This extra funding will also support the project to work with A&E departments and GPs to increase the number of referrals from these settings.

A further £290,778 will also fund Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) training for frontline staff in Sussex until the end of March, 2022.

In collaboration with charities Safe in Sussex and Brighton Oasis, 5,500 frontline staff across a range of Sussex services will receive training on the early impact of childhood trauma and how it affects young people and their families.

Safe in Sussex provides a range of services to support those experiencing domestic abuse, working in a trauma-informed manner. The charity has been delivering adverse childhood experiences recovery programmes since 2019 alongside its range of community programmes which educate and empower adults, children and young people. The Brighton Oasis Project has over 23 years’ experience delivering services for women, children and families affected by substance misuse and domestic abuse across Sussex.

Training will be prioritised for the police, youth offending teams, education – primarily pastoral teams and those in pupil referral units, housing services, primary care health teams, local authority frontline staff in early help, youth services and probation services.

This latest round of Government funding follows awards this year of £880,000 to the Violence Reduction Partnership and £514,500 to go towards tackling knife crime and serious violence through intense patrolling of high harm spots throughout Sussex, as well as partnership problem-solving and targeting of Habitual Knife Carriers.

Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said: “I’m delighted that our Violence Reduction Unit has been awarded additional funding as this will expand upon the real difference it is already making for vulnerable young people in Sussex.

“The programmes offered are helping tackle the issues at the heart of much of the violent crime within our county, making it a safer place for us all. They are also making a meaningful improvement to the lives of those involved, giving them the chance of a brighter, crime-free future.”