Funding boost for fight against crime
Hull BID is preparing to step up the fight against crime in the city centre after securing more than £45,000 of new funding.
The money has been provided by Community Action Against Crime Innovation Fund following a successful application led by Kathryn Shillito, Hull BID City Centre Manager.
The application was produced in close consultation with Hull BID’s crime prevention partners and drew on the experience of projects delivered successfully in the past by Humberside Police and Hull Citysafe.
The Community Action Against Crime’s Innovation Fund was set up to create new approaches to tackling crime. The aim is to encourage greater community activism and to enable communities to develop innovative approaches to tackling the local crime issues that matter to them.
Hull BID is in discussions with Humberside Police and with businesses to decide on how to use the grant most effectively, but among the initiatives which the new money will help to fund is the proposed installation of CCTV in up to 50 independent city centre retail units.
That investment will support a wider campaign to encourage businesses to work together and prevent crime in the city centre, with particular emphasis on shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.
Chief Inspector Dave Rawding told a recent meeting of the Hull BID Board that efforts to reduce crime are showing success and have earned recognition from the national media.
“We had a visit from some journalists from The Mirror who came to Hull to find stories about broken youth,” said Dave.
“But the headlines they’d been reading were five years old. When they arrived here they admitted they were in the wrong place because things have moved on so much. What we want to do now is build on that.”
Kathryn Shillito added: “Everyone involved in crime prevention in Hull city centre is doing a great job and things are improving but we all know we have to keep working at it.
“Securing this grant is great news because apart from the value of the funding itself, the award demonstrates recognition for the quality and innovation of our ideas. We look forward to working with businesses to make sure we all make the most of this opportunity.”
