Work to make Norfolk safer for women and girls has been given a funding boost, with more than £400,000 coming into the county thanks to a successful bid for government funding.
With £427,245 now set to come into Norfolk, the money will be used for work to enable women to feel safer in public spaces and provide education projects focused on changing attitudes and behaviours, particularly those related to sexual harassment. These projects are in line with the ambitions of the government’s recently published Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
Amongst the planned measures, the money will fund an expansion of the CCTV network in King’s Lynn.
A programme for university students and school age pupils in King's Lynn and elsewhere will focus on developing open conversations about appropriate behaviours and empowering young people to challenge others. Known as a ‘bystander programme’ the work will help develop pupils’ skills in addressing issues and knowing how to recognise and respond to problematic attitudes and behaviours.
Unfortunately, school pupils are one of the largest groups in King's Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth who are affected by VAWG crimes and the programme will help to develop confidence in reporting from victims as well as empowering young people to understand appropriate behaviours.
The bid for funding was submitted as part of the Home Office’s Safer Streets programme, which has this week announced the latest round of successful bids across the country. This is the third round of funding offered under the Safer Streets programme and Police and Crime Commissioners and local authorities were able to request grants specifically for work to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).
From previous rounds, Norfolk has received £442,000 to tackle burglary hotspots, make improvements to the safety of people’s homes and install CCTV and £96k to provide further improvements to CCTV.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk has secured the funding and is working with Norfolk County Community Safety Partnership to deliver a series of measures to improve safety in three key areas in the county as well as education programmes for young people and students.
You can read more about Safer Streets funding on the Home Office website.
