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Community groups rewarded for tackling crime
20 February 2008
Local communities have been rewarded for tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, with the presentation of Community Safety Small Grants.
The Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Bernie Kelly, presented the awards to a total of 37 community groups at the Belfast Waterfront on Wednesday 20 February.
The Small Grants Scheme is presented by the Belfast Community Safety Partnership, which was set up in 2004 to help Belfast be safer and feel safer.
One of the key problems identified by the partnership was anti-social behaviour, this includes gangs gathering, vandalism, noise, attacks on the emergency services, interpersonal and family conflict.
The Deputy Lord Mayor said:
“These very real and difficult problems, which are being addressed with a wide number of initiatives, such as the `Small Grants Scheme`. Its aims are to reduce youths offending, engage our local communities and reduce the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour.
“Community groups such as these can make a real difference to the lives of the people of Belfast.
“I am amazed at some of the innovative ideas which have been developed to deal with anti-social behaviour and am delighted the partnership has put together a booklet to let communities know what they can achieve.
“In recent weeks we have seen terrible events happen in the city centre. These terrible acts of meaningless violence must be stopped.
“We want to make sure the people of Belfast have a safe place to live, work and socialise. But these attacks are very real reminders of what can happen when things go wrong.
“It emphasises the need to tackle anti-social behaviour at neighbourhood level so we can prevent any more tragedies happening. This is what makes your efforts in the community so vitally important. “
ENDS
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