Community projects on Teesside share £500k to reduce violence

Barnardo’s project worker Lizz Bennett in a studio which uses music to help young people who have experienced trauma

Twenty projects will benefit from a share of £500,000 to reduce violence, it has been announced.

The money is coming from the government to try to stop violent crime.

The Cleveland Police area has the highest level of knife crime in the country and is third highest for violent crime in England and Wales.

Initiatives from Safer Communities, Barnardo's and Hartlepool Council received the most money from the fund.

Between April 2021 and March 2022, the Cleveland Police area saw a 15.7% increase in violent offences.

The Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV) will receive £3.5m to tackle the issues over the next three years.

These include help for people who have been affected by serious violence and cover a range of things from sports clubs to school education programmes and reducing sexual harm.

Steve Turner said the money would help reverse the damage caused by violence

A number of initiatives aimed at reducing knife crime by educating young people in schools were successful, including the Chris Cave Foundation, Three 13 and Barnardo's Bystander Project.

The initiative receiving the largest share of the money, £51,481, is Barnardo's Reach Project, which sees music used to help young people who have suffered trauma surrounding sexual harassment or harm.

Team manager Clare Sullivan said: "We are delighted to be able to continue our valuable work supporting children and young people using music as a therapeutic tool.

"The enjoyment and progress that the young people have made so far has been fantastic to see and we look forward to seeing this continue."

Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner said he was "delighted" teams were in place to address the "root causes of violence".