Communities come together to make a difference
Communities in Wirral have been coming together over the past few weeks to chose which ideas they believe could make a difference in their area and therefore be granted funding to help make it happen.
Organisations and community groups in five areas of Wirral had made bids for grants of up to £2,000 to deliver projects, events or other activities locally that would contribute to a reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhoods.
Public events have been taking place in each of the five areas where local people come along, hear a ‘pitch’ from the applicant and cast their vote on which ones they wanted to get the funding.
In total, 33 projects were awarded grants totalling more than £62,000 to fund activities ranging from providing refereeing courses for local people, arts projects, martial arts classes, wellbeing sessions and projects that help support local people with substance misuse.
Three of the five areas involved in this ‘participatory budgeting’ process are the areas covered by the multi-agency EVOLVE Wirral – Clear, Hold, Build - programme that aims to tackle serious and organised crime and improve and sustain community confidence and cohesion.
More than 600 people in Woodchurch, Noctorum and Beechwood & Ballantyne cast their votes for local projects on their estate, nearly 200 more than participated in the process when it ran for the first time in 2024.
A total of £44,500 was awarded to 23 projects in these three areas. The funding for these three areas came from a combination of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and local social housing providers. £30,000 of the money was awarded by the PCC under the Proceeds of Crime Act, where assets seized from convicted criminals is reinvested in communities.
It is funding provided by the PCC under the Proceeds of Crime Act that allowed this small grants programme to be extended to two further areas – New Ferry and Rock Ferry – in 2025.
Five projects from each of those two areas were successfully awarded grants totalling £18,223 to deliver projects locally, ranging from environmental initiatives, to diversionary activities for young people, to cookery classes.
The funding provided through the award of these small grants will enable groups who are committed to doing good in their local area to deliver a project or event which makes a difference and demonstrates that, together, their community is stronger.
These five schemes are building on the great successes we’ve already seen since the launch of EVOLVE Wirral two years ago and show that, along with our partners and our communities, we are wholly committed to improving these communities, previously blighted by serious and organised crime.
What’s even better is this money has been seized from those very same individuals who would seek to harm our communities; taking it out of the pockets of criminals and reinvesting it back where it belongs, in positive projects that support vulnerable people, providing a place to learn new skills, preventing anti-social behaviour and crime.
Local groups, charities, and organisations are the lifeblood of the communities they serve so it’s only right the very people who benefit from this vital work decide where this money is invested to ensure it’s put to the best possible use, creating safer, stronger places for us all to live, work and play.
The recent participatory budget events have seen residents in these areas help shape the delivery of projects that we hope will see a continued improvement in these communities.
EVOLVE Wirral is our response to the Home Office’s Clear, Hold, Build initiative and we will continue to work together to ensure our communities are places people love to live, work and visit for generations to come. We do however need residents’ help to achieve this by continuing to tell us, or Crimestoppers anonymously, about criminal activity so we can take action against those responsible and seek help for the vulnerable.
Magenta Living is committed to collaborating with local partners to support our vision of creating homes full of love and communities full of life. Through our support for the EVOLVE initiative’s participatory budget, we’re helping to deliver practical, community-led responses to the issues that matter most to our customers. We’re dedicated to building on this work and continuing to make a lasting, positive difference together.
We are committed to working with local partners to support initiatives in our neighbourhoods that make a positive impact. Supporting the EVOLVE initiative’s participatory budget is enabling us to do that by delivering meaningful solutions to the challenges our customers face. We look forward to working with these partners to continue making a positive, lasting impact locally.
