The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner is offering local groups up to £5,000 each to help reduce crime in their areas.
The Active Citizens’ Fund has been relaunched this week with £180,000 on offer. It is made up from money which has been seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and is used to allow communities to invest in their neighbourhoods to improve safety.
This money, which changes each year dependent on seizures, cannot be spent on police officers.
During the pandemic, POCA money like this has been distributed under the Community Initiatives Fund.
The purpose of the Active Citizens’ Fund is to support local communities who are actively involved in projects which aim to make a positive difference to them and which make the West Midlands a safer place to live and work. All funded projects must contribute to crime prevention or community safety in one of the force’s ‘impact areas’, these are:
| NPU | Impact Areas |
| Birmingham East | Bordesley Green, Erdington, Sparkhill / Sparkbrook |
| Birmingham West | Birmingham City Centre, Lozells, Three Estates (Northfield/Kings Norton) |
| Coventry | Hillfields, Wood End and Bell Green |
| Dudley | Brierley Hill, Dudley Central |
| Sandwell | Princes End, Smethwick, Soho & Victoria, West Bromwich Central |
| Solihull | Chelmsley Town, Smithswood |
| Walsall | St Matthews, Willenhall |
| Wolverhampton | Bilston, Whitmore Reans |
All bids to be submitted by noon on Friday, 17 September 2021 and decisions will be informed by local panels comprising local community representatives and West Midlands Police by 30 September 2021 before being approved by the PCC.
Launching the fund, Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner, Wasim Ali said: “The Active Citizens’ Fund will help to support communities.
“I would encourage groups from across these areas to apply for funding, I want to be able to support a range of organisations doing all sorts of work with this money.
“This is money that we’ve taken away from criminals and are ploughing back into communities and into projects which are making a real difference to improve neighbourhoods and reduce crime.”
Groups can find all of the information they need to apply here.
Chief Superintendent Kim Madill added: “As Active Citizen lead for West Midlands Police I am really excited that the next round of bidding for this fund is to open in September.
“It is a great way of using money that we have taken from criminals to support locally based projects in our communities across the West Midlands.
“I will look forward to seeing the bids coming in and the money going to valuable local organisations to support local people through initiatives that we know from past experience also have a positive impact on reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.”
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