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A disused school on Anglesey which is being turned into a thriving village hub has had a financial boost thanks to cash confiscated from crooks.
The former Llanddona primary school is being brought up to standard so it conforms to Health and Safety and Disability Act regulations and a £2,500 grant from a special fund distributed by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones will go toward the costs of renovations.
The grant comes from a special fund distributed by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones from a pot which this year totals a record £61,901 with two major donations dedicated to fighting the County Lines menace.
The Your Community, Your Choice initiative is also supported by the North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) which is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year.
The money for the awards came partly from money seized by the courts through the Proceeds of Crime Act with the rest from the Police Commissioner’s Fund.
Each of the region’s six counties have up to £2,500 apiece for two groups with £5,000 each for two organisations that operate in three or more counties.
In addition this year, thanks to additional funding from the police and crime commissioner and North Wales Police, there are two new grants of £10,000.
The larger grants are designed to fund projects addressing issues related to the emerging threat of County Lines, where young people are being coerced and threatened with violence to take part in illegal activity across the region.
Around 15,000 votes were cast in an online poll to decide which of the community schemes received support, with the cheque presentation to 19 successful applicants at North Wales Police headquarters in Colwyn Bay.
Rhian Hughes, who chairs the Llanddona Village Hall Heart of the Village committee says the Your Community, Your Choice funding will go a long way to helping with the renovation work.
She said: “It’s been a long hard slog since the school closed some five years ago. Since that time we have applied for many grants and had some success but this funding really helps.
We have lost the village school, post office and some transport links so this village hall is very much needed and will help bring the community together. It means a great deal to the community and we are very grateful for this Your Community Your Choice funding.”
Committee member Hannah Elin Baguley added: “We took ownership of the school in October 2018 but the renovation is going to be very much an ongoing project for many years to come.
This funding will help support that on-going work and help us with community projects such as Panad a Sgwrs involving our older residents and our local Police Community Support Officer.
Our wish is to use our facility to help develop children’s skills within our community and be a meeting place for all ages to come together to learn Life Skills. This grant will certainly help.”
Penysarn Youth Club, which has 23 members, has received a £1,000 grant to make their Belgium trip a reality from a special fund distributed by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.and which this year totals a record £61,901 with two major donations dedicated to fighting the County Lines menace.
Anglesey’s other successful applicants were Holyhead Youth Club for a project to work with Police Community Support Officers to steer young people away from trouble and Penysarn Youth Club who have received £1,000 for a history project which will help pay for club members to visit Belgium to sprinkle local soil on the graves of soldiers from the village killed in the First World War.
The Your Community, Your Choice initiative is also supported by the North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) which is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year.
It is the seventh year of the awards scheme and much of over £220,000 handed out to deserving causes in that time has been recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act, using cash seized from offenders with the rest coming from the Police and Crime Commissioner.
The scheme is aimed at organisations who pledge to run projects to tackle anti-social behaviour and combat crime and disorder in line with the priorities in Commissioner Arfon Jones’s Police and Crime Plan.
This year there 19 grants have been given to support schemes by community organisations with an online vote deciding the successful applicants from among 35 projects submitted and almost 15,000 votes cast.
Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones, who jointly presented the awards with new Assistant Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett, said: “I am delighted that my Your Community Your Choice fund continues to support community projects across north Wales for a seventh consecutive year.
This unique fund allows our communities to decide which projects should get financial support through our on-line voting system and the response has seen almost 15,000 members of the public vote for a total of 30 projects.
These projects help to support my Police and Crime Plan whose purpose is to ensure that North Wales Police is paying specific attention to those points which have been identified as crucial by the public, me and indeed by the force itself.
Many of you will be aware of the recent Third Sector consultation that I carried out which has resulted in an update to my priorities to include the ways in which we address emerging trends including Organised Crime and the exploitation of vulnerable people.
As part of this I aim to ensure that a clear focus continues around county lines crimes – a particularly vicious form of criminality that exploits young vulnerable people into a life of crime which is extremely dangerous and violent and from which there is little escape.
I am delighted to see that a number of your applications aim to address this issue and support our young people.
Community groups are vital to the citizens of north Wales, and in helping to ensure that our communities continue to be some of the safest places to live, work and visit in the UK.”
Sacha Hatchett said: “This money includes cash from assets seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act. This is a particularly vital message as through the professionalism of North Wales Police Officers and with the support of the Courts, we are able to hit the criminals where it hurts – in their pockets.
“Our operations target all types of serious criminality including cross border crime, armed robbery, criminal use of firearms as well as drug production, importation and supply.
Those who are involved in serious and organised crime often live well beyond their means, drive expensive cars, live in large houses and frequently holiday abroad; they may well be living lifestyles on the proceeds of crime.
Our communities continue to play a part in this success with local intelligence information given to our officers that help us to bring these criminals to justice.
It sends a really positive message that money taken from the pockets of criminals is being recycled. This is turning bad money into good that's being used for a constructive purpose.”
Representatives of Llanddona Village Hall receive their Your Community Your Choice award at North Wales Police Headquarters, from left, Assistant Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett, Hanna Elin Baguley and Rhian Hughes with North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.