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On 20 July, North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Andy Dunbobbin visited Wrexham to see how funding from the Your Community, Your Choice initiative is helping to promote the city to the public, reduce anti-social behaviour, and give young people new social media skills.
Your Community, Your Choice supports grass-roots projects and is supported by the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) and North Wales Police. The funding for Your Community, Your Choice comes partly from money seized by the courts through the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the rest from the Police and Crime Commissioner.
The initiative in Wrexham, called Our City, Our Tribe, is run by the Yellow and Blue Group, a social enterprise non-profit that is based in their new hub at Eagles Meadow. The project involves 11–16-year-olds posting videos to TikTok and other social media platforms that promote the city of Wrexham. The purpose of bringing young people together and educating them on the city, projects and the work being put into the community is to enable them to feel they have a stake and feel empowered as part of the local community. It also encourages community cohesion and helps tackle and reduce anti-social behaviour.
While at the project’s base, Andy Dunbobbin, Dave Evans from PACT, and High Sherriff of Clwyd, and PACT Trustee, Kate Hill Trevor met Yellow and Blue Founder Pete Humphreys, Volunteer Youth Worker Sammii Jones and several of the young people taking part in the project, many of whom come from areas such as Caia Park. PC Tom Norton and PCSO Chris Smith of North Wales Police were also there to lend their support to the project and engage the young people in many of the activities that are taking place over the summer in Wrexham to provide them with diversions, such as free boxing classes. The evening also included a DJ-ing workshop session with Paul Griffiths of Premier Radio. The Commissioner was very interested to hear about the aims and successes of the project and how Yellow and Blue is going from strength to strength in its new base and engaging young people both in Our City, Our Tribe and in the wider life of the Wrexham.
Pete Humphreys, Founder, Yellow and Blue, said: ‘’At Yellow and Blue we are pleased to have welcomed the PCC to see how we are making a huge effort in improving lives in Wrexham. We are bringing together some amazing people in the city and we are excited to see the results of what this can achieve. Our project is reaching the hardest to engage in youth culture and we are sure will see positive outcomes.’’
North Wales Police & Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin said: “I am delighted to see the hard work being done by Yellow and Blue to reduce ASB in Wrexham and to encourage everyone to know that they have a stake in the future of the city.
“Your Community, Your Choice shows the difference that can be made by offering new opportunities to people in the community. Organisations like Yellow and Blue give their time and energy to help their local area. They help to keep our neighbourhoods safe and secure, and to meet the priorities in my Police and Crime Plan. And the fact that part of the money comes from funds seized from criminals also helps show to people that crime doesn’t pay, but community activism does!”
PACT Chairman Ashley Rogers said: “Grass roots projects like Our City, Our Tribe are the life blood for improving communities across North Wales, making them safer and more resilient places to live. Community groups cannot function without appropriate funding, and this is especially true today, that’s why it’s a pleasure to be able to support them through Your Community, Your Choice.”
North Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Chris Allsop commented: “North Wales Police recognises and appreciates the hard work organisations like Yellow and Blue do in our communities across the region. Wrexham is a city with a unique culture, which has seen a real focus and resurgence in recent years. It’s a pleasure to be able to support initiatives to engage local young people in their community, while also hopefully reducing crime. This is all the more fitting given the funding for Your Community, Your Choice comes partly from the proceeds of crime itself.”
The Your Community, Your Choice fund is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2023 and, over the past ten years, a total of over £500,000 has been awarded to more than 150 projects working to reduce crime in their areas and to support the priorities in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.
To learn more about PACT visit www.pactnorthwales.co.uk and to learn more about the work of the Office of the Police and crime Commissioner, visit www.northwales-pcc.gov.uk