Date
The winners of a special £120,000 fund to help communities across North Wales were announced at a dedicated ceremony in the White House, Rhuallt, Denbighshire yesterday (Wednesday, March 29). The Your Community, Your Choice fund 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. After applications were shortlisted, the North Wales public was asked to vote for their preferred projects and over 16,000 votes were cast across the region in the online ballot.
This year’s awards were even more significant as Your Community, Your Choice 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. 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.
In recognition if this 10-year milestone, the funding available to winning projects this year increasing to a total of £120,000, shared across 25 projects.
The groups and projects that were successful in the public vote were:
Anglesey
- Amlwch Showstoppers – Sound Equipment Upgrade
- GirlGuiding Anglesey - Storage Improvement project
- Llanfaes Community Centre - Llanfaes Play Area project
- Scouts Ynys Môn - Central Storage Resource project
Conwy
- Friends of Queens Park, Llandudno - Night Lighting project
- Conwy District Scouts - Rowen Scout Camp maintenance project
- Kaleidescope Theatre Company - Youth Theatre Development project
- Kind Bay Initiative - Arts and Wellness project
Denbighshire
- Blossom and Bloom – Wellbeing Hub project
- Efenechtyd Community Council - Community Park and Play Area development project
- Llangollen Parks Project - Pengwern Park Adventure Trail project
- Rhyl Cycling Club - Road Skills and Safety for Young Bike Riders project
Flintshire
- Cobra Life - Cobra Bully Buster project
- Aura Wales Leisure - Youth ASB Education and Engagement project
- Holywell Town Council - Youth Engagement project
- 1st Saltney Ferry Scout Group - Camping Equipment provision
Gwynedd
- Byw’n Iach - Mentro Allan project
- Harlech and Ardudwy Leisure - Harlech and Ardudwy Youth Activities Group project
- Seren Ffestiniog Cyf - Serennu yn y Cylch project
Wrexham
- Llansantffraid Glyn Ceiriog Community Council – Youth Club project
- Rhostyllen FC - Anti-vandalism fencing project
- Yellow and Blue Group - Our City, Our Tribe project
Pan-North Wales projects
- North Wales 4x4 Response - Community Support Trailer project
- DangerPoint - Safer North Wales project
- Woody’s Lodge - Veterans into the Community project
North Wales Police & Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin said: “I am delighted to see so many excellent and deserving winners receive funding that will help transform communities across North Wales. Your Community, Your Choice is a true collective effort – from my office, the police and PACT, to local communities, the organisations who apply, and to the public who vote for them.
“Everyone has a stake in the success of Your Community, Your Choice and, over the past 10 years, it has shown the difference it can make in offering community groups new opportunities. These organisations give their time and energy to help their local area and the initiative is a great way to give back and help these organisations achieve their aims. 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 commented: “Grass roots projects are the life blood for improving communities across North Wales, making them safer and more resilient places to live. We realise that community groups cannot function without appropriate funding, and this is especially true today. These winning projects will make a major difference to our villages, towns, cities and the region as a whole and it’s a pleasure to be able to support them through Your Community, Your Choice.”
North Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Chris Allsop said: “Your Community, Your Choice is a fantastic scheme that gives local people the chance to directly influence how local issues are addressed. The scheme is part funded by the recovery of criminal property under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and it is absolutely right that we put this money back into community initiatives that seek to reduce crime and improve the quality of living here in North Wales.
Over the past 10 years so many well deserving projects have flourished thanks to Your Community, Your Choice and in this anniversary year it is terrific to see so many new projects getting involved in the scheme. Those at the heart of our communities are often best placed to know how to tackle local issues, and I have no doubt whatsoever that this year’s winners will make a huge difference in their respective areas.”
To learn more about PACT visit www.pactnorthwales.co.uk