Young people award organisations £50,000 to tackle serious and organised crime in Everton and Vauxhall
30.04.25 - Merseyside
Schoolchildren from North Liverpool Academy have helped hand out £50,000 to tackle serious and organised crime in Everton and Vauxhall.
The participatory budget event ‘Everton and Vauxhall – Together we Stand Tall’ took place at the secondary school as part of EVOLVE Everton-Vauxhall – a Home Office-backed Clear, Hold, Build project that launched last month.
Community groups and organisations with projects to benefit Everton and Vauxhall presented their ideas to the panel of pupils in a Dragon’s Den style event with 10 successful projects each receiving £5,000 in funding.
The participatory budget event was organised by Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council with funding provided by the Merseyside Police Commissioner.
Merseyside Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “Young people are the lifeblood of our communities.
“They are the future decision makers of our society, so it makes perfect sense that they should be the ones to decide how and where this money should be invested.
“With their insight and knowledge, we can ensure we are using this funding in the best possible way to create better opportunities for them, increasing their skills and abilities, building brighter futures, making their community safer and stronger as a result, whilst improving links between our younger generation and police.
“What makes this even more impactful is that this money is taken straight out of the pockets of the very individuals who would seek to harm our communities.
“By seizing money and assets off criminals and putting it back where it belongs, investing in grassroots organisations, we are preventing those who seek to inflict misery on our neighbourhoods from benefitting financially from their illegal activities.
“This is how we are creating safer, stronger places for our young people to grow up in, improving their prospects now and in the future.”
Chief Inspector Sarah Rotherham, one of the senior officers involved in EVOLVE Everton-Vauxhall, said: “Today’s participatory budget event will strengthen community resilience to crime by boosting funding to local clubs and groups offering a range of benefits to the area.
We know that young people are vital in breaking the cycle of criminality and involving them in decisions on where the funding should go is an important way of showing we are listening to them and value their input in shaping their communities.
“EVOLVE Everton-Vauxhall is in its infancy and along with our partners we are committed to bringing about a long-term change in these areas.
"We encourage anyone with information about criminality or the exploitation of vulnerable people to either contact us or Crimestoppers so we can tack action and safeguard those who need help.
“Crimestoppers is completely anonymous and no one but you will ever know you made that call or online report.”
EVOLVE Everton-Vauxhall is Merseyside’s fourth Clear, Hold, Build initiative.
It sees Merseyside Police working together with partners and residents to disrupt and deter organised crime groups (OCG) and help rebuild neighbourhoods into places where people would love to live, work and visit.
The winners of the funding had to ensure their bid had a connection to at least one of the following:
• Reducing or addressing crime and anti-social behaviour
• Protecting vulnerable people from becoming victims of crime and anti-social behaviour
• Supporting victims of crime or anti-social behaviour
• Tackling County Lines
The winners were as follows:
• Progress INC
• Lifeboat Recovery Community Hub CIC
• Daisy Inclusive UK
• Andy’s Positive Programmes
• Spirit Of Shankly
• Scotland Road Football League
• Positive Futures
• Vauxhall Neighbourhood Centre
• Positive Pathways
• Aspire Combat Sports Academy
This participatory budget event is one of many initiatives that will be taking place in Everton and parts of Vauxhall following the launch of the EVOLVE project to disrupt and deter gangs from operating and to make the areas places people love to live, work and visit.
One of these has been the ‘Dear Merseyside’ initiative which saw 21-year-old local spoken word artist Joseph Roberts carrying out workshops in secondary schools in EVOLVE areas to help change young people’s attitudes to gang culture and reflecting on the ‘love where you live’ ethos behind EVOLVE.