Almost £74,000 has been taken from criminals and invested into schemes across Lancashire, incluing several in the east of the county.

Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden has invested the money into the schemes through the Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund (SLNF), which has seen around £950k invested across the Fund since launching in Spring 2022.

Six new projects across Lancashire were backed through the Community strand of the Fund, including work in the night time economy, diversionary activity to deter anti-social behaviour, and early intervention.

There was also money given through the Police Innovation Fund element of the SLNF, focusing on cyber crime.

Projects in East Lancashire which have benefitted include Nelson’s 180 Programme, The Bacup Family Centre, and Longridge Community Action.

The Police and Crime Commissioner’s Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund continues to support a huge range of initiatives aimed at reducing crime and anti-social behaviour in the local community, with nearly 50 projects funded through the Community strand alone.

The Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund utilises cash seized from criminals, which is reinvested in projects that benefit the community.

Mr Snowden said: "I'm delighted to once again be able to invest money, seized from criminals, back into Lancashire to deter crime and keep people safe.

"Hitting offenders where it hurts, in their pockets, and putting this funding to good use in our communities, is exactly what my Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund is all about.

“This allows us to address some of the root causes of offending, make areas feel safer and engage with those who need support, whilst rightly focusing on enforcement and getting tough on offenders.

“I will continue to work closely with the Chief Constable to ensure that we are delivering on the priorities that the public tell me they want to see, punishing those who make life a misery for others and keeping Lancashire safe.”

Projects benefitting in this round are:

Community Fund:

  • 180 Programme - CrossFit programme aimed at providing a structured and supportive environment for young people - £10,000
  • The Bacup Family Centre – Opening of a Child & Youth Hub, 'The Station' delivering sessions addressing issues having a negative impact on young peoples lives - £10,000
  • Longridge Community Action – Friday Night Youth Club tackling ASB through prevention, diversion, and intervention. - £10,000
  • Empowerment Charity - The Youth Change Makers project is a youth led approach to preventing youth interpersonal violence through, campaigning, education, culture change and challenging systems. - £9,599
  • BDS Training - project based on a bespoke learning programme designed specially to meet these priorities and targeting young people aged 12-18, taking 16 sessions to complete. - £9,280
  • Chorley Borough Council – Licensing accreditation scheme for Chorley, Licensing Security and Vulnerability Initiative (Licensing SAVI) - £5,000

Police Innovation Fund:

  • Cyber Crime Unit – Cyber Protect Conference - . The event is aimed at Disrupting and Dismantling Serious and Organised Crime by providing Cyber protection / security advice to Small and Medium Enterprises from across Lancashire in order to safeguard their existing infrastructures from compromise and protect the data of public of Lancashire from theft -abuse. - £1,840

Fighting Crime Grants:

  • Blackpool Council – support for additional council patrols that will support the Blackpool Op Centurion Patrol Plan – £18,000