£25,000 awarded for Crime Prevention
On Monday 27th September, Berkshire Community Foundation celebrated its 25th Birthday by awarding a £25,000 grant to one lucky community project.
The event was kindly hosted by John Nike OBE at his Coppid Beech Hotel in Bracknell and provided a unique opportunity for donors and supporters of the Foundation to discover more about the unprecedented needs throughout Berkshire as well as the best possible ways in which these problems can be addressed.
In June this year, Lady Stevenson, The High Sheriff of Berkshire, launched the Foundation’s High Sheriff’s Grassroots Fund, providing a permanent source of ongoing funds for crime preventive focused projects.
Andrew Middleton, Chief Executive of the Foundation, said “Crime is a key theme within the findings of the Hidden Needs Survey, which documents the issues and needs facing Berkshire communities; the High Sheriff’s Grassroots Fund will encourage young people to get involved with crime reduction activities and create safer communities.”
As a result of the findings in the Hidden Need Survey, the trustees of the Foundation decided to focus the 25th Birthday grant of £25,000 on crime prevention activities. The Foundation received over 50 proposals from Berkshire based groups to run crime prevention projects, both at county and also very local level.
On 27th September, the three finalists – Basian, Britwell Youth and Community project and East to West – were presented to a Dragons Den style panel consisting of The Hon. Mrs. Bayliss, Lord Lieutenant and Foundation President, Richard Griffith-Jones, Foundation Chairman, Lady Stevenson, High Sheriff, Chief Constable Sara Thornton and Jane Wates OBE, Foundation trustee who chose the winning project. The winning group Basian were presented with a £25,000 cheque. The runners-up also received £500 each from the Foundation’s own staff fund.
