Cheshire's police and crime commissioner is redirecting funding from his commissioning budget to increase the annual Safer Communities Fund by £40,000.
investing even more in local community organisations that support community safety and prevent crime.
This means that £100K is available over the course of this financial year for projects that want to make a real difference in their village, town or city.
David Keane has today (Tuesday 8th May) launched the first round of this year's fund, with £25,000 up for grabs between now and Thursday 31st May when the first round of applications close.
Applications will be considered from groups whose work is Cheshire based and supports crime prevention or reduction or meets one of the objectives in the commissioner's police and crime plan.
This could include, but is not limited to, projects that support victims, protect vulnerable people, tackle anti-social behaviour or drug issues, improve road safety or promote a safe night time economy.
Each individual project is entitled to bid for up to £5,000 but there is no minimum funding level, no project is too small.
David said: "My Safer Communities Fund has already benefited a vast array of projects across Cheshire that work tirelessly to make their communities safer places to live.
"Last year, I was able to fund 15 projects which will make a real difference and will help to reduce crime and promote safety messages to their communities. I'm pleased to be able to commit even more of my budget to this year's fund.
"The fund is about empowering local people, giving support to local projects and making our local communities safer. Local people understand their area better than anyone else and can make significant contributions to build safer, more secure communities on behalf of the public."
This year's fund is being launched as the commissioner rolls out his plans to provide a named PCSO for every community in Cheshire.
"Local PCSOs will soon have a much bigger presence in the areas they serve and will have more time to work closely with local residents to tackle issues that affect their community.
"I want to hear from organisations, charities, community and volunteering groups across the county and my expectation is that in developing bids organisations will work with their local PCSOs and officers to ensure projects tackle crime prevention or community safety issues in their area.
"This will enable our police service to be better connected with the community they serve in order to tackle complex and emerging crimes at their root cause."
This round of the fund closes at 5pm on Thursday 31 May. Successful applicants will be notified by the end of June.
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Time to get rid of PCC office. The experiment failed.