Cop chief cash to reduce bad behaviour
THE charitable arm of Widnes Vikings has been handed a funding boost of nearly £4,000 to support one of its programmes designed to reduce anti-social behaviour (ASB).
The club received a visit from Cheshire police and crime commissioner David Keane.
He handed over a cheque from his Safer Communities Fund worth £3,900 to support the Vikings Sports Foundation’s Engage initiative.
The project aims to reduce instances of ASB through the delivery of sports sessions in targeted areas across Halton.
After working with Cheshire police’s school engagement team on the 4Real project, Engage takes in school learning into residential areas with the objective of tackling ASB, which in turn makes areas stronger and decrease occurrences of nuisance behaviour.
Widnes Vikings head of community Liam Clark said: “It was great to welcome David to the Halton Stadium and talk to him at length about our innovative Engage programme and other Vikings Sports Foundation initiatives.
“With his support, through the Commissioner’s Safer Communities Fund, the Vikings Sports Foundation are able to support the change of youngsters’ lives for the better and also strengthen our local communities.
“I would like to thank David for his fantastic support and look forward to developing our continued relationship.”
Mr Keane added: “It was fantastic to visit Vikings Sports Foundation to see how they are benefiting from a grant from my Safer Communities Fund to reduce anti-social behaviour and criminality through sport engagement in Halton. The fund is about empowering local people, giving support to local projects and making our local communities safer.
“The support of our community partners and local people in projects like Engage is helping police tackle issues at their root-cause.”
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