South Wales Police & Crime Commissioner Alun Michael and his team have been successful in their bid for funding worth almost £1.5million to deliver a series of initiatives aimed at keeping women safe, whilst also addressing anti-social behaviour in identified areas across Bridgend and Cardiff.

The two successful bids were developed in partnership with organisations including Cardiff Council, Bridgend Council, South Wales Fire & Rescue and Welsh Women’s Aid, as well as other key statutory and third sector partners across the two local authority areas in addition to South Wales Police themselves. The individual funding allocation of the two bids is:

• Bridgend: £749,215.50
• Cardiff: £749,652.85

The money will be used to deliver new approaches to address women’s safety, reduce neighbourhood crime and prevent anti-social behaviour as well as extending existing successful initiatives. The work will include:

• Expanding the South Wales Police Safety Bus project supporting vulnerable people in the night-time economy
• Establishing Street Help points – intercoms at three key locations (Cardiff) – to provide residents with direct access to the police and emergency workers when they feel threatened or unsafe
• Installing new street-based CCTV cameras in key locations across Cardiff & Bridgend
• Updating lighting in targeted underpasses
• Supporting the delivery of a Cardiff Women’s Safety Charter
• Expanding the number of ‘Safe Places’ across Cardiff & Bridgend where people can seek help and refuge if they feel threatened or intimidated
• Rolling out Mobile Youth Unit Vehicles and equipment to enhance youth engagement through the delivery of meaningful activities in anti-social behaviour hotspots

The latest success in winning Home Office Safer Streets funds builds on over £1.4m already acquired by the Commissioner through previous bids for work across the RCT, Merthyr and Cardiff local authority areas.

Responding to the news, South Wales Police & Crime Commissioner Alun Michael said:

“I am extremely pleased that we have been successful in our latest bid to the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund; the allocation of £1.5m is an endorsement of our approach to partnership working here in South Wales. We have worked closely with the councils and other partners to identify in detail the drivers of local problems and how best we can tackle them together.

“This money will be invested in making the streets of Cardiff and Bridgend safer for women and girls, as well as reducing the impact of anti-social behaviour across our communities. Preventing violence against women and girls has always been a specific priority for me as Commissioner and while we have done a lot to tackle the issue in South Wales, it remains one of the biggest problems we face and we must always strive to do more if we are to significantly reduce the intimidation and harassment experienced by women and girls across our communities.

“Working in partnership our focus is both on immediate benefits from practical measures like CCTV and physical improvements to the environment and to achieve sustainable long-term improvements to create safe, confident and resilient communities. It is a simple fact that when we work together we achieve more than we achieve alone.”