The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex has warmly welcomed the announcement of a new £100k Community Safety Initiative Fund by Essex County Council.

Cllr Louise McKinlay, Deputy Leader of Essex County Council, announced the fund while on patrol with Roger Hirst, PFCC for Essex, and the Billericay Street Pastors.

The Community Safety Initiative Fund will allow local groups, charities and Town and Parish Councils to bid for grants from £500 to £2k to help reduce anti-social behaviour (ASB) and fund initiatives to enhance community safety.

A video of the fund announcement can be watched here.

Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “I wholeheartedly welcome the announcement of this new Community Safety Initiative Fund.

“It complements our own investments in community safety and underlines our priority to increase collaboration with Essex County Council and all partners to create secure communities, combat anti-social behaviour and bring down crime.”

Cllr McKinlay said: “I am always hugely impressed by the dedication of the Street Pastors and it was great to see the fantastic work that they do in the High Street. It is easy to see money as a simple budget that we hand out, so it was really important for me to witness at first hand the work that is going on.

“The new Community Safety Initiative Fund undoubtedly will enhance such work and will allow for more initiatives that will benefit everyone.“

The PFCC has invested 81k in street pastors across Essex since 2016 and through the Safer Streets fund has invested over £3million in local communities since 2020, allowing changes to lighting, CCTV and the layout of local areas where local communities say they felt unsafe.