The Gwent High Sheriffs’ Community Fund aims to provide a safer and better quality of life for the people of Gwent by supporting community-based initiatives and projects for young people that help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

The GHSCF was established after a legacy gift was made to Gwent Police. This endowment provides an annual income to fund awards to young people in Gwent. Additional funding is available from the Proceeds of Crime fund. These funds require match funding from public fund raising.

Participatory grant-making is about devolving grant making decisions to the local community. It enables local people to decide how best to address local issues by choosing to support initiatives that best demonstrate effective solutions to the problems facing communities in Gwent.

The event is run in partnership with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend our annual grant making event. Please make sure a representative from your organisation is available on this date before applying.

The Fund is open to community youth groups, voluntary organisations and local charities throughout Gwent (the local authority areas of Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Monmouthshire and Caerphilly). There is a preference for grassroots organisations where volunteers play a key role in project delivery.

Grants will be awarded at the annual participatory grant-making event in March 2024. What kind of projects will be supported?
To be successful, projects must demonstrate how their activities contribute to one or more of the following:

I. providing support to young people that is relevant to them and the challenges they face in the 2020s, including establishing safe and secure digital behaviour by helping them to understand the risks and dangers of social media and the internet;

II. addressing the impact and continuing challenges of COVID for young people;

III. working with young people to raise awareness of the impact and consequences of crime, including vandalism, criminal damage, misuse of alcohol and drugs or substance abuse, anti-social behaviour and cyberbullying;

IV. reducing crime and anti-social behaviour by creating opportunities for young people who might be both perpetrators and victims of crimes such as street-based/on-line abuse, and vandalism;

V. targeting the underlying causes of crime and addressing the problems which drive young people to offend;

VI. engaging young people in positive activities which provide greater social support, positive role models and other protective factors to help them develop into good citizens of the future; and

VII. supporting victims of crime, including domestic abuse and modern slavery, and protecting the vulnerable.

All donations will be applied and managed in the support of community youth projects throughout the five Local Authority areas in the County of Gwent. Your generous support is appreciated.