Nearly £100,000 of drug dealers' ill-gotten cash was seized and given to good causes during the first year of a new scheme.
Every month, thousands of pounds in dirty cash is taken from criminals who appear for sentence before Liverpool Crown Court. Operation Payback was established by judges at the beginning of 2022 and sees these monies given to a nominated charity of the month.
It has now been confirmed that this amounted to a total of £93,456.39 during the year. The final organisation to benefit during 2022 was the Basement Advisory Centre, which received a sum of £13,333.82.
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The city centre-based charity has been operating since 1999 and provides a range of services to rough sleepers. This includes a drop-in area with sofas, a television, a kitchen, showers, toilets, laundry facilities and a medical treatment room.
Bill Christopher, from the Basement, said: "We have learned from our experience in this field since 1999 that providing these services is not enough to enable people suffering from complex needs and disadvantage to embark on a journey to reengage them with their mental health issues and accelerate their path back to health, back to their families, back to work and off the streets. Mental health issues are deeply connected to the trauma and adversity people who are homeless face.
"With many people losing contact or never engaging with the mental health services they need, especially when they find themselves on the street, the Basement Advisory Service is also hoping to help those with mental health issues to reconnect with the support they need. Our aim is for our mental health professionals to build dialogue, trust and relationships with the regular users of the centre and to conduct outreach activities.
"It is hoped that the pioneering move will help the Basement provide a service that tackles one of the underlying reasons that can result in homelessness. For those people using the range of activities in our centre that need the help, we will reengage them with their mental health issues and accelerate their path back to health - back to their families, back to work and off the streets.
"We will work with them to avoid homelessness and help them to fulfil their potential and ambitions. We are grateful to Liverpool Crown Court for helping us significantly develop this project for our beneficiaries."
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