A youth centre in Nottingham which was forced to close for six months has been reopened - and 200 homes have been provided with enhanced security. The Ridge Adventure Centre, in Ridgeway, Top Valley, was shut after it was plagued by anti-social behaviour.
Police said they have helped partners and local young people reopen the youth centre. A share of £250,000 of Safer Streets funding helped to get the youth centre back in action in February.
The cash is also providing three evening sessions a week for young people to attend activities including boxing, football, table tennis and pool. Inspector Paul Ferguson, neighbourhood policing inspector for Nottingham North, said: “Anti-social behaviour is one of the priorities for my team and we are always looking at new ways to find solutions to the problem by working with our partners.
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“Youths gathering in public spaces can often be seen as intimidating, whereas in actual fact, very often this is a social gathering. We regularly engage with groups and one consistent request was for a safe space to get together and for activities to be available.
“When the Safer Streets bid was successful, police together with partners including Nottingham City Council, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and local youth workers agreed it was incredibly important to direct some of the funds to the centre. This was to provide youth outreach, but also centre-based activities for young people in a safe space where they could engage in positive activities.
“In February 2023, I am pleased to say that after a huge amount of effort by everyone involved, the centre was able to reopen and allowed for youth workers from Communities Unite and Helping Kids Achieve to run sessions for local young people. This proved so popular that there are regularly 40 to 50 people attending each session. It gives children and young adults a safe environment to get together, socialise and build relations with workers and partners in the area."
In addition to the support for youth services in the area, the Safer Streets fund is said to have enabled almost 200 homes in the area to be provided with enhanced security including CCTV cameras, Ring doorbells and improved lighting to help further reduce anti-social behaviour and make residents feel safer.
Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry said: “It is fantastic to hear how this youth centre helping to transform the area and give young people more positive activities to engage in.
“It is a great example of how Safer Streets is being used to prevent anti-social behaviour and the harm this causes to communities. It also shows how we are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with local residents to act on their concerns and improve their quality of life. What's really important about Safer Streets is that it brings partners together to come up with solutions to issues that we all have a vested interest in tackling and by coming together we can do this far more efficiently and effectively.”
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire secured more than £5.5m of Safer Streets funding for Nottinghamshire over four rounds of funding, with a further £1.4m to come after the announcement by the Home Office this week. Overall, this is biggest amount secured by any PCC across England and Wales, Nottinghamshire Police said.
