Safer Homes Fund

The Home Office have launched a new fund to increase home security and reduce burglary rates.

The deadline for all applications is the 31st of July 2009.

There are a few priority activities that the Home Office want to encourage:

• Handy person schemes. Eg funds for community organisations to start up and possibly subsidise a handy-person scheme, perhaps as a social enterprise it runs itself or supports others to run. The idea is that they would fit window locks and other home security measures. Options might include - full contracted service, brokerage of vetted handy-people, training for home-owners to do it themselves etc.
• Community programmes. Eg starting up groups which wholly or partly focus on community safety or home security; cohesion activities, bringing communities together through arts, sports, festivals or other initiatives; community development activity etc. Neighbourhood Watch are getting a separate pot of money but similar ideas could qualify here.
• Peer to peer. This might be befriending projects, mentoring projects, Ideas to increase local people’s confidence etc

The Home Office target is for 45,000 homes to be secured through the programme but the Alliance has no formal targets. However, it will be important for all bids to show how their planned activity will either directly or indirectly contribute to this target. The Home Office are also keen on:

• Activities that reduce so-called ‘distraction burglary’ (ie burglaries while the home-owner is distracted perhaps by being at the community centre or by a bogus caller)
• Activities which share information with the Police
• Case study learning

All projects must begin by Autumn. All projects must be complete (or carry on under separate funding) by 31 March 2010.

For the full guidance application form, please see: www.grantsadmin.co.uk/saferhomes