Grant funding provided by the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in the 2022/23 financial year has supported more than 3000 people across all four districts of South Yorkshire.
Over the last twelve months, the VRU has run two grant rounds, the Violence Reduction Fund and the Violence Against Women and Girls Reduction Fund.
The Violence Reduction Fund provided funding for groups working with young people, to provide positive diversionary activities and role models, support mental health, and prevent young people from becoming involved in violence.
Alongside this work, the second grant fund supported projects aiming to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls.
This has included not just projects which support victims and survivors, but also those aiming to bring about long-term change by tackling the social attitudes which contribute to Violence Against Women and Girls in the first place.
Among the projects which have been supported are sports activities, youth clubs, mentoring initiatives, and sexual abuse and rape crisis services.
Graham Jones, Head of the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit, said: “At the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit, we work with organisations and communities to prevent and reduce violence.
“Part of that involves running our grant rounds, which over the last year have seen the VRU support 39 projects across all four districts of our county.
“This has allowed us to support some fantastic initiatives in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield, and work with some great organisations to deliver programmes.
“We hope this has made a real difference here in South Yorkshire.”
