The areas of work of the Community Safety Youth Intervention Officer include:

Co-ordinating Bedfordshire and Luton Crimebeat which funds Community Safety/Crime Reduction projects for young people across Bedfordshire and Luton. including help to visit Hazard Alley

Supporting organisations which work with young people at risk of offending, social or school exclusion or young people in the care system

Setting up and supporting young peoples groups which address community safety in its widest form. The groups can cover inter - generational work, anti social behaviour, public reassurance and image of young people, plus environmental safety

If you are aged between 12 and 19 and want to find out how you can be involved, express your views and/or find out what is happening in your area, please email the Community Safety Youth Intervention Officer, Jane Regan at jane.regan@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Bedfordshire and Luton Crimebeat funds Community Safety/Crime Reduction projects for young people across Bedfordshire and Luton.

National Crimebeat is the charity of the Shrievalty Association, (the Association of High Sheriffs of England & Wales). The charity encourages young people to get involved with crime reduction activities and create safer communities. This is done through a network of local Crimebeat Schemes, which High Sheriffs have set up in their "bailiwicks" (Counties of Office).

Bedfordshire & Luton Crimebeat achieves this through enabling community members to apply for funding for young people’s projects or for young people to apply for their peers or the wider community. All projects need to demonstrate how they address community safety and/or crime reduction issues and can be in the form of a one off event to raise awareness or address a specific local issue, or longer term projects.

Projects are judged on their ability to address these issues, their proposed impact while also focusing on sustainability, awareness raising, attitudes, perceptions and behaviour.

Project applicants are supported through Crimebeat with additional information & advice to help them achieve their aim. This can take the form of advice on where to gain materials and services that may be free or cost very little. Crimebeat also advises on other forms of funding that may be relevant to applicants’ projects and often part funds larger projects.

Application form for project funding

Please download form, complete and return to the Crimebeat Co-ordinator, Jane Regan at jane.regan@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.

In addition to funding projects, Bedfordshire & Luton Crimebeat supports Primary and Middle schools to access Hazard Alley Safety Centre in Milton Keynes. Crimebeat can offer funding for some or all of the coach costs for a visit to the centre and in Luton’s more deprived schools can currently offer funding for both transport and entrance costs.

Without funding for projects and Hazard Alley visits, many young people would be deprived of these opportunities, which is often out of their financial grasp.

Application form for Hazard Alley

Please download form, complete and return to the Crimebeat Co-ordinator, Jane Regan at jane.regan@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.

Crimebeat also, on occasion, gives funding to projects that show significant impact across a wider area or for a substantial amount of people and has the ability through the agreement of the whole committee to make decisions on projects such as these.

This project aims to:

• raise awareness of the consequences of carrying weapons, involvement in gang related crime
• dispel the myth that carrying a knife is a good way to protect yourself and keep safe

Although statistics in Central Bedfordshire for knife and gang related crime are relatively low, young people may say that many carry a knife thinking that they need to protect themselves.

Central Bedfordshire also borders and surrounds many areas in Luton where there have been several weapons related incidents in the last year. It is also an area where many young people have links with, visit to shop or meet friends and awareness raising is a vital preventative measure for young people living in Central Bedfordshire.

The stay calm and do no harm project is led by Central Bedfordshire Youth Parliament with support from the Council and other agencies, funded through Bedfordshire Race Equalities Council and Bedfordshire and Luton Crimebeat. Training for participants consisted of an in-depth, hard hitting programme about the consequences of knife and gun crime called Be Safe! This enabled young people to devise activities and information for their peers in an event that included MC'in, graffiti art, drama performances, quizzes, information stands and much more. The event held in Dunstable Town Centre on 26 March was well attended and sent a powerful message to young people. Much thought was provoked by the play 'Brothers' performed by the Greenwich and Lewisham Young People's Theatre which is part of the Choices programme running to address Gun and Knife crime.

Many organisations attended to promote their services to young people including Fearless which is the young persons version of Crimestoppers. It is hoped that through raising awareness more young people will come forward to anonymously report crime and reduce the amount of criminal activity in their area.