PCC announces recipients of £100,000 Stay Safe Online Fund

Eleven organisations have been successful in securing a significant share of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Stay Safe Online Fund, aimed at keeping our young people safe from digital threats.
Tim Passmore chose Safer Internet Day (Tuesday 6th February) to announce the projects which successfully secured a share of the £100,000 funding.
Volunteering Matters, The South West Grid for Learning Trust, Access Community Trust, Level Two, Ipswich Community Media, Bangladeshi Support Centre, Suffolk Refugee, The Friends of St Mary’s School, The Porch Project, Guardian Saints and Kernos will all benefit from the fund set aside by Suffolk’s PCC to combat this issue.
The fund, which is administered by Suffolk Community Foundation, was open to charities and community groups who work with young people in the county to support cyber safety projects.
Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner said, “Keeping Suffolk’s young people safe online is a real issue of grave concern. We’ve had lots of reports about grooming and violence being incited online, which is totally unacceptable.
“We must work together with charities to protect young people through the campaign and make people aware of what is happening. These threats need to be tackled now.“I personally find it extremely sad to hear that reports of grooming and violence in the county’s digital community have shot up in recent years. The Chief Constable and I are very concerned about this, and have pledged to do all we can to protect young people in the county”.
Stephen Singleton, Chief Executive of Suffolk Community ‘We are delighted to be working with The Police and Crime Commissioner to deliver this grants programme. As a funder, we know the voluntary sector is strategically placed to provide the necessary services that are much needed by schools and young people to tackle this pressing issue. It is very encouraging that we have been joined in this initiative on by other key partners who share our ambition to protect Suffolk’s young people.’’
Recipients of the Stay Safe Online Fund will attend the University of Suffolk’s Blurring Boundaries conference today to mark Safer Internet Day.
Tim Passmore will talk at the Blurring Boundaries conference about the importance of protecting young people and keeping them safe on line. The conference will bring together experts from across the country who will address a regional audience of delegates from schools, colleges, healthcare providers, social services and safeguarding organisations.

The successful recipients of the fund are:

• Volunteering Matters £16,446 to deliver online safety sessions with children in years 5 and 6 in partnership with six schools.
• The South West Grid for Learning Trust £10,000 to promote the use of the 360 degree safe Online Safety Self Review tool among schools in Suffolk.
• Access Community Trust £9,400 to create a piece of theatre for presentation in schools which focuses on online safety.
• Level Two £5,875.48 to educate young people, parents, grandparents and carers in E-Safety in order to protect young people vulnerable to cyber crime.
• Ipswich Community Media £9,910 to train staff to support young people with online safety.
• Bangladeshi Support Centre £10,500 for online Safety Awareness sessions for children and parents from BME communities.
• Suffolk Refugee Support £7,035 to work with asylum seekers and refugees to teach the importance of internet safety.
• Friends of St Mary’s School £1,818 to fund e-safety training sessions for children, parents and teachers, alongside a peer-to-peer e-safety programme called Digital Leaders.
• Porch Project £5,040 to train staff to deliver online safety workshops at schools and within drop-in sessions.
• Guardian Saints £10,000 to deliver a series of 25 Online Safety Awareness workshops for foster carers.
• Kernos £10,291 to work in partnership with 10 local primary schools to raise awareness and educate children and young people around online safety.