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North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Andy Dunbobbin visited the home of DangerPoint in Talacre on 21 September to see the crucial work the organisation is doing to support the young people of North Wales and to see how money taken from criminals is being used for the good of the people of the region.
DangerPoint is an independent charity based on the North Wales Coast and was one of the winners of the latest Your Community, Your Choice funding awards. The Your Community, Your Choice fund supports grass-roots projects and is backed by the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) and North Wales Police. The funding for Your Community, Your Choice comes partly from money seized by the courts through the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the rest from the Police and Crime Commissioner.
The base at Talacre comprises an award-winning interactive visitor centre open during school term time for schools and organised groups, and for wider families during local school holidays. The site offers visitors the opportunity to learn about safety and is full of fun and interactive activities for all. Designed like a film set, visitors journey from the home to the beach, countryside, playground, farm and other settings. DangerPoint offers a safe environment where visitors learn about risks and how to keep safe while, most importantly, having fun. During his time at DangerPoint the PCC met Centre Manager Julie Ann Tyler, a number of the Rangers, who educate the young people, as well as 8-year-old pupils from Ysgol Hirael in Bangor, who were visiting for the day.
The funding from Your Community, Your Choice is helping DangerPoint provide subsidised sessions and transport costs for schools across North Wales. As such, the project benefits young people aged 5 to 11 as well as vulnerable adults from all six counties in North Wales. The sessions make use of DangerPoint’s interactive scenarios to deliver life skill visits for 450 children and young people. The project uses the immersive film sets to engage young people in the dialogue around community safety to support and protect them.
Julie Ann Tyler, Centre Manager, DangerPoint, commented: “It was a pleasure to welcome the PCC to our centre and show him our work. The funds will enable the centre to enhance the services we provide, overlaying the dangers we highlight with crime prevention and a particular focus on developing the issues within rural communities. The funds will also provide children from across North Wales with an immersive experience and subsidised transport costs that will help them to develop important life skills. This project helps to raise awareness of dangers, crime prevention and how North Wales Police are working in partnership with us to reduce the consequences of crime.”
North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin said: “I enjoyed visiting DangerPoint and seeing the excellent interactive experiences they provide. It was also good to hear how their latest project, supported by Your Community, Your Choice will enable young people from across North Wales to experience the safety and crime prevention message that is central to DangerPoint’s work. Young people are a vital component of our community in North Wales and I am pleased that youngsters from all backgrounds and areas will have the opportunity to take part in, and benefit from, this project.”
PACT Chairman Ashley Rogers stated: “Projects like DangerPoint are the life blood for improving communities across North Wales, making them safer and more resilient places to live, especially for our young people. DangerPoint is a great example of this in action and it’s a pleasure to be able to support them through Your Community, Your Choice.”
North Wales Police T/Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Harrison said: “DangerPoint’s work in the community is impressive to see and I am glad they have been assisted through the Your Community, Your Choice fund. It is important to spread their message of safety and crime prevention, which echo and support our own action within North Wales Police. I am sure the Your Community, Your Choice funding will help DangerPoint in their work and widen access to this vital facility for even more young people across the region.”
Your Community, Your Choice is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2023 and, over the past ten years, a total of over £500,000 has been awarded to more than 150 projects working to reduce crime in their areas and to support the priorities in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.
To learn more about PACT visit www.pactnorthwales.co.uk and to learn more about the work of the Office of the Police and crime Commissioner, visit www.northwales-pcc.gov.uk
For more information on DangerPoint visit: www.dangerpoint.org.uk