The Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum (LGBT CSF) has received a funding boost of £8,376.20 from the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Safer in Sussex Community Fund.
Billie Lewis, Chair of the LGBT CSF joined the Police & Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne and representatives from over 60 other local organisations who had also been awarded funding at a special ‘Celebration Showcase’ event held in Lewes on Thursday, June 19.
Commenting on the funding award, Billie said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this grant from the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Community Fund, which will help us fully implement our ‘Report It’ service and assist us in rolling it out to the LGBT communities across Sussex.
“In 2013 our ‘Trust & Confidence’ Survey produced robust data showing that hate crime is under reported. Over 800 people completed the survey city wide. The survey highlighted many compelling concerns and produced revealing quantifiable data that recognised issues identified in key areas of priority within the Commissioner’s Police & Crime Plan.
“Police statistics suggest that reporting figures have risen. We are pleased that more people feel confident in reporting to the police and we are positive that the LGBT Community Safety Forum has played in this outcome.
“However our survey found that 67%, the majority of respondents who reported they had experienced an incident or hate crime told us they did not report it. Evidently there is still much more work to be done.
Building on the success of the survey it is essential we develop the campaign to widen its participation with the local community, businesses, groups and the statutory services. This way we will empower the community with the confidence to ‘Report it’.”
Mrs Bourne added: “The ‘Report It’ service is a great example of an innovative local project that aims to make our communities safer. The Safer in Sussex Community Fund was launched to help communities tackle crime and disorder and I am very pleased with the level of response we received during the first round of applications. I look forward to visiting the team at The LGBT Community Safety Forum and following the progress of the project over the coming months.”
PC Rich Bridger from the Sussex Police LGBT Liaison Team, said: “The ‘Report It’ project is a vital tool in enabling vulnerable sectors of the community an opportunity to report hate motivated crimes and incidents in a safe and confidential way. This project facilitates the reporting of as much or as little information as the reportee is willing to share, and aids the statutory services in ensuring that such incidents are recorded and acted upon.
“From a Policing perspective, this allows us to identify areas of increased incidents and concerns, and address these appropriately. Whilst we advocate the public reporting everything to us, it is not always the case that people want to refer these matters directly to the Police, and there is a real risk that in these circumstances, such matters go unreported. Without the existence of projects like ‘Report It’, there is a real risk that such services cannot react to the needs of the community in as an effective way as possible”.
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