PROJECTS in Monmouthshire will benefit from £12,020 awarded to them by the Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) last Wednesday (15th July).

PCC Ian Johnston released more than £153,000 last week, of which more than £12,000 will be shared by three groups in the county – Friends of Tintern, Links Youth Fellowship Monmouth youth group and HMP Usk/Prescoed.

The money has come from the PCC Partnership Fund, which uses funds awarded to the police from proceeds of crime and the sale of unclaimed found property to benefit community groups.

One of the programmes will see £10,000 worth of money from drugs crime be redirected into HMP Usk/Prescoed to combat substance misuse within the prison system.

With substance misuse identified as one of the key indicators of offending behaviour, and with almost 70 per cent of current serving prisoners indicating substance misuse as a key factor in their offending behaviour according to Home Office figures, the prison wants to tackle an issue that continues to grow within not just the community, but also within the custodial setting. 

The money will go towards a City and Guilds level 3 program that aims to raise individuals' self- awareness, rebuild alternative life skills, improve communication skills and help identify personal triggers.

Friends of Tintern will use £1,520 to buy components to allow Tintern Village Hall to sustain its six-year old programme of film shows. They currently use kit which is shared amongst village halls in Monmouthshire.

Specifically, the money will be used to buy projection and sound equipment, enabling the group to show films in a professional manner and helping to expand the programme of events.

Having their own film kit will allow them to expand their programming so that they can bring a wider audience into the hall, with the aim to encourage more young people in the village to attend.

Links Youth Fellowship will spend £500 on a variety of unstructured social activities such as table tennis and pool, followed by a time of structured activities such as drama, quizzes, team games, films, debates etc. 

The equipment they currently use is now very old or makeshift and to use audio-visual equipment, they have to arrange to borrow this from one of its linked churches which is not always possible. 

The youth group will now benefit from new audio-visual equipment – a projector, speakers, amplifier, Nintendo Wii games console – to allow for games evenings, film presentations and music events.

There will also be a new pool table and a volleyball set.