Bolton Council will use its £600k share of the Community Recovery Fund to tackle disinformation, enhance CCTV and support young people, among other schemes.
Following violent disorder in Bolton town centre in August, the council was allocated the fund by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Conditions of the funding means the money must be spent by March 2025.
Responding to a tight deadline, the council has developed a comprehensive package of measures to address some of the underlying issues highlighted in the summer.
Developed by Bolton’s multi-agency Recovery Coordination Group (RCG), a package has been designed that responds effectively to local issues and delivers support to the areas most affected.
The RCG undertook a Community Impact Assessment speaking to groups and individuals to establish the impact of the violence on communities across the town.
Considering the findings and working along seven key themes, the team developed a work programme that will maximise the added value for Bolton communities while also meeting the agreed time limit.
Safety and Security - £90k will be spent on enhanced CCTV provision for the town centre, strengthening the provision and supporting improvements in responses to incidents.
Sentiment Monitoring and Cohesion Reset - £115k will support the reintroduction of sentiment monitoring within Bolton and the forming of a multi-agency Monitoring Group to assess tensions and respond accordingly. Investment will be made into developing a Cohesion Strategy for the borough and associated work programme.
Responding to Mis/disinformation (Young People, Communities and Professionals) - £120k allocated to implement a programme of interventions delivered with education/youth and community-based settings that cover interconnected themes of riots, protests and peace, disinformation/fake news, hate and extremism.
Young People - £50k put forward to deliver 1-1 youth mentoring support programmes for those at the greatest risk of violence/disorder/criminality. Bespoke to the needs of the young person, mentoring will be aimed at young people who need additional support in developing resilience to exploitative relationships and making positive decisions.
Intracommunity Relations - £100k assigned to support and promote intracommunity relations and associated projects and groups. Exploring effective initiatives such as School Linking to build on the positive work of the Achieve, Cohesion and Integration Services.
Housing and Migration - £100k to develop interventions to reduce migration pressures that have an impact on cohesion within Bolton. Funding to be used to provide enhanced options to support those in temporary accommodation.
Hate Crime - £25k allotted to support the delivery of the local Hate Crime Plan, building on the new GM Hate Crime Plan, supporting new cohesion practitioner network alongside marketing and campaign resources.
The £600k allocation is in addition to a further allocation of £55k from the Community Cohesion and Resilience Fund (CC&RF).
Work is still underway on a plan for the CC&RF funding, with the intention to scale-up aspects of the Community Resilience Fund work programme.
Extensive consultation and engagement has been undertaken with a wide range of audiences including strategic partners, councillors, faith networks, VCSE groups, housing teams, education, businesses, health, staff networks and the Youth Council.
Bolton Council’s Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, Cllr Rabiya Jiva, said:
“Making decisions on how to spend the funding hasn’t been easy and careful consideration has been given to all options.
“Support from the RCG, including external partners, has been crucial in developing these plans and is testament to the solid partnership working we maintain in Bolton.
“Although the minority caused disruption back in August, we are grabbing the opportunity with both hands to support and rebuild our communities, strengthening relationships and making sure Bolton is a safer place to live, work, study, invest and visit.”
The full report is available to view online.