Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott, has been awarded £741,548 to make the streets of Ashford, Rochester and Chatham safer, particularly for women and girls.
The money will be spent in Ashford and in Medway and will provide personal safety equipment, like drink testing kits and personal alarms, as well as proving safe havens and installing more CCTV and improved street lighting.
It will also go towards improving the area for those who live there, like removing graffiti, litter and fly-tipping and expanding programmes to keep shops and businesses safe.
Safer Streets
It’s part of the Home Office Safer Streets initiative and will complement three similar projects where more than £870,000 has been spent on projects in Ramsgate, Canterbury and Gillingham.
Matthew Scott says, “I’m delighted my team has secured funding for these initiatives.
I’m hoping they’ll provide extra security for women and girls out enjoying what our town centres have to offer. Tackling violence against women and girls is one of my priorities and I’m confident these schemes will make a difference and I encourage people to get involved.
This funding will compliment our investment in more Town Centre Police Officers and PCSOs and help drive down unacceptable antisocial behaviour in our communities.”
The money has been awarded through a bidding process and once again the county has received funding for two areas. One in Ashford Town Centre, the other for streets between Rochester and Chatham High Street.