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The deadline for all applications is Tuesday 28 May at 12 noon.

The project taught dog owners how to better care for and handle their pets. It was run by Sandlings Residents Association on the Sandlings estate in Haringey.

The Dogs Matter – People Matter project aimed to tackle irresponsible dog ownership on the estate, where groups of young people with status dogs were gathering, causing residents to feel intimidated. 

Alison Seabrooke, Chief Executive of CDF, said:

“This project in Haringey demonstrates the unique ability of local residents to understand and tackle anti-social behaviour issues on their doorstep.

“Thanks to the fantastic organisation of Sandlings Residents Association’s project to teach young dog owners how to better care for their pets, the local area has actually seen a reduction in complaints about anti-social behaviour involving dogs. This success speaks for itself.”

The article is avaliable to view on the London Evening Standard’s website.

The full case study is now avalibale to download.

The CAAC:IF programme was managed by CDF and funded by the Home Office.  For further information please visit our  Crime Innovation fund page.

The projects were part of CDF’s Community action against crime: Innovation fund. This was a two-year programme funded by the Home Office to help local residents reduce crime and anti-social behaviour where they live.

One of the projects tackled irresponsible dog ownership on a housing estate in Haringey. On the estate groups of young people with status dogs were gathering, causing residents to feel intimidated. The project taught dog owners how to better care for and handle their pets, attracting them with incentives such as free leads, harnesses and microchipping so they could control their dogs properly. It has been a great success, with fewer complaints received about anti social behaviour involving dogs.

Another project, in ‘The Shires’ area of Hull, aimed to reduce anti social behaviour, criminal damage, burglary and fly tipping. These were common activities due to the network of alleys connecting houses in the area. Minerva social enterprise trained local residents and existing volunteers to make and fit gates in order to secure the alleys and they also cleared waste that had accumulated due to fly tipping and littering. Thanks to the project, there were early signs of improvement in crime and anti social behaviour, in particular domestic burglary.

Alison Seabrooke, Chief Executive of CDF said:

“These projects demonstrate the unique ability of local residents to understand and tackle anti-social behaviour issues on their doorstep.

“Thanks to these fantastic projects, run by incredibly hard-working community groups, many areas all over the country are becoming safer places to live, work and grow-up. They demonstrate the benefit of taking a community development approach to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour”.

Six of the 12 case studies are now available to download:

1. ‘Get Hooked On Fishing’ Mentoring scheme, West Midlands

2. Youth Timebank, London

3. Farming Horizons, Hertfordshire

4. The Shires Project, Kingston upon Hull

5. Dogs Matter- People Matter, London

6. Positive Operational Drop-in (POD) Watch, Nuneaton

Read more about the projects in Alison Seabrooke’s blog: Five reasons why community development is a great way to tackle crime.

Six more case studies are to be published in the coming weeks. See the Crime Innovation Fund page for further details.

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For enquiries please contact:

(Media) Charlotte Stuffins on 0207 812 5422 or charlotte.stuffins@cdf.org.uk.

(Research) Sarah Golden on 0207 812 5438 or sarah.golden@cdf.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

The Community action against crime: Innovation fund encouraged fresh ways of tackling crime and community safety problems.

Funding has been focused on partnership working in tackling crime, such as voluntary and community groups working within their community safety partnership to tackle local crime problems. This has included co-design and co-delivery approaches.

The fund is from the Home Office and managed by CDF, with £5million worth of funding available for projects in 2011/12 and a further £5million available in 2012/13.

Funds were allocated to groups adopting new approaches to existing community safety problems or adapting existing approaches that have not been carried out previously.

Today Community Rights Minister Don Foster MP announced the £9.5million neighbourhood planning support programme, which is a two-year programme offering direct support and grants to help communities progress their neighbourhood plans.

As expert grant managers, CDF will be administering the grants for the programme and look forward to working with Locality, who will be the first point of call for potential applicants. Communities will be able to submit applications for support and grants from 1 May 2013. A factsheet on the support offered is now avalibale to download and for more information, please call 0845 345 4564, Mon-Fri 9.30am – 12.30pm or submit a query via http://mycommunityrights.org.uk/advice-service/.

Alison Seabrooke, Chief Executive of CDF, said:

“We are really pleased to be involved in the neighbourhood planning support programme, which will help people understand and use these new neighbourhood planning rights.

“By helping neighbourhoods all around the country to develop their own plans for their area, we will be giving local people a real say over the development and infrastructure of their community”.

Neighbourhood planning is one of the Government’s new community rights, giving communities the power to decide on the location and appearance of new housing and businesses in their community.

The first neighbourhood plan was voted for in referendum on 7 March in the Upper Eden valley area in Cumbria. Encouragingly, over 500 communities have already taken the first formal step of applying to designate their neighbourhood area.

Neighbourhood planning groups will find full details about the new two-year programme from 15 April at www.mycommunityrights.org.uk. Communities will be able to submit applications for support and grants from 1 May.

Further information on neighbourhood planning can be found on GOV.UK.

Download the factsheet on Neighbourhood Planning suppport.

Read the announcement from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Read Locality’s response to the announcement.

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For further information, please contact:

(Media) Charlotte Stuffins, Communications and Policy Officer, charlotte.stuffins@cdf.org.uk or 0207 812 5422.

Notes to Editors

The Community Development Foundation (CDF) is part of a consortium who have jointly been awarded the neighbourhood planning support contract. The consortium members are:

• Locality
• Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)
• Planning Aid England
• Community Development Foundation (CDF)
• Urban Vision Enterprise
• Eden Project
• URS

About the Community Development Foundation (CDF)

The Community Development Foundation (CDF) is a social enterprise passionate about helping communities. We have unique expertise in using community development to strengthen local voices, improve people’s lives and create better places to live. Our vision is for successful lives in flourishing communities www.cdf.org.uk.

“We welcome the findings of this report and agree that the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill must be given adequate time for full scrutiny in both Houses of Parliament, to ensure that the legislation is effective and comprehensive.

“This is particularly important given the Bill’s fundamental role in ensuring the financial crisis is not repeated, which was triggered by a banking industry using high-risk tactics to ensure short-term profits.

“Whilst this Bill is a welcome first step towards reform, the Government needs to take more radical action to create a fairer, more stable, banking sector. A sector which acts in both an economically and socially responsible way, to ensure that our local communities can recover from the financial crisis”.

The Community Investment Coalition (CIC) is a partnership of national organisations, including the Community Development Foundation. CIC has been vocal on the damaging impact that the payday lending sector is having on low-income households and communities, who often face difficulty accessing affordable credit.

For more information on the Community Investment Coalition’s work, please visit www.communityinvestment.org.uk and follow @bankingbetter on twitter.

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards’ report is available to download now.

For more information please contact:

(Media) Charlotte Stuffins on 0207 812 5422 or charlotte.stuffins@cdf.org.uk

(Community Investment Coalition) Jennifer Tankard on 0207 812 5430 or info@communityinvestment.org.uk