SOUTH YORKSHIRE COMMUNITIES AWARDED OVER £500,000 TO HELP COMBAT VIOLENCE

Published 5 October 2026 at 2:30pm

Community groups throughout South Yorkshire are to be awarded more than half a million pounds to deliver 34 initiatives aimed at reducing violence in their communities.

The Violence Prevention Partnership (VPP) comprised of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), local authorities, South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and representation from young people and our communities, invited applications to fund community schemes across South Yorkshire that met at least one key theme :

• Reducing / preventing knife crime
• Reducing violence against women and girls under 25
• Coaching and mentoring to reduce violence
• Activities to divert people away from violent crime
• Reducing youth violence among key groups

The VPP received 119 applications, amounting to over £2 million in funding requests. Of these, 34 community organisations have been successful and will receive a total of £591,826

The funded projects range from street-based youth work and mentoring programmes to school workshops tackling misogyny and healthy relationships, helping young people build confidence, resilience and positive futures before violence takes hold.

Successful applicants include Sheffield Hallam University, which has been awarded £20,000 to fund the training of up to 25 Gender Justice Ambassadors. These will deliver workshops in schools, colleges across Sheffield and South Yorkshire, focusing on healthy relationships, consent, gender equality, online misogyny, image-based abuse, cyber harassment, bystander intervention, and digital safety.

Active Fusion has been awarded £19,545 for work in Doncaster to provide youth outreach in Bentley, Toll Bar, Conisborough and Denaby. The project aims to reduce youth involvement in violence, crime, and anti-social behaviour by engaging vulnerable young people aged 14 to 18 through detached street-based youth work, mentoring, sports activities, and leadership development opportunities.

Rotherham United for Safety and Harmony (RUSH House) will receive £19,779.92, to deliver a 12-month prevention and mentoring programme for 20 vulnerable young men aged 12-18 in Rotherham who are disengaged from, or struggling with, education, training, or employment (NEET).

And StreetSafe, a targeted detached youth work programme delivered by The Youth Association in Worsborough Common and central Barnsley will receive £19,849. The project aims to prevent youth violence, knife crime, child criminal exploitation, county lines involvement, and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by engaging young people who are less likely to access traditional support services.

National charity The Railway Children will also receive £18,320 to reduce harm to children travelling on the rail network.

South Yorkshire Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Kilvinder Vigurs, said: “The organisations receiving this funding are often the first to spot when a young person is struggling and the first to step in with support, guidance and opportunity.

“Violence is not inevitable. By investing in trusted community groups, we are helping young people build confidence, develop skills and choose a positive path away from crime and exploitation.

“The response to this fund has been incredible, with 119 organisations applying. That tells us two things: there is a huge appetite across South Yorkshire to make our communities safer, and there is outstanding work already happening on the ground.

“These projects will help prevent violence before it happens, support those most at risk and create safer, stronger communities for everyone.”

There will be further opportunities for organisations to make further bids. This is only one of the many strands of work that the team are involved with.

The awards will be made at Sandman Signature Hotel, Victoria Quays, Sheffield on Tuesday 6 October 2026.