Mid and East Antrim Friends Against Scams Campaign gets £22k

Mid & East Antrim Agewell Partnership (MEAAP) has been awarded £21,844 for an anti-scams project.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Feb 2019, 10:34 BST
Updated 11th Feb 2019, 11:36 BST
(Left-right) PSNI Detective Chief Superintendent Tim Mairs, Julie Wilson, head of Department of Justice Organised Crime Branch and Anthony Harbinson, DOJ, director of Safer Communities. Picture: Michael Cooper(Left-right) PSNI Detective Chief Superintendent Tim Mairs, Julie Wilson, head of Department of Justice Organised Crime Branch and Anthony Harbinson, DOJ, director of Safer Communities. Picture: Michael Cooper
(Left-right) PSNI Detective Chief Superintendent Tim Mairs, Julie Wilson, head of Department of Justice Organised Crime Branch and Anthony Harbinson, DOJ, director of Safer Communities. Picture: Michael Cooper

The MEAAP Friends Against Scams Campaign will create local business SCAM champions and identify and support older people at risk of falling victim to scams.

It follows a Department of Justice announcement of the allocation of over £1.8 million of funding under the Assets Recovery Community Scheme (ARCS) to projects aimed at tackling crime and the fear of crime across Northern Ireland. This takes the total funding support through ARCS to over £5 million since the scheme began in 2012.

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MEAAP is an inter-agency based partnership aimed at improving the lives of older people aged 60 years and over in Ballymena, Larne and Carrickfergus.

The ARCS budget comes from the payment of criminal confiscation orders collected by the courts. For the first time bids could be made for longer term initiatives up to 31 March 2021. The £1.8 million allocation runs from Dec 2018 to March 2021

Anthony Harbinson, director of Safer Communities Department of Justice, said: “ARCS funding underpins the department’s commitment to keeping communities safe, to reducing crime and the fear of crime, and to addressing the underlying causes of offending behaviour. The support available through this scheme is the result of the successful prosecution and convictions of criminals. This money will make a real difference in supporting people who want to work for the good of their community.”

Applicants were required to demonstrate how their proposals would meet the criteria of preventing crime or reducing the fear of crime.

Related topics:Carrickfergus