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Justice Minister Naomi Long is inviting voluntary and community sector organisations, registered charities, and statutory bodies delivering projects in community settings in Northern Ireland to apply for funding aimed at preventing crime.
The Assets Recovery Community Scheme (ARCS) allows monies received from the payment of confiscation orders following a criminal conviction to be diverted into community projects across Northern Ireland to support communities and individuals and address some of the harmful impacts from a wide range of criminality.
The Assets Recovery Community Scheme is now open for applications.
The Scheme is designed to run for 18 months and applications are invited from projects that seek to run initiatives or programmes over, or at some time during, that period. Projects can bid for a maximum of £10k for up to 6 months in 2022/23 and/or £25k for up to 12 months in 2023/24 and should demonstrate how their proposals would meet the essential ARCS criteria of preventing crime or reducing the fear of crime and how they would directly benefit victims, communities or the environment.
Naomi Long said: “Asset recovery is an integral part of the response to organised crime; it disrupts the activity of organised crime groups and individuals connected to them. Partners on the Organised Crime Task Force continue to prioritise asset recovery and bring forward confiscation cases to deprive criminals of their ill-gotten gains. ARCS funding helps the community make a direct link between operational action and the resulting benefits for those who suffer the most from the effects of organised crime.”
The application form and guidance notes can be found on the Department’s website at justice-ni.gov.uk and on the Organised Crime Task Force website (www.octf.gov.uk
The closing date for applications is Thursday 1st September 2022 at 5pm.
