Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner, Rupert Matthews, has been provided with a grant from his Safety Fund to create projects aimed at keeping Rutland youths away from crime.

Through the delivery of his Safety Fund, the PCC aims to increase opportunities to prevent offending and tackle some of the root causes of crime, thereby helping young people turn their backs on crime and anti-social behaviour.

Commissioner Matthews said: "I've seen compelling evidence of the transformative effect of sport and creative activities. This is why I created my Safety Fund so that I could invest in projects that take young people off the streets and arm them with life skills, confidence and resilience that will serve them well in the future.

"In Rutland we have different types of crime to those that I find in the inner city, but these can be no less devastating to young people if they choose to follow that course as they grow into adulthood.

"The object of these projects will be to work with our crime-prevention partners and local charities as well as youth services to offer youngsters who have dabbled in crime already, but who we want to steer away from criminal activity for good. As Commissioner, I am working hard to restore hope in the services we provide to keep our streets safe. Preventing youth crime and anti-social behaviour is a responsibility for many organisations, not just the Police, and I'm really pleased with the emphasis on partnership working in this project."

The funds will be distributed among local crime-prevention partnerships in the autumn, and it is hoped that the first of the projects will be underway as early as August or September.