Ill-gotten cash recovered by Liverpool Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act is given to a nominated charity of the month
Activities for young people at Shrewsbury House Youth and Community Centre(Image: Shrewsbury House Youth and Community Centre)
Ill-gotten cash seized from criminals will be used to support young people during the summer holidays and beyond. Money taken from the pockets of drug dealers and other defendants appearing before Liverpool Crown Court is handed over to a designated charity of the month, with the scheme having raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for good causes over the past three years.
The latest beneficiary of Operation Payback is Shrewsbury House Youth and Community Centre, which was the nominated organisation for July. The charity has long been a pillar of the community in Everton, having been supporting children aged five to 18 for more than 100 years.
Affectionately known as the Shewsy, it offers a host of after school and summer holiday sessions, residential programmes, mentoring schemes and activities including sports and creative arts. Shrewsbury House will use the court funds in order to maintain its facilities, train youth workers and expand its programme of activities in order to steer services users away from crime, exploitation and isolation in partnership with schools, Merseyside Police and healthcare professionals.
Chief executive Vicki Parker said: “The Shewsy is so much more than a youth club. For many of the young people we work with it’s their second home, a place they feel safe, seen, and supported. This funding allows us to keep that promise to our community and make sure every young person has a chance to thrive.
“Our young people are full of talent, energy and potential, they just need the space and support to discover it. This funding will help us keep that space open and vibrant for years to come.”
Another recent beneficiary was the Liverpool Supplementary Schools Network, which was the nominated organisation for May. The charity has been running for more than 25 years and operates as part of the Greek School of St Nicholas Liverpool, which is based at Childwall Sports and Science Academy.
It also hosts a variety of cultural events as part of its teaching programme. Liverpool Supplementary Schools Network will use the court funds to continue its work in helping thousands of children across the city to learn languages.
Chief executive Andre Olchowski said: “This funding will be well used by the Liverpool Supplementary Schools. We are 30 plus heritage language schools with over 2,500 children, all learning a language at the weekend – Polish, Greek, Kurdish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Albanian, French, Persian, Spanish, Irish and more.
“The money will be well spent on books and resources along with cultural dance lessons, cultural art and craft activities and our fantastic International Day of Languages event in October. All children attend mainstream schools five days a week, but have an extra days education learning their parents’ language.
“This extra day is truly levelling up, raising standards of education and language learning, school attendance, behaviour and parental support. The majority of children are bilingual, gifted and talented and make an outstanding contribution to Liverpool’s GCSE Polish, Arabic, French, Spanish and more modern languages. We also perform at community cohesive events showcasing our arts, talented dances and fantastic foods.”