Community Groups Invited To Apply To ARCS Fund

Community and voluntary groups are being invited to apply for funding in the latest round of the Assets Recovery Community Scheme (ARCS).

Announced by the Department of Justice (DoJ), ARCS funding is aimed at preventing crime and/or reducing the fear of crime. The scheme is open to voluntary and community sector organisations; registered charities; and statutory bodies delivering projects in community settings in Northern Ireland.

Richard Pengelly CB, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Justice said: "ARCS seeks to re-invest funding which has been confiscated from criminals, and direct it towards projects that prevent crime and/or reduce the fear of crime.

"The Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) partners continue to use asset recovery powers to deprive criminals of their ill-gotten gains, removing profits that fund crime and helping break the cycle of criminal activity. This sends a clear signal that crime does not pay."

ARCS allows monies received from the payment of confiscation orders, following a conviction, to fund community projects across Northern Ireland. Through this, communities and individuals are supported, addressing some of the harmful impacts from a wide range of crimes.

The scheme will run for three years and applications are invited from organisations that will run projects during all or part of that period.

Projects can bid for money in each or any of the three years and should demonstrate how their proposals would meet the essential ARCS criteria of preventing crime and/or reducing the fear of crime and how the project would directly benefit victims; communities; or the environment.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 31 January at 5pm.