Newry Mourne and Down gets boost of £43,000 from the Assets Recovery Community Scheme
Newry and Mourne is set to benefit from £43k from the Assets Recovery Community Scheme, Justice Minister Naomi Long has announced.
A number of community and voluntary organisations in the Newry and Mourne Council area have been awarded funding from the 2024-2027 Assets Recovery Community Scheme (ARCS).xa0
The ARCS fund is managed by the Department of Justice Protection and Organised Crime Division.xa0 Funding decisions are made by an ARCS panel.xa0
The funding underpins the DoJ commitment to work in partnership to create a fair, just and safe community where we respect the law and each other.
The money allocated will go towards community safety and preventing child sexual exploitation.
The groups awarded funding are:
- Newry Street Unite – £7.3k
- Southern Health and Social Care Trust – £36k
Minister Long said:xa0“The ARCS funding is giving back to the communities that are known to suffer at the hands of criminals who prey on the vulnerable for their own financial gain.
“By going after their proceeds of crime, we can deprive these criminals of their ill-gotten gains and take the profit out of their heinous lifestyle and from lining their own pockets.
“The funding will go towards making communities in Newry and Mourne safer by preventing crime and reducing fear of crime in communities.xa0
“Criminals do not protect their communities.xa0They are only vested in profit for themselves.”
Recovering criminal assets is an important focus for the partners of the Organised Crime Task Force.xa0 50% of receipts from paid criminal confiscation orders goes into the ARCS budget, the other 50% continues to be distributed to agencies responsible for the recovery of the assets.
The funding awarded aims to improve the lives of people living in these districts and also benefit communities by tackling crime and reducing the fear of crime and helping the environment.
The funding will be allocated over a three-year period.
Over £9million has been distributed to a wide range of projects across Northern Ireland since the introduction of the scheme in 2012.
43 projects have been offered a total of almost £1.25 million funding, for services to be delivered in the period up to 31 March 2027.
To date, the projects, which will be delivered throughout Northern Ireland, have been offered funding totalling approximately £443k in 2024/25, £422k in 2025/26 and £385k in 2026/27.xa0
The DoJ said this demonstrates the hard work and dedication of the justice agencies who work tirelessly to halt and disrupt these criminals in benefiting from their ill-gotten gains.
The ARCS budget is derived from confiscation orders which may be made following a criminal conviction to recover the proceeds of crime.
In addition, there are a number of projects that were allocated funding under the current Scheme that operate on a Northern Ireland-wide basis that are having a positive impact on the lives of people across many geographical areas.
Further details about the funding allocations is available onxa0the DoJ’s website
