By Saul Cooke-Black

HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds has been invested in reducing crime across Stroud in the last three years, according to PCC Martin Surl.

More than £340,000 has been spent on supporting 23 neighbourhood projects in Stroud since Mr Surl (pictured) was elected as Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner.

He said: “It is a significant amount of money but how it is being spent is more important.

“I have always said communities have an important role to play in reducing crime because the police can’t do it all.

“That’s why I set out to involve community and voluntary sectors in my police and crime plan and I am delighted they have bought into the idea so effectively and with such enthusiasm.

“What is happening in Stroud is replicated right across Gloucestershire.”

Organisations supported by the police and crime commissioner in Stroud include the Door Youth Project, which helps disadvantaged young people who are vulnerable to crime.

All of the projects correspond to one or more of the six priorities of the commissioner’s police and crime plan.

More than 200 projects have been funded across the county since the introduction of the Commissioner’s Fund in December 2012.

Cash from the PCC’s annual budget was used to establish the fund.

Many of the projects are financed until 2017, with the goal of being sustainable by the end of this period.

All applications seeking a grant must show that the initiative will last after the funding has expired.

Mr Surl will give more details at a meeting of Stroud District Council’s community services and licensing committee on Thursday.