A village Scout hut is to get a much-needed makeover to turn it into a real hub for the local community – thanks to cash seized by the police from North Wales criminals.

The First Mynydd Isa Scout Group is one of two Flintshire winners to be given £2,500 from a special fund run by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

The group will now be able to press ahead with a major makeover for the scout hut, which already regularly plays host to more than 150 young people and is in use seven-days-a-week.

Dan Reynolds, group Scout leader, said: “The Scout hut was built 27 years ago so. As well as for 80 Scouts and also Cubs, Beavers and Guides, it is much in demand from other local organisations but it does need renovating.

“We want to replace the toilets and improve the other facilities so it can be a centre of excellence for the district with groups coming there to camp.

“It would have taken a long time to raise this money, so receiving the grant means we can start straight away and move other projects forward as well.”

The Your Community, Your Choice scheme is supported by the North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) which is this year celebrating its 20th anniversary.

It is the fifth year of the awards scheme and much of the total of more than £160,000 handed out to deserving causes in that time has been recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act, using cash seized from offenders with the rest coming from the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The scheme is aimed at organisations who pledge to run projects to tackle anti-social behaviour and combat crime and disorder in line with the priorities in Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.

This year there are 14 grants totaling almost £40,000 given to support schemes by community organisations, with an online vote deciding the successful applicants from among 35 projects submitted and almost 10,000 votes cast.

The Mynydd Isa Scouts received its award at the annual Your Community, Your Choice presentation ceremony at North Wales Police headquarters in Colwyn Bay.

Flintshire’s other successful scheme was the Friends of Park Ave ‘Rec’ in Saltney, which received £2,500 for its Community Restoration Project which aims to launch community games and fete days in March and July to encourage local people and community groups to get involved.

The scheme includes raised flower beds for residents, tree planting, a picnic area, a wheelchair accessible pathway and CCTV to deter vandals who have blighted the area.

Mr Jones, who jointly presented the awards with Assistant Chief Constable Richard Debicki, said: “I am delighted that my Your Community Your Choice fund continues to support community projects across North Wales for a sixth consecutive year.

“I recently launched my Social Value Policy which seeks to expand our support to local communities and ‘Your Community Your Choice’
provides me with an opportunity to do just that.

“This unique fund allows our communities to decide which projects should get financial support and the response showed that communities can work together to make our public places safer.

“I have visited a number of last year’s successful projects and have been extremely impressed with the work done to ensure that our communities continue to be some of the safest places to live, work and visit in the UK.

“Delivering Safer Neighbourhoods is one of my key priorities in my Police and Crime Plan and I am delighted that your organisations have developed projects that support this plan.”

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Debicki said: “The funding which you have received has been made available by the Police and Crime Commissioner and through assets seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

“This is a particularly vital message as, through the professionalism of North Wales Police Officers and with the support of the courts, we are able to hit the criminals where it hurts – in their pockets.”

PACT chairman David Williams said: “We are delighted we can assist in the administration of this fund.

“I think the breadth of our grant giving right across North Wales, from the tip of the west to the furthest part of the east, really sends a strong message to communities to access this money, it’s there for them.

“Very appropriately, one of the conditions is that the people who apply for this money have to be doing something that combats anti-social behaviour or addresses crime and disorder in some way.