Investing £217,326 into citywide organisations

Southampton City Council has paid tribute to partners at an event to celebrate the successes of projects that aim to strengthen neighbourhood pride and social connection. The local authority has been able to invest £217,326 into citywide organisations and community groups thanks to central government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

Unlike previous funding programmes, UKSPF has enabled communities to identify and shape their own priorities. In Southampton, this approach has sparked creativity, deepened partnership working, and delivered genuine community impact - making it a key driver of the Levelling Up agenda.

The UKSPF was established around three core priorities:

• Communities and Place - investing in local infrastructure, green spaces, cultural activity and initiatives that strengthen pride in place.
• Supporting Local Business - empowering SMEs, encouraging decarbonisation and boosting the city’s visitor economy.
• People and Skills – enhancing employment support, improving local skills and delivering programmes such as Multiply to help adults improve their numeracy.

The programme also delivered a substantial package of Safer Streets initiatives, helping make the city’s communities safer, more resilient and better informed. These included providing personal safety tools for university students, such as alarms and anti-drink spiking kits, and body-worn cameras for City Welfare Wardens.

CCTV has been installed in areas where there has been anti-social behaviour, and there has been investment in youth outreach work, and street pastor patrols.

Beyond community safety and grants, UKSPF has supported multiple workstreams across Southampton such as helping economically inactive residents move into work, providing support for start-up businesses, delivering enhancements to neighbourhoods such as waste removal, fly-tipping enforcement and mobile CCTV.

Local organisations that have benefited from funding and showcased how it was spent at the event include:

• Cross Culture Hub
• Friends of Riverside Park
• Friends of St James Park
• Gig Night
• Southampton Centre Ambulance Service
• Southampton Sight
• Street pastors
• Unity 101
• Voice FM
• Young Southampton

Francesca Prior, Service Manager - Stronger Communities at Southampton City Council, said: “It was great to be able to welcome partners to this event to highlight the difference we have been able to make through our combined efforts and the funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. We will continue to build on these achievements to ensure that we create a city where everyone can feel safe.”

Councillor Sarah Bogle, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Growth and Skills at Southampton City Council, said: “I’m delighted that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has enabled us to invest in community projects that have had such a positive impact on our city. As a council, we are committed to creating a Safer Southampton, which is a priority in our City Plan. These projects are further evidence of our commitment to this pledge.”