TRAFFORD faith and community groups are set to benefit from a cash injection aimed at improving the lives of isolated and vulnerable people.

The local authority and Safer Trafford Partnership have invested £40,000 into the ‘community cohesion forum’ after recognising more can be done to improve social inclusion in the borough.

A Trafford Council report stated that while Trafford is still considered the‘safest’ borough in Greater Manchester, the Council acknowledges that more work is required to reduce hate crime and prevent radicalisation.

The council also plans to use the funding to reduce the number of socially isolated and vulnerable people within the borough.

The ‘community cohesion forum’ aims to prevent radicalisation and isolation by promoting community engagement, collaborative problem-solving and early, targeted intervention of vulnerable people.

As part of the scheme, community or faith groups were invited to apply for funding of up to £5,000.

The authority has selected 10 projects to support, after 46 applications were submitted.

Groundwork, an organisation that helps to improve green spaces within the area, received £5,100 – and plans to use the funding to establish a young persons forum.

While Caritas, which supports refugees and faith groups across the borough, received £5,000.

The group will use the cash to set up a sponsorship scheme.

The remaining community organisations received funding grants of up to £5,000.

Cllr Kevin Procter, portfolio holder for communities and housing, said more needed to be done to improve social inclusion, to ensure people can live together without fear.

He added: “The quality of grant applications showed how important this subject is to our communities and the role of voluntary and community groups in strengthening them.

“We are excited to be funding these innovative and valuable projects – and  we will be working closely with them to ensure they are able to achieve their ambitions.

“We will also be supporting those projects that weren’t successful to attract alternative funding.”

The Safer Trafford Partnership is a collaborative effort by the Council, police and other agencies in the community to reduce crime.