A mediation service which brings young offenders face-to-face with those they have preyed on is one of more than two dozen projects to benefit from a York crime-fighting fund.

The Safer York Partnership's £360,000 project budget for the year, aimed at cutting crime and reducing the fear of crime across the city, will also fund the appointment of a domestic violence services co-ordinator jointly with the NSPCC.

Bob Wood, chairman of the Safer York Partnership, said: "Although several of

the new schemes we are funding this year are up and running we have only

just finalised our full programme.

"We continue to be involved in a wide range of activities aimed at reducing

crime in York and the projects we are identifying today are only a small

part of what we do.

"Our main role is to co-ordinate and facilitate the city's response to

making York an even safer place to live and work."

New money into the project fund is £148,000, of which £144,000 is from City of York Council and £8,000 from North Yorkshire Police - both major players in Safer York Partnership.

The list of spending on new and continuing projects for the year includes:

£40,000 for the city's Victim Support Repeat Victimisation scheme

£25,000 for staffing a Domestic Violence Service with the NSPCC and a

further £1,700 to target domestic violence in Oaklands

£26,000 to fund a court-based drugs support worker with Compass, the York

Drugs Resource Scheme

£21,000 for City of York Neighbourhood Watch Association

£4,000 on a scheme to raise awareness of crime among the business

community

£15,000 to fund Age Concern's Home Security Scheme in York

£11,000 to help fund, with the Commission for Racial Equality, a racial

equality development worker for the York Racial Equality Network

£8,000 for York Youth Offending Team's youth reparation scheme

£26,000 to York's mediation service Face-to-Face be shared between general

mediation services and a special project targeting young offenders

£3,000 towards the development of a youth shelter at New Earswick with Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust

£9,500 to fund Age Concern's development of the innovative Home Services Directory for older people.