Officers join forces with ‘Alley Angels’ to transform community spaces

A group of volunteers and officers from Merseyside Police have come together to transform local alley ways in Liverpool, making them safer space for residents.   

The initiative is led by community group Alley Angels, whose mission is to transform the alley ways of Liverpool and beyond.

Merseyside Police is working in partnership with the group and has provided funding to keep Liverpool’s alley ways clean, safe, and free from dangerous weapons.

The project was funded by Operation Target, Merseyside’s force wide operation to tackle serious and violent crime. The force’s serious violence prevention fund is used to provide resources for tackling violence and long-term problem solving for violence prevention.

Thanks to this partnership, 40 alley ways have been transformed and a number of potentially dangerous weapons have been removed out of harm’s way.

The latest alley way to be transformed is in the Breck Road area of Anfield, with the support of the Anfield Improvement District and local officers and PCSOs from Walton Lane police station.

Volunteers were out in force on Thursday 25 January to litter pick and inspect alley ways with Liverpool officers.

During the clean-up, 15 bags of litter were collected, fly tipping was reported and broken glass removed from a nearby car park.

With the support of volunteers, officers inspected the St Ambrose Grove and St Andrews Road alley way and found barbed wire blocking access for residents.

The latest clean-up in Anfield coincides with Neighbourhood Policing Week, which takes place from the 22nd to 28th January 2024.

This week, the force is highlighting some of the initiatives and partnership work carried out by Local Policing teams throughout the year and how they are making a difference to the places that people live, work and visit in Merseyside.

Constable Ben Sherrington from Local Policing said: “We are proud to be involved in this initiative and continue to work hard to make Merseyside safer by tackling the crime and anti-social behaviour issues that affect our communities. A big thank you goes to the volunteers from Alley Angels and Anfield Improvement District for dedicating their time to keep these spaces clean, tidy and safe.”

James Coates from Alley Angels, Anfield Litter Network & Anfield Improvement District said: “In 2023, the Anfield Litter Network collected a grand total of 344 bags which we hope to exceed in 2024 with everyone who lives, works, or visits Anfield taking part to help create a clean, safe, and vibrant Anfield for all.

“We offer free litter picking equipment for residents who want to take part in group picks or solo picks where you carry out a litter patrol on your own street. We just ask that you post your litter picking adventures onto the ‘Anfield Litter Network’ Facebook Page so that we can support your efforts and add your haul to our running bag total." 

Superintendent Phil Mullally, lead for serious violence and knife crime, said: “Partnership working is vital in reaching and engaging with our communities across Merseyside, so we are pleased to support the work of Alley Angels.

“This prevention initiative supports the extensive work undertaken across the region to reduce and prevent serious violence, which has led to a 22% decrease in knife offences from June 2022 to June 2023 and continues to reduce.”

The support of our communities is vital in helping us pursue offenders, prevent crime and protect people. If you have information about crime or anti-social behaviour occurring anywhere in Merseyside, please tell us via our social media desk on X @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’, or by reporting on the Merseyside Police website at: www.merseyside.police.uk.

Get involved

Members of the community, business owners and community groups are being invited to the next Liverpool Local Policing Area (LPA) Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting online on Thursday 14^th March, at 6pm until 7pm, to work with their Neighbourhood Inspectors on tackling Organised Crime groups (OCGs), if you would like to attend the meeting please email:- [email protected]

The Liverpool LPA CAG is part of a wider initiative to get the local community involved in an ongoing two-way dialogue between the force and the community to give them a voice to support the force in delivering a service which meets the needs of the community.