Sweet Greetings, a double award winning retro sweet shop based on Church Street, Shildon, have been awarded grant support as part of the Bishop Auckland & Shildon AAP Secure Business Scheme. The project became important after the business became the target of criminal activity and anti-social behaviour. The Secure Business Scheme, supported by the local AAP, provided Sweet Greetings with a free crime prevention survey which was completed by a member of the Safer Neighbourhoods Team. The business now boasts significant improvements to its security thanks, in part, to Bishop Auckland and Shildon Security Grant Scheme.

Lyn Neilson from Sweet Greetings Said, “The Bishop Auckland and Shildon Security Grant has really helped us have peace of mind more than anything. When people come into the shop we remind them of the security measures in place, we also have signs up that will help act as a deterrent for any would-be criminals. The improvements have proved to be very useful, not only to Sweet Greetings but to surrounding businesses located on Church Street.”

The scheme has been established to provide increased security measures and “target hardening” improvements to SME businesses in the BASH area which have often been seen by criminals to be easy targets for theft and damage.

As a result of these improvements, businesses which engage with the scheme and benefit from both the crime prevention survey and potential grant funding can effectively deter criminals and thereby reduce the negative impacts that crime has on the business, its staff and customers.