Criminals' ill-gotten gains help keep Leeds children on track

A motorcycle activity club which has used the ill-gotten gains of criminals to help young people in Leeds avoid crime and anti-social behaviour will feature on national television today.
The BUMPY club has been operating for more than two decades in Birstall.The BUMPY club has been operating for more than two decades in Birstall.
The BUMPY club has been operating for more than two decades in Birstall.

Birstall Urban Motorcycle Project for Youth, (BUMPY), which was set up in 1989 and gives young people of all abilities a chance to learn to ride motorbikes on and off-road, receives funds raised under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

It features in the first episode of a new BBC One daytime series, Ill Gotten Gains, which goes out at 9.15am, from Monday to Friday this week.

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The series follows Regional Organised Crime Units and police forces tackling crime by seizing criminals’ assets and selling them at auction to put money back into the public purse.

As part of BUMPY, groups of young people from across Leeds take part in twelve sessions that help them learn to ride safely and avoid becoming involved in illegal off-road biking or anti-social behaviour.

The initiative also gives police and other neighbourhood officers the opportunity to build a rapport with the young people, who they continue to work with after the sessions end.

The £4,740 grant BUMPY received from West Yorkshire’s crime commissioner came from funds raised under the Proceeds of Crime Act and was used to support safety training sessions.

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On Friday, the series will feature the work of Leeds social enterprise Seagulls Reuse, which takes left-over and unwanted paint being recycled and sold off at affordable prices.

Set up in 2013 by two friends in 2013 who wanted to stop unnecessary waste, the scheme now has a contract with Leeds City Council to allow them to collect paint from eight household waste sites.

The BBC show will show how the programme, which is funded by the Proceeds of Crime Act, has taken in people from many walks of life.