Crime Concern

In 1988 Crime Concern was set up by the then Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, to help the Home Office, the police and Local Authorities to reduce crime and make communities safer. Working in partnership with private companies and local people it set up innovative ways of addressing crime and the fear of crime from improving people’s knowledge of crime prevention, to supporting the installation of better lighting and locks to increasingly concentrating on working with young people in their local neighbourhoods.

Over the next twenty years Crime Concern grew in size and influence becoming the driving force behind initiatives such as Neighbourhood Watch, victim support, Safer Cities, Youth Inclusion Programmes and the developments of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. At a national level it worked with Government departments to strengthen the partnership working across the 154 crime and disorder partnerships and in 2002 with the Youth Justice Board on the development of their Youth Crime Prevention Strategy.

A merger of the Royal Philanthropic Society and the Rainer Foundation took place in 1997 to form RPSRainer. In 2003 it changed its name to Rainer. The combined charities were a strong presence in the fields of youth crime, supported housing for young people, care-leaving services and remedial or alternative education work. Working with young people up to 25 became the distinguishing feature of the charity and set it apart from most of the other children’s charities.

In 1998 a training provider that had been run by Portsmouth City Council joined the charity; in 2002 the DIVERT Trust that had been set up with the encouragement of another Home Office minister Lord Elton and specialised in mentoring services became a part of Rainer as did the National Leaving Care Advisory Service in 2003; in 2006 Communities that Care UK joined.

Rainer continued to grow through these mergers and through the securing of European funding to research and establish innovative programmes in the fields of resettlement of young offenders and those leaving care.

In 2008 Rainer and Crime Concern merged to form Catch22. You can find out more about Catch22 today by visiting the 'What we do' section of this website.