A forum designed to help members of the Shepparton community come together to fight crime and safety across the city is underway at the end of the month.

Victorian Crime Prevention Minister Natalie Hutchins will present and participate in the forum, along with staff and councilors from Greater Shepparton City Council, key agencies and community organizations and community members.

Author Nelly Thomas will moderate the session.

Greater Shepparton City Council is one of six local government areas that have received an Empowering Communities grant, as part of the Government of Victoria’s Building Safer Communities programme.

The program aims to help local communities design and carry out innovative initiatives to tackle the causes of crime and improve the perception of safety.

Community members are invited to participate and make their voices heard at the Safety Forum on March 31.

Mayor Kim O’Keeffe said the council is extremely pleased to be the recipient of the grant.

“This is an opportunity for our community to have their voices heard about what makes them feel safe and unsafe within the municipality,” she said.

“Our community is ready to act and build on the local community safety efforts already underway.”

The forum will be hosted in partnership with Greater Shepparton City Council, the Greater Shepparton Safe Communities Advisory Committee and the Department of Justice and Community Safety.

Head toward https://bit.ly/GSCCEmpowering to register for the March 31 event, which begins at 1 p.m. at the Shepparton Senior Citizens’ Centre.