Edition 1 October 2022
This newsletter is produced by Exeter’s Community Safety Partnership as part of the Government’s Safer Streets project. Find out more and follow us on • Twitter - SaferExeter • Facebook - SaferCentralExeter • LinkedIn - safer-exeter • Instagram - saferexeter
Major boost for city safety EXETER’S Community Safety Partnership (CSP) has received a significant funding boost of £680,250 from the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund to help enhance night time safety measures across the city centre. The project is led by the Exeter’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP). The funding will allow a number of initiatives launched across the city in the next two years.
Each will aim to help prevent antisocial behaviour, and tackle violence
against women and members of the LGBT+ community, in and around Exeter
Fund offers Spark to communities! A COMMUNITY Sparks fund has been set up to support community projects and allow streetscape improvement ideas to be realised. The fund will provide grants to residents, community groups, organisations or businesses to enable them to take local, positive action and help prevent violence against women and girls in public places and help reduce antisocial behaviour in the night-time economy.
Bids are welcome for amounts from £200 to £1,000. In the previous round of sparks funding a number of projects were completed successfully including a new defibrillator situated in John Street (pictured right). For more details on how to apply please visit www.inexeter.com. You can all call 01392 424975 or email: info@inexeter.com Applications will be accepted until 1 December 2022.
city centre, particularly at night. The project focusses on five key areas and each piece of work is featured in more detail in this newsletter. The project continues the progress made by the Home Office funded Safer Central Exeter project which ended earlier this year and the Safety of Women at Night project which also received significant funding from the Home Office.
2
Cameras to focus on city hot-spots A TOTAL of 32 CCTV cameras and improved street lighting will be installed across Exeter as part of the latest Safer Streets project. Analysis has identified hot-spot locations where women and members of the LGBTQ+ feel unsafe or where crimes have been reported. These locations all suffer high levels of crime or are key entry and exit paths into the city. Together they will act as a deterrent to offenders and provide evidence to the police. They will be monitored 24/7 with links directly into police control room and play a key role in supporting wider public safety in the city.
A charter for good
October 2022
A MAJOR campaign will get underway over the next year to encourage revellers into using venues that make a commitment to keeping them safe while out and about at night in Exeter. The campaign, led by Best Bar None Exeter, will encourage anyone visiting pubs, clubs and restaurants to look out for the Best Bar None logo before visiting a licensed premises. Angela scheme in place; Best Bar None is an independent • Have policy and training on how to award for excellence and a way of help vulnerable people; showing guests that venues which • Have displayed a higher duty of display the logo meet a higher than care than the legal requirement; normal standard, and that they are committed to • Have agreed to be checked across the year by an independent providing support, assessor. safety and security to guests. Guests can expect Always keep an eye out for the Best Bar None logo at venues across the these venues to: city. •Have an Ask for
On screen training! A VIDEO is to be produced which will help those working in our pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants know how to respond when they see women and girls being harassed. Building on in-person training which was given to staff working in pubs, clubs and restaurants last year as part of the city’s Safety of Women at Night project, an awareness raising video will be produced which will highlight concerning behaviour and help staff develop skills to diffuse situations. The city’s Community Safety Partnership will
also continue to increase awareness of the Safety of Women at Night Charter which was developed after a significant survey showed that the vast majority of women felt unsafe when they were on a night out in Exeter. It is essential that awareness of the Safety Charter is maintained so it becomes rooted in the community. To reach a wider audience, there are also plans to produce a printed version of the Charter, translate it into foreign languages and other alternative formats such as ‘easy read’.
October 2022
3
Uni plan to helps workers intervene
Late night safe space NUMEROUS surveys carried out in Exeter have identified a need for a safe space where victims of crime or those vulnerable and may become a victim of crime, can be supported. Led by InExeter, and funded by the Safer Streets project, plans are afoot for a mobile safe space to be deployed in the city centre at night. It is expected to be up and running by March 2023. Exeter’s Safe Space will be equipped and supported by trained volunteers. The facility will ensure victims, or those feeling particularly vulnerable and needing professional support, can get it in a safe space.
The project is being informed by similar existing schemes in Leeds and Chelmsford. Facilities will include: • Mobile phone charging • Water/refreshments/warm drinks • Support calling a taxi • Space to wait for a night bus • Somewhere to talk through concerns • Signposting for further support • Incident reporting i.e. the police • Somewhere warm to wait for friends/not be alone The safe space will operate from Thursday to Saturday from 10pm to 4am and will complement the work undertaken at St Mary Arches, United Limited Church.
A TRAINING programme which will help workers who witness street harassment, particularly towards women and girls (VAWG), is being developed by Exeter University. The programme aims to improve people’s confidence, willingness, and ability to intervene in issues relating to violence against women and girls. Potential trainers are now being recruited for two-day ‘train the trainer’ sessions on 28 November and 5 December. Rolling out Then training will be offered free across Exeter from January to March 2023. The training will coincide with a citywide marketing campaign aimed at changing the norms around street harassment and VAWG. If you are interested in participating in either train the trainer module or if you would like more information on how your organisation can take part in the training programme please call 01392 727607.
4
Starting them early CHANGING the attitudes of the very young to street harassment and disrespect of women and girls is a key piece of work in the Safer Streets project. An educational toolkit is being produced by the University of Exeter that aims to help children understand the effects of harassment and disrespectful behaviour towards women and girls. It will be targeted at children of primary and secondary school pupils. In primary schools it will focus on changing attitudes because disrespect and aggressive behaviour is embedded early. At secondary schools it aims to
prevent street harassment. The toolkit, which is expected to be delivered in schools during the middle part of 2023, will be developed with expertise from the University’s Graduate School of Education and
colleagues in the College of Medicine and Health, and with guidance from the Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust as the main provider of primary/secondary and others in the Exeter Education Alliance to effect its roll out.
Guide will help students become better neighbours Each year approximately 7,000 students move into Exeter as they move from the first to second year. And a further 7,000 second years remain in the city as they become final year students. Both the Guild of Students and the University already provide guidance on ‘being a good neighbour’ and how to integrate into the community, in the form of the ‘Student
Community Guide.’ This project will help develop an additional guide that will be distributed physically and electronically via letting agent/ landlord networks. Poster variations of key ‘good neighbour’ messages will also be utilised in City venues as part of a broader awareness raising campaign.
October 2022
Shining a light on the issue POLICE have responded to community concerns with a week-long city centre campaign which targeted offenders in the city's biggest nightlife spots. Officers patrolled busy areas including Gandy Street and Queen’s Street to spot predatory behaviour such as drink spiking, sexual assault and targeting vulnerable individuals. They visited clubs and bars and carried out various checks on taxi drivers for licensing compliance.
Predators Inspector Simon Arliss said: “We hope that our presence assists in making women safer and serves as a warning to potential predators that intimidation will not be tolerated." Councillor Laura Wright, from Exeter City Council, said: "We want Exeter to be somewhere where women and girls and indeed everyone, can feel comfortable and safe to enjoy the city."