People enjoying a Saturday night out in Carlisle are reminded that help is available if they need support.
The Safer Streets Welfare Hub operates from a red gazebo outside the city’s railway station from 9pm on Saturdays until 3am.
Staffed by student volunteers from the University of Cumbria, Carlisle City Council safer street officers and Carlisle’s Neighbourhood Policing Team, all staff at the hub have branded uniforms and are training in first aid, conflict resolution and safeguarding.
Facilities include a defibrillator, drunk test strips, drink protectors to avoid spiking, drug wipes, space blankets and a phone charger. Anyone feeling vulnerable or unsafe on a night out can visit the hub for support.
Since opening in April, the hub has provided support including; listening to people’s safety concerns, organising safe transport home for women being targeted with abuse or violence on a night out, enabling people to stay warm and safe when they have been separated from friends, helping homeless people and providing basic medical attention for minor injury.
The hub forms part of the Safety of Women at Night (SWaN) project, initially funded by a successful bid from Cumbria’s crime commissioner Peter McCall, to the Home Office’s SWaN Fund. The initiative is a pilot and the potential for similar hubs across the county will be considered, Mr McCall said.
Cumbria police’s lead for violence against women and girls, Detective Inspector Matthew Belshaw said: “This initiative is important to support people, especially woman and girls, who may face unacceptable behaviour when out in the city’s night-time economy.
“Behaving in a way that makes others feel intimidated or vulnerable is not acceptable and those actions could amount to an offence. Misogyny or abuse towards women and girls needs to stop and needs to be called out by anyone who witnesses it.
“By highlighting the hub, we hope to get people talking about the facility, so that anyone who is facing unacceptable behaviour or is feeling unsafe knows where it is and that they can access it.
Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Andrew Leather said: “This facility has proven to be of huge benefit to the local community and those visiting Carlisle on a Saturday night.
“The volunteers staffing the station are a credit to themselves and the university, you can tell they are committed to making the people who attend the hub feel safe and supported.
“If anyone who is on a night out in Carlisle city centre has been the victim of a crime or incident and is feeling vulnerable or unsafe, you can also attend the Hub and speak to one of the officers on duty who will be able to provide you with relevant police support.
“Everyone working at the hub is there to help you, please go and see them if you need their support”.
“The Safer Streets Welfare Hub is a great partnership service, helping to make Carlisle’s night-time economy a safer place. Thanks go to all the staff and volunteers who work in the Welfare Hub, volunteering their time during the festive period to help vulnerable people.”
More information on becoming a Safer Streets welfare hub volunteer contact: [email protected]
