I am in danger, what do I do?
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, contact West Mercia Police on 999.
For non-emergencies you can contact the police on 101.
If you need the police but are unable to talk due to your situation you can dial 55.
Support can be gained in many ways, please go to our dedicated Support page to learn more.
Where does the Safer Streets programme come from and why?
Safer Streets is a Home Office grant that supports police forces and partners in tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Herefordshire are working closely with Partner organisations to look at different ways to make streets safer and prevent violence against women and girls.
What was achieved within Safer Streets 3. When was this?
In 2021 Hereford were granted safer streets 3 funding. This involved a range of activities, including:
- The targeted campaign “Time for Change” focusing on making streets safer for women and girls through our website and assets including video and images, shared through social media, audio/radio and out of home (OOH) campaigns such as billboards.
- Work in school with children and young people in years 6, 9 and 12 (age 11, 13 and 16) completing a 3-week programme on healthy relationships, consent, how to be an active bystander.
- 10 workshops with professionals working in the night-time economy (NTE) focusing on understanding what sexual harassment and violence are and how to be an active bystander.
- Guardianship – Expansion of Vennture’s street pastor guardianship scheme. Vennture is a church-based organisation that runs the existing ‘Lean on Me’ scheme. This is an innovative approach to women’s safety in the city centre, bringing together CCTV, venues, door staff, street pastors, a safe space and student volunteers to make sure that no one is more than 4 minutes away from someone who can care for them safely. It provides tailored care for those that need it. The Safer Streets funding enabled the expansion of the scheme outside of the city centre to provide guardianship in three key areas of concern and included the training of 24 additional volunteers to increase resilience and allow the scheme to run on additional evenings in the week at times of high demand and for high profile ad hoc events. It enabled the lease of two vehicles which allowed the ‘Lean on Me’ volunteers to effectively patrol the three identified geographical areas of concern. The additional radios ensure that volunteers are linked in to the CCTV operators, door staff and Police.
- Purchase and Installation of CCTV cameras in hotspot areas – An increase of 36 cameras at key locations throughout the city. The installation of these cameras is ongoing. It is estimated that all of the cameras will all be installed and commissioned by early January 2023.
- Enhanced street lighting to improve illumination in hotspot areas – street lighting in some areas was deemed poor therefore work is ongoing to enhance and upgrade lighting in certain areas to improve visibility. The enhanced lighting will complement the additional CCTV cameras ensuring that they are operationally effective. This work is also ongoing due for completion by early January 2023
- Landscaping of tree/shrub overgrowth – increasing natural surveillance in hotspot areas by cutting back overgrown trees and hedges that block lines of sight and reduce street light illumination. This work is well underway and due for completion by early November 2022. Ongoing maintenance of this growth will be continued.
Who is currently working on Safer Streets 4 and when does the funding end?
Hereford has once again been successful in accessing Safer Streets funding through safer streets 4. The Project runs between September 2022 and March 2023. This is supported by West Mercia Police and a range of partners including Herefordshire Women’s Equality Group (HWEG), West Mercia Rape and Sexual abuse support centre (WMRSASC), West Mercia Women’s Aid (WMWA), Hereford Night In, Hereford Community Safety Partnership, Herefordshire Council and Hereford Arts College.
Where has the money come from?
The funding for safer streets comes from a funding grant from the Home Office.
How is it being spent?
- Guardianship Expansion – sustaining the ‘Lean on me’ programme outside the city centre. This will include the training and supervision of two cohorts of volunteers per year. It will also include additional radios and equipment and the running costs for vehicles to sustain the expanded patrol cover.
- Campaign – Through VAWG engagement, SS3 developed the ‘Time for Change’ campaign in Herefordshire. The SS4 bid plans to sustain and develop this further with an official launch and key campaign events planned throughout the year. Objectives:
- Encourage bystanders to recognise VAWG and to give them the confidence to intervene.
- Raise wider awareness for women and girls to report concerns and detailing support services available.
- Creating a logo to identify Safe Spaces and promoting these as locations where women and girls can confidently go to in times of crisis.
- CCTV – 6 additional cameras to be installed for each of the identified areas to provide suitable coverage and linked in to the existing county wide network.
- Lighting – additional street lighting to be installed for all areas to provide increased illumination and feelings of personal safety.
- Landscaping –at identified locations to manage tree/shrub overgrowth and increase natural surveillance.
- Subway Artwork – develop artistic designs for each of the 4 subways. These will evoke a sense of optimism with the artwork being bold, vibrant and hopeful.
I have heard that this campaign is working with those that work in our local night-time economy, like bar staff and taxi drivers. Can you say more?
In Hereford staff that work in the night-time economy have been offered the opportunity to attend facilitated workshops to help them to
- Understand what sexual harassment is,
- Know how to intervene safely; be an active bystander,
- Know where to refer victims should they want to report to the police or access support have an understanding of sexual harassment.
What is being done to educate young people and their families about acceptable behaviour?
WMRSASC and WMWA have worked together to provide a programme of three sessions in schoolto support young people to:
- To identify healthy and unhealthy relationships.
- Increased awareness of sexual abuse and exploitation.
- Understand the importance of challenging inappropriate behaviour.
- Know where to go for help and support.
How can I be a part of this campaign?
To support the safer streets campaign you can access the website, video and social media campaigns.