Carlisle Police and partners highlight Safer Streets Welfare Hub service during festive season
Cumbria Police and a range of partners are highlighting the Safer Streets Welfare Hub, which supports vulnerable people on nights out in Carlisle.
The Hub, which is located on Court Square next to the main entrance of the train station, operates from a red gazebo on Saturday evenings between 9:00pm and 3:00am.
Staffed by student volunteers from the University of Cumbria, Carlisle City Council’s Safer Streets Officers and Carlisle’s Neighbourhood Policing Team, all staff at the hub have branded uniforms and are trained in first aid, conflict resolution and safeguarding.
The facilities at the hub include a defibrillator, drunk test strips, drink protectors to avoid spiking, drug wipes, space blankets and a phone charger for those accessing the facility.
Anyone feeling vulnerable or unsafe on a night out can visit the Welfare Hub for support.
The hub also forms part of the Safety of Women at Night (SWaN) project, a pilot scheme in the county.
The initiative is supported by Cumbria Constabulary, the Office of the Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Carlisle City Council and University of Cumbria. The facility helps to support vulnerable people, women, and girls, to feel safe at night by providing a safe place anyone can attend for assistance.
Constabulary 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 Welfare 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.”
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