Safe Spaces can play an important role in community safety, workforce wellbeing and the prevention of harm.
There are many motivations for creating a safe space, and many ways to do it. With our unique Safe Space Toolkit, CLEAR can help you to work through the why, what, where and how of developing a Safe Space for your community, your employees or your customers.
The role of a Safe Space is to support, not to fix. It is an immediate place of safety where anyone feeling vulnerable in the moment can seek refuge and access initial support, which is often a call home or a place to wait whilst contacting emergency services or other professional support. This has particular relevance for businesses in the nighttime economy, retail and hospitality, but is relevant to all.
Becoming a Safe Space:
Any business or organisation wanting to develop a Safe Space will be supported to ensure they are properly prepared and ready to start; with systems in place to protect themselves, employees and the people seeking support.
Our Safe Space training package includes:
- Safe Space Toolkit Workshop
- Bystander Intervention
- Safeguarding Training
- Signposting resources including a list of wider support
Additional training and support can be purchased as required, including Understanding Trauma, First Aid for Mental Health, Peer Support Training and a Critical Incident Support Service.
Why Safe Spaces:
In response to a growing focus on community safety, and especially in response to increasing violence against women and girls (VAWG); organisations are increasingly taking a proactive approach to creating safe spaces and undertaking training to prevent and respond to risk for their customers, employees and members of the community. People in need maybe of any age or gender, feeling vulnerable in the moment.
Examples could include:
- an employee feeling unable to leave because of risk of harm
- a customer feeling they are being followed or stalked
- a person in the community feeling under pressure by peers to participate in crime or other anti-social activity
- a young person unable to get home safely after a night out
Creating a Safe Space demonstrates your commitment to corporate social responsibility, can increase your workforce wellbeing, support customer satisfaction and overall engagement and standing within your community.
A Whole Town or an Individual Approach:
A whole town approach allows for 24hr support and encourages all establishments to support safe spaces or undertake training such as Bystander Intervention to create a whole town initiative. Newquay took this approach, led by Newquay BID, with CLEAR as training partner. Find out more here about the Newquay Safe Space Initiative
In Truro, with support from CLEAR, New Look implemented their Safe Space through their #ismysisterworkingtoday campaign to help keep young people safe within the city.. Check out the news item here.
Elaine Wrigley, Head of People Experience and Inclusion at New Look said: “We are delighted to be able to provide Truro customers with a new ‘safe space’. Supporting our local communities is important to New Look and this initiative further underpins our commitment to our customers and the community as a whole.”
What People Say About Safe Spaces
Margaret North, Mayor of Newquay said “As the Mayor of Newquay I’m really proud that our town will be a leader in creating a safe space strategy. The BID, with support from CLEAR, Councillor Sarah Thomson, and Inspector Guy Blackford, is creating a safe space strategy for the whole town. This involves both business and the town council with our library being one such safe space. Thank you to everyone for making this possible and ensuring our town has safe spaces.”
Mark Warren, Newquay BID says “We feel that the town is fast becoming an even more welcoming and safe space, we already have a whole town approach system with communications between CCTV and businesses. Our new Safe Space initiative will provide an additional layer of safety within the community that is supported by local businesses, Devon and Cornwall police, and the Town Council. Newquay has significantly reduced crime rates over recent years and this is a further proactive step to prioritising personal safety 24/7 with particular focus on the night-time economy as well as providing safe spaces throughout the daytime.”
