Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex visited Newcastle yesterday afternoon to meet the teams working to provide safe spaces for women in the evening in Newcastle town centre and also those involved in new initiatives to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
The first stop was the Women’s Safer Space unit at Lancaster Building. Here The Countess met Michelle Hopper, the Council’s senior partnerships officer as well as Catherine Fox, the Newcastle Partnerships and Vulnerability Officer, and Charlotte Pearce and Lianne Shea from the Business Improvement District (BID).
Catherine Fox spoke to The Countess about the Women’s Safer Space project, including showing her some of the items which can be offered to women seeking support, and also introduced her to some of the volunteers providing the service.
The space, set up and managed by Newcastle BID and Newcastle Borough Council is an ongoing initiative staffed by support workers, security partners and volunteers who can provide assistance, offer a safe haven or signpost to services.
Staff within the ‘Women’s Safe Space’ ensure individuals can contact someone if they wish to get home safely or just give them time to collect their thoughts. If the matter is more serious or a crime has been committed, they will be encouraged to contact the police. The hub will also distribute several safety aids for women such as personal alarms, portable chargers, and anti-theft bag bells etc.
As part of the wider Safer Spaces initiative within the town centre, there has been enhanced CCTV and street lighting installed and areas identified and marked within key locations for taxi pick-ups. Alongside this, funding will support the refresh of the current taxi safeguarding training to include awareness information on potential vulnerabilities of women at night.
Charlotte Pearce, BID Manager says
“The BID is eager to support the Safety of Women at Night Campaign and part of our objective is to make Newcastle a safe place to work, live, learn and spend time. We work closely with our night time economy and businesses who are serious about the safety and well being of both their staff and those enjoying our town centre to socialise and shop. Our message is that women have a right to feel welcome and safe within the town at night, and we invite the people of Newcastle to join our zero-tolerance approach to the sexual harassment of women.”
The safety of women and girls isn’t just the responsibility of women, it is everyone’s. We have had a lot of support with launching and implementing this project through discussions with local businesses who want to be involved in promoting the space and furthermore the campaign message.
We are providing a space and equipment to encourage women to feel safe in our town centre, which runs alongside a larger initiative designed to reach and educate men and women of all ages in challenging inappropriate behaviour.”
After her visit to the Safer Space, Her Royal Highness met Gillian Taylor, the Council’s lead officer for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and some of the Ukrainian families currently living in the borough and their hosts.
The Countess of Wessex then visited the Salvation Army offices in Bridge Street.
Here Her Royal Highness met Krestal Al Daami, who leads the Council’s homeless and Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI). Krestal introduced her to the team and gave an overview of the service and what they are trying to achieve.
The Countess also spoke to several service users about the issues that they face and what is being done to help them and she thanked them for sharing their experiences.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Woman’s Safe Space please contact Newcastle-under-Lyme BID on hello@nulbid.co.uk
