Devon & Cornwall Police News site

Yesterday (Tuesday 14 May), the Safe Spaces initiative was launched in Newquay. A collective of stakeholders including Devon & Cornwall Police, Newquay Town Council, CLEAR charity, local businesses, and the Town Mayor were led by Newquay Business Improvement District (BID) to launch Safe Spaces, in a bid to help vulnerable people in their time of need and prevent harm to those who are at risk of being victims of crime.

Safe Spaces are made up of 17 designated establishments across Newquay open at different times of the day, where support is offered to people feeling vulnerable. Safe Spaces are open to everyone, no matter their age, situation, or the time of day. This can range from supporting someone get a taxi home when they have no means of getting home safely, to providing a safe area for people to get help if they fear they are being followed home after a night out.

Schemes similar to Safe Spaces have been trialled on a smaller scale elsewhere in the country, however Newquay will be the first town in the United Kingdom to roll out a Safe Spaces initiative as a whole-town approach, involving multiple businesses and organisations. Whilst this initiative aims to make Newquay a safer place to live and visit, it is hoped the introduction of Safe Spaces will help the police make further progress with their key priorities to reduce violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour in the area.  

Newquay Sector Inspector Guy Blackford said: “We are excited to see Safe Spaces launch in Newquay, to help provide local people and visitors to the area with an additional method of support in their time of need. It is great that this scheme allows us to work collaboratively with partners including Newquay Town Council and Newquay BID as well as independent businesses across the town to make Newquay a safe and enjoyable place to live.”

Inspector Blackford added: “Tackling violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour in our town remain key priorities for our policing teams, and we are optimistic that the introduction of Safe Spaces provides reassurance to the public that the police and local partners are proactively putting steps in place to improve safety and reduce people from becoming victims of crime.”

Devon & Cornwall Police have invested £1,000 of funding into this project, which has derived from the proceeds of crime act (POCA). This means that money which has been seized as part of criminal investigations or money associated with criminal activity is reinvested into local causes. Boardmasters music festival also donated funds to this project through their Boardmasters Foundation.  This funding has enabled employees from the 17 designated organisations who have signed up to the scheme to be fully trained in supporting members of the public who may visit a Safe Space to seek help from other agencies such as the police, council, or health service.

Of the 17 establishments that have already signed up to the scheme, nine of them are open until midnight, two are open for 24 hours (Newquay Beach Hotel and The Headland Hotel), and all 17 are open during core daytime hours. There is one 24-hour venue open at either end of the town, to improve accessibility of the scheme for all. Members of the public can scan QR codes in various locations, such as bars, restaurants, and noticeboards across Newquay to easily find their nearest open Safe Space.

Newquay BID Manager, Mark Warren, said: “We are so pleased to be working with all the partners to make the Newquay Safe Spaces scheme a reality. This further promotes Newquay as a friendly and safe place for everyone to visit and enjoy.”

Rachel Jones from CLEAR added: “CLEAR have been delighted to support the development, training and implementation of Newquay Safe Spaces alongside a strong collaboration of strategic partners and local businesses. With a priority of prevention of Violence Against Women & Girls [VAWG], Newquay’s ambition of a whole town Safe Space approach goes further to support anyone feeling vulnerable or at immediate risk of harm over a 24-hour period all year round.  I would like to thank Devon & Cornwall Police and Boardmasters for their support in funding the launch of this amazing initiative.”

This initiative was developed as a result of businesses in Newquay wanting to work together to improve safety in the community and provide a service at all times of the day for local people and visitors to Newquay. Emma Holland and Oleg Ignatyev from Newquay Beach Hotel identified the need for an initiative like Safe Spaces after noticing a member of the public needing an area of safety and support after an incident. After Emma and Oleg provided a safe space in their hotel to help this person, they trialled using the hotel as a safe space for members of the public, however reached out to other local stakeholders such as Newquay BID and CLEAR to support in rolling this initiative out on a wider scale across Newquay.

If you are an organisation operating in Newquay and you would like to sign up to the Safe Spaces scheme, please contact Mark Warren from Newquay BID on mark.warren@newquaybid.co.uk. To hear more about the work that Newquay Police do within the community, sign up to Devon & Cornwall Alert. Please dial 999 if you are in immediate danger and require police support.