Felixstowe: Night Safe Scheme Celebrates 10th Year
19 April 2012, 06:00
A scheme to help people stay safe during a night out in Felixstowe is celebrating its 10th year.
This Thursday (April 19) will see an event being held at the Spa Pavilion in Felixstowe to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a project that has been successfully making the town’s licensed premises even better places to visit.
The Felixstowe Nightsafe Partnership was formed in 2002 by a group of licensees and others in the town supported by Suffolk Constabulary and the Suffolk Coastal Community Safety Partnership, and has since signed up most local premises into the scheme.
“The aim of the group was to make Felixstowe an even safer place to have an enjoyable night out in. From the very start we have had a focus on positively tackling the sort of issues that could put people off from visiting the town’s licensed premises or that could affect local residents,” said Cllr Mary Neale, Suffolk Coastal’s Cabinet Member for Community Health.
“This has involved working together to learn how to prevent and reduce violence, anti-social behaviour, alcohol and drug-related offences, criminal damage and general nuisance in or around licensed premises.
“By uniting the licensees and working closely with the police, the result over the last 10 years has been a coordinated response to identify and prevent potential problems. Felixstowe is a safer place as a result of this partnership, and all those involved over the years deserve our thanks for their efforts,” added Cllr Neale.
Regular meetings are held to keep members of the Partnership fully informed of any recent incidents and to share best practice. Training sessions have been held in the past covering such key issues as how to recognise and deal with any potential drug use or dealing, and how to safely defuse any potential violent situations.
Thursday evening will be a chance for existing Nightsafe members to meet and catch up with colleagues and for invited local community stakeholders to find out more about the group’s work and achievements.