Local people, community groups, local organisations, pubs and clubs are all invited to come together on Friday 25 October from 6pm for the Reclaim the Night and Safer Nights event in Scunthorpe town centre to unite together to end violence against women and girls and celebrate all safety initiatives in the town.
The evening will start outside Church Square House in Scunthorpe at 6pm with music and key speakers to open the event, and free t-shirts. The procession will then leave Church Square at 6.30pm to walk up the High Street towards the barriered area at Britannia Corner. Here, there will be street food vendors, mocktails, giveaways and venues promoting the safety initiatives.
Various safety initiatives have been introduced in Scunthorpe and across North Lincolnshire by the North Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP) to improve safety and help people feel safer including Ask Angela, ByStander, SOS Help Points and WalkSafe app.
The event is a chance for both men and women to come together in solidarity to speak out against misogyny, sexual violence, hate misogyny and harassment in public settings as part of the Reclaim the Night campaign. It also enables people to have conversations about their concerns, show their support and highlight some of the safety initiatives that have been rolled out as part of the Safer Nights campaign across North Lincolnshire.
Safer Nights brings together representatives from nighttime economy venues, taxis, takeaways and hotels, and daytime venues such as cafes and coffee shops.
Cllr John Davison, cabinet member for community wellbeing (urban – Ashby, Bottesford and Scunthorpe), said: “No one should feel unsafe in their community, and we want to ensure people are kept safe and well when they are out and about in North Lincolnshire.
“This event is about bringing people together to make a stand, and we are working with the nighttime economy to do this. I would encourage anyone to come along and show their support.
“The town centre walk to support women to reclaim the night has taken place for many years but this year we have made the event even bigger and have linked in with Safer Nights to showcase the amazing schemes in place to improve safety.
“North Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership is making great strides in protecting our communities in North Lincolnshire.”
Jonathan Evison, Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “The Safer Nights initiative is a great project to ensure residents and visitors in our area can safely enjoy the nighttime economy.
“The Reclaim the Night event will strengthen the work that is already being done to help end violence against women and girls. Please come along on 25 October, join the procession and find out more about the Safer Nights campaign.”
Many of the nighttime economy venues in North Lincolnshire are members of Pubwatch and have signed an online Safety at Night Charter, which is a pledge to show venues take the safety of everyone in the nighttime economy seriously.
The Safer Nights campaign sees venues being trained in ByStander training, bleed kits, first aid, Ask Angela, spiking and ‘One Punch’ awareness.
Image credit: North Lincolnshire Council
