Premises across Preston are set to be made into ‘safe spaces’ for disabled people in an initiative to tackle hate crime.
Preston Police’s Community Cohesion Team is working in partnership with Disability Equality NW to sign up premises in and around Preston to be a ‘safe space’ for disabled people, helping vulnerable people if they feel scared or at risk while they are out and about in the community and need support right away.
More than 73 premises have signed up to the scheme to date, across a range of businesses, including Turtle Bay, Krispy Kreme, Preston Bus Station, pubs, hairdressers and clothes shops.
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Disability Equality NW provides a training pack for participating venues, who also display a circular yellow sticker in their front window as an indicator the building is a safe space and staff inside will offer help, support or even just a chat and a brew.
Mel Close from Disability Equality NW said: “Disability Equality is a disabled people’s organisation, run and controlled by disabled people, based in Preston and providing support services across Lancashire.
“This year we are celebrating our 25th Anniversary and one of our key aims is to raise awareness of disability hate crime and support disabled people in reporting any incidents or crimes against them, in the hope that we can eventually see an end to hate crime.
“We are delighted to work with Lancashire Constabulary on the safe spaces initiative, it’s really important to have businesses on board displaying the schemes sticker in their window, so that disabled people know where to go for help.”
There are many ways to report a hate crime. Visit Lancashire Constabulary – Report a Hate Crime
To view a list of the 73 premises, visit lancashire.police.uk/safe-space
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