Ipswich Borough Council’s bid to make an area of Ipswich feel safer for women has met success with £124,391 awarded from the government’s Safer Streets Fund.
The money awarded will help the Council and its partners introduce measures to make women feel safer and reduce crime in the Norwich Road area.
Improvements will include installing better surveillance, improving public spaces, empowering women and launching community safety campaigns. There will also be regular community engagement events to capture people’s perceptions of the area and the safety measures introduced.
Cllr Alasdair Ross, Ipswich Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Protection, said: “Sarah Everard’s tragic death on 3 March 2021 and the devastating details that have come to light since have highlighted public concerns nationally about the safety of women and children in public places and our bid for further Safer Streets funding focusses on how we can address those fears locally to ensure that everyone feels safer on Ipswich’s streets.
“I’m very pleased that we have been successful in winning the money and will now be able to introduce changes that will help address the general feelings of unsafety among women and girls in the town.
“It’s a great win and the council has won because of its continued work with partners and the public. It’s a victory for us all.”
Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “I am absolutely delighted that this bid for additional Government funding has been successful, it’s great news for Ipswich.
“This Safer Streets money will make a tangible difference to the safety of everyone in the Norwich Road area, with the addition of CCTV for example. I hope this significant investment and our particular focus on improving women and girls’ perceptions of safety in public places will also help improve confidence in the area.
“Policing has an important part to play in protecting women and girls from violence but we will only make a difference if we take a partnership approach to working with the local community, businesses and residents which is exactly what this project will do.”
