Having the topic of violence against women being openly discussed in mainstream news opens up a whole can of worms containing initiatives and acronyms that most of us have never heard of before. One of those is the Purple flag scheme
The Purple Flag Scheme is similar to the Green Flag award you might find in parks or the Blue Flag for Beaches but instead it is all about recognising the steps town and city centres have taken to improve their evening and night-time economy (ENTE).
According to the End Violence Against Women Organisation “one in two women felt unsafe walking alone after dark in a busy public place, compared to one in five men. Four out of five women felt unsafe walking alone after dark in a park or other open space, compared to two out of five men.”
Run by the ATCM (Association of Town and City Management), the scheme focuses on research and providing training. Overall this should improve the ENTE of each area that they work with. Because they have quite high standards, these towns and cities have to be proactive about their approaches to tackling violence and crime in their streets at night. The aim is that this will provide a safer more enjoyable space which encourages diversity and inclusivity and there are now over 70 purple flag towns and cities in the UK.
Theoretically when a city centre or town has Purple Flag status this means that the place is safe and you’re more likely to have a positive experience as a consumer, which in turn will encourage more growth for the businesses in the area. On paper this is great and works really well by providing incentives for businesses and organisations to get involved. But as with every place this still doesn’t eliminate the violence and crime all together.
Cheltenham has proudly held Purple Flag status since 2016 and is keen to keep up with initiatives and efforts to ensure women’s safety and also combat domestic violence with procedures in place like “Ask Angela” and street pastors as well as training businesses and staff.
The ATCM is a not-for-profit organisation that is aiming to tackle the decline in growth and engagement within town and city centres. They have over 500 practitioners and partnerships who work alongside BIDs (Business Improvement Districts) and town councils to improve and manage town and city centres.
This in turn has a huge impact on the safety of women and girls in each area. To become a Purple Flag town Cheltenham had to be assessed based on categories such as safety, care and services. The assessors then collect evidence and give guidance on which categories need to be improved with practical solutions which can often directly lead to decreases in crime.
Laura Blake at the ATCM explained “The evidence includes things like CCTV provision, Best Bar None, Pubwatch, Safe Spaces and Street pastors, the combination of these measures can work together to lower crime and Anti Social Behaviour rates.”
Stakeholders believe that achieving a Purple Flag brings numerous benefits. These include strong partnership working relationships, a raised profile, an improved public image, wider patronage, increased expenditure, higher footfall, lower crime and antisocial behaviour, a more successful mixed-use economy, stronger diversification in terms of enticing a wide and varied consumer offering, regeneration and development to an area, and positive perceptions.
