Young people in Congleton who feel threatened, intimidated or in need of some adult support can seek refuge in shops displaying the ‘Safe Place’ sticker.
The scheme was the idea of some local shop owners who witnessed bullying in town earlier in the year. The shops taking part will clearly display the sticker in their window. The young person will be able to wait inside the shop and if appropriate the shop will make a call to the police, parent or CCTV.
The shop harbouring the young person will also alert others in the Safe Place Scheme shop scheme so that they are aware that there is an issue and so that additional help can be sought if necessary.
Dionne Bradbury, from Glamorous said: “Many of us working in the shops are parents, aunties or uncles and hate to think that a young person in our town may feel scared and not know where to turn. We hope the scheme won’t be needed, but we felt it was important that young people know that there is somewhere they can go if something does go wrong for them when in Congleton.”
Congleton Town Council and Congleton Local Police Beat team will be supporting the scheme and have helped in its development. Shops already signed up include Glamorous, M & Co, Serenity Designs, K9 Raw, Congleton Library and Congleton Information Centre in the Town Hall. More are expected to join. Any commercial premises which has public liability insurance, is open to the public to walk in, and is an appropriate place for a young person to wait can become part of the scheme.
For more information please contact Rachel McCarthy or Jackie MacArthur at Congleton Town Council on 01260 270350 ext 3.
