Derby City Council has been successful in another bid the Safer Streets Fund, this time amounting to £550,000. The funds will be used to increase safety in several areas around the city, provide ‘by-stander’ training and contribute to the ‘Safe Places Project’ to help keep women and girls safe on our streets.

The plans include upgrading the CCTV control room as well as additional street-lighting and CCTV cameras in and around Alvaston Park, Chaddesden Park, Markeaton Park, Racecourse Park, in several city subways and the city centre.

The by-stander training is to be offered to women in Normanton and Arboretum and secondary school children as well as bus drivers, taxi marshals and drivers and door staff.

Derbyshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Angelique Foster said:

This funding will not only give women and girls' greater confidence when accessing popular public spaces, it will also help to deter crime from happening in the first place - potentially saving lives.

For too long, women have shouldered the responsibility for keeping safe, changing their lives, behaviour and routines to avoid becoming a victim of crime. The balance must be redressed to make the ability to offend - and get away with it - much more difficult.

These simple changes will give women and girls greater freedom to enjoy the things they love. It will also expand the availability of support and a place of sanctuary when they feel under threat or at risk.

There is much more work to do, which is why I am prioritising the safety of those at risk of violence and sexual violence in my future plans for Derbyshire. Together with our partners, we will continue to fight for the funding and resources to make a difference.

Councillor Jonathan Smale, Cabinet Member for Place and Community Development said:

I’d like to thank the Police and Crime Commission and the Home Office for supporting our work and I’m very proud of the Community Safety and Integration team for pulling together this second successful bid.

We want Derby to be a city free from gender-based violence, abuse, harassment and exploitation and this award can really make a difference to women, girls and all people who feel vulnerable on our streets at night.

We will now get to work with our partners to bring our proposals into reality over the coming months and continue the great work we’ve done so far.

People can report incidents to police if there is a crime but also use the Street Safe page to report locations people feel unsafe even if there has not been an incident.