Making town a safer place (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Making town a safer place
12:00am Monday 22nd October 2012 in Andover
Making town a safer place
A SCHEME to help vulnerable people feel safer has been launched in Andover.
Andover and District Mencap has introduced the Safer Places Scheme to the town, with local shops and businesses taking part.
The project, which has been launched as part of Hampshire County Council’s Respect Me initiative, aims to provide safe places for vulnerable people to go. They can carry a Safer Places card with them and in times of distress can go into a participating shop and business, which will display a poster, and can ask staff to provide help and assistance by calling a number on the card of someone they trust. This person will then either come and collect them or give them advice about what they should do.
Simon Tyler, Andover Mencap’s chief executive, said: “This scheme really works in partnership with the local community in a wonderful and positive way and will give great peace of mind to many vulnerable people.
“I’m very excited by what we are doing with Safer Places. It will make a big difference in people’s lives.”
At the launch, Safer Places cards were given out.
