Safe Spaces

Positive Places for young people with nowhere to go

Illustration: Artist’s impression of the proposed new “Safe Space”

Do you feel sorry for young people hanging round street corners? Do they make you feel uncomfortable every time you pop round the corner to visit a friend?

Knowsley Borough Council, together with the Police, are looking to try an alternative - ‘Safe Spaces’ for young people.

A ‘Safe Space’ is simply a place for teenagers to meet with their friends, under cover and far enough away from where people live to prevent annoyance, yet close enough to home to ensure that they are safe and well behaved.

The type of shelter shown could be put in place as a temporary arrangement and taken away or moved elsewhere if it didn’t work out.

Safe Spaces have been a big hit with young people and adults in several areas in the north west including Tameside, where they were nominated for a British Crime Prevention Award, and Macclesfield.

In Aylesbury, they also saved Council Tax payers a lot of money - the bill for repairing damage to nearby play equipment fell from £2700 to £278 when a Safe Space was put up.