The final report of this completed project is now available to download here. For an introduction to the project from the preliminary stages, see below.
In Drumchapel; an area in North West Glasgow, with the community and partner agencies Building a Safer Community will work together to pilot two new initiatives:
- Improve assessment and signposting for people who maybe more vulnerable to risk of domestic fires
- With a local housing provider and tenants pilot a Good Neighbour Good Neighbourhood initiative to support people to feel safer in their community
Surveys, consultations and statistics gathered from partners and with the community have shown:
- Some people are more at risk than others to domestic fires. The Tactical assessment of Ward 14 in Glasgow by Fire and Rescue showed that 74.2% of accidental dwelling fires in 1st April to 31st December 2013 were cooking related
- There are people living in Drumchapel whose financial safety needs are challenged by inequality, zero hour contracts, sanctions, challenges of welfare reform and having to rely on food banks to eat
- Local people have shared that feeling safe can be an issue for them; this can range from poor street lighting to being a victim of domestic abuse, to not going out at night as scared of people on the buses who maybe drunk
There are supports available to address these issues so building connections seems a good idea and what we learn from this small pilot will help inform a wider piece of community safety work. In addition, Drumchapel has a great community spirit and very high levels of volunteering, where people put in their own time and energy to work together with services to face some of the challenges the community is facing.
Partners involved include
We will achieve our aims by working with the community to really understand what the issues are. Exploring current best practice and where learning can be shared and working together seek solutions. We will then take action, based on our decisions; we will see what results that brings and where we may need to make changes. We will keep a record of all we do and share the results of what didn’t work as well as what did so others can benefit from our experience
Building safer communities was launched at the family connections event on 24th October 2014 in Drumchapel Community Centre. This initial piece of work will end winter 2015. It will help inform a larger Building safer communities’ development where the new partnerships and connections formed will begin to address other community safety concerns and role learning out to other neighbourhoods in West Glasgow.
This initial step in Building Safer Communities is possible thanks to funding from the Queens Nursing Institute for Scotland and our core funding from Glasgow City Council Integrated Grant Fund.
For more information: www.cope-scotland.org or e-mail hilda@cope-scotland.org
