As part of the Safer Streets Canterbury campaign, residents, students, and visitors can download the SafeZone app to seek help when in the city.
The SafeZone app is a safety tool that allows people to quickly contact or summon assistance if they feel unsafe or need police or medical assistance. The App has four buttons which can be used when out socialising or working in the city. Red for an emergency that goes straight to 999, green for first aid, blue for non-emergency assistance and yellow for links to wellbeing support.
Students already have access to their own version of the app and now Canterbury residents and visitors can also download it. SafeZone can be used if people feel unsafe, are being subjected to ASB, actual or fear of violence against women and girls (VAWG), criminal situations, reporting incidents, needing the police, medical assistance, wellbeing assistance or seeking local information and receiving alerts.
Sergeant John Woodward of Canterbury Community Safety Unit said: “The SafeZone app provides full situational awareness and communications, allowing the project team to coordinate a safe, rapid, documented, and proper response to any critical or daily safety or medical incident.
“A strong advantage of deploying a tool like SafeZone is the engagement with local communities, which can support introducing a strong transformative culture of safety for all. It forms a key tenant of the Canterbury Safer Streets strategy moving forward, especially aiding residents and attracting people back into the city, making them feel safe 24/7.”
Hannah Alcock, Deputy CEO of Christ Church Students’ Union said, “We believe all students have the right to live and study in a safe and supportive environment. As we welcome students back to the city after the summer break, their version of the SafeZone app will be highlighted as a tool to alert the security team via their mobile if they need urgent assistance, first aid or have an emergency on campus. The check-in function will also allow them to let security know if they are working alone or outside normal working hours. Our campus is a safe place, but if the students feel unsure or are concerned, they have the reassurance of the app.”
The app can be downloaded from the App Store, Google Play or via the Safer Streets website saferstreetscanterbury.com Please direct any press enquiries to Rachel Gray-Moon at 01227 478605 or email rachel@brandspacemedia.co.uk
