Wirral's independent local news website
Liverpool is celebrating securing prestigious Purple Flag status again – taking its reign into a twelfth successive year.
Purple Flag is a town and city centre award – similar to the Blue Flag for beaches or Green Flag for parks – which aims to raise the standard and broaden the appeal of town and city centres in the evening and night time.
Places awarded the status are recognised for providing a vibrant mix of entertainment while promoting the safety and wellbeing of visitors and local residents.
The Purple Flag programme is managed by the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM) which works alongside a partnership of key stakeholder groups backed by Government, police and businesses.
Liverpool, which first gained the Purple Flag in 2010, demonstrated again that it has a safe and well-managed night-time economy.
A team of independent assessors reviewed a number of aspects of the city’s night time offer including the policing, stewarding and messaging within bars, restaurants, shops, car parks, theatres, signage and public transport – and how they were responding and adapting to Covid-19 guidelines.
In conclusion, they praised Liverpool for:
They also gave special praise to the council’s innovative ‘Without Walls’ programme – which allowed hospitality venues to bring ‘the inside out’, and to keep visitors safe without compromising on their experience.
As well as Without Walls, the city has also introduced a LGBTQ+ ‘You’re Safe Here’ accreditation scheme to reassure the public that they are safe in venues, and staff in the hospitality sector are trained and know what to do in the event of a transphobic or homophobic incident.
The council has also secured funding to tackle violence against women and girls, which will pay for extra CCTV monitoring on the streets and ‘by-stander training’ for transport and bar staff.
And in light of the recent fatal stabbing of Ava White, work is ongoing with ‘KnifeSavers’, a not-for-profit programme that empowers people to deal with bleeding caused by knife injuries through Bleed Control Kits. The hope is to have these kits mounted in cabinets in key locations in the city centre, much like defibrillators are.
Image: City centre award – Cllr Abdul Qadir and city centre inspector Charlotte Irlam mark Liverpool’s Purple Flag status
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