Charity Calls For Action To Help Women And Girls Feel Safe In Our Parks

Charity Calls For Action To Help Women And Girls Feel Safe In Our Parks. Hello everyone, I hope you are well. In today’s post, I will be sharing a press release from Keep Britain Tidy. Keep Britain Tidy is a leading environmental charity that cares for the environment on your doorstep. According to research by YouGov on behalf of Keep Britain Tidy earlier this year, 13% of women disagreed with the statement that they felt safe in their local park, and among younger women aged 25-34, this figure rose to 40%.

Charity Calls For Action To Help Women And Girls Feel Safe In Our Parks

At Keep Britain Tidy, everyone has the right to enjoy our parks and green spaces, feeling safe and confident to relax, socialise or exercise.

Research shows that women and girls do less exercise than men* and boys, so barriers such as safety fears compound the problem.

That’s why this Love Parks Week (July 28 to August 6), Keep Britain Tidy calls for action at every level so that all women and girls feel safe and confident using their local green spaces.

It encourages local authorities and landowners to take on board the recommendations from a recent report to improve access and security.

Keep Britain Tidy has worked as part of the Safer Parks Consortium, which comprises Leeds University, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Makes Space for Girls, to produce in-depth guidance** about how to make parks and public spaces safer and more accessible for women and girls. Recommendations include better lighting, toilet facilities, visible security, the organisation of dedicated events for women and a more fabulous staff presence.

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The charity’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: “We know that if women and girls feel unsafe, they are less likely to use, enjoy and benefit from our vital green spaces – and that will undoubtedly have knock-on effects on health and wellbeing.

“As the operator of the Green Flag Award for high-quality parks, we believe parks and play spaces should be designed and managed to make them welcoming to women and girls. If our parks are safe for women and girls, they are safe for everyone.

“Good design and good management are key to creating green spaces that are inclusive, accessible and safe for everyone in the community, and we urge everyone with a role to play in managing and supporting our parks to follow our new guidance.”

Dr Anna Barker, an Associate Professor in Criminal Justice & Criminology at the University of Leeds, helped to draw up the guidelines.

She said: “We have to break down the barriers to women and girls using and feeling safe in parks. Our recommendations, informed by interviews with over 100 women and girls, include ten design and management principles to help decision-makers enact real change. It’s great that Keep Britain Tidy is making this the focus of Love Parks Week.”

In addition, the charity is asking public members to write to their MP here to call on the government to provide adequate resources to ‘level up’ our parks for women and girls. People can also support the campaign on social media using the hashtags #LoveParks and #SaferParks.

Love Parks Week is made possible thanks to the support of People’s Postcode Lottery players, who have raised over £3.6 million for the charity, awarded by Postcode Earth Trust.

I hope you enjoyed that.

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About Keep Britain Tidy

Keep Britain Tidy is a leading environmental charity that cares for the environment on your doorstep. We work to eliminate littering, reduce waste, improve public spaces and increase sustainable living. We run programmes including Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces and the Blue Flag/Seaside Awards for beaches.

To learn more about Keep Britain Tidy, visit our programmes and campaigns at www.keepbritaintidy.org.