The scheme has been launched by the Speak Out Council, the user-led forum for people with a learning disability in Cambridgeshire, in partnership with Thera East Anglia. It is supported by Cambridgeshire Constabulary. We celebrated with a small launch event which was well-attended by the local community.
Only 42% of people we asked felt safe outside their homes and many feared going out in the evenings, especially if they visited somewhere they didn’t know.
In Ely, we have asked a number of local businesses to sign up and agree to be a safe space for local people. A local taxi company called FENCABS have agreed to fix the prices for any person traveling with a ‘My Safe Place’ card.
The long term goal is that the card is well-recognised and that it becomes second nature to ask for the card or offer a safe place to everyone.
The project has been rolled out in different parts of Cambridgeshire area already. In the future we would like to roll out the project in other areas and develop an app with all the locations on it.