Safe4Summer beats boredom

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Safe4Summer beats boredom and tackles anti-social behaviour (ASB).

Young people can have fun while staying safe and out of trouble thanks to the safe4summer initiative being launched by Greater Manchester Police, all 10 local authorities, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Trading Standards, GMPTE and BTP.

This campaign runs over the summer holidays, traditionally a time when anti-social behaviour peaks. Figures show that in 2008, ASB related incidents were 44.5 per cent higher in August than in December. However last year, across Greater Manchester there was a decrease in youth related ASB during the 7-week school holiday period against 2007.

Safe4summer has been designed to provide young people with enough interests and activities to keep them safe and out of trouble, while offering advice about personal safety and promoting social responsibility messages.

By logging onto: safe4summer.com young people can find out about a wide variety of local activities to ward off boredom and the anti-social behaviour (ASB) that can often follow.

As part of the scheme, a 60-second TV ad, featuring Greater Manchester Police and Fire officers, will be broadcast asking young people to be aware of the consequences of their actions - what might be classed as harmless fun for them isn’t necessarily fun for others. This includes the fear and annoyance caused to others through hanging out in groups, drinking alcohol, riding off-road bikes illegally, playing in water and starting fires.

A poster and radio campaign will also support safe4summer, offering safety advice and reminding parents that they have an important role in making sure their children have a safe summer and are not getting into trouble.

Chief Superintendent John Rush from Greater Manchester Police said: “The safe4summer campaign is a fantastic opportunity for everyone in Greater Manchester to safely enjoy the summer holidays.

“The campaign will see all partners targeting anti-social behaviour by encouraging parents and children to work together with us to ensure they have an enjoyable safe summer.

”Throughout the holiday period, police will carry out high-visibility patrols in hotspot areas, work with Trading Standards to target licensed premises selling alcohol to under 18s and work with all partners to get young people involved in positive activities to help improve the quality of life in local communities.”

Gill Hughes, Anti-Social Behaviour Theme Group Chairwoman, said: “All local authorities across Greater Manchester are supporting this campaign and have funded a huge programme of activities for children and young people of all ages, including extra activities for teenagers on Fridays and Saturday evenings. Parenting support has also been made available across the county and parenting practitioners will be widely available to offer information and guidance. They will also be running programmes for parents who have been given parenting contracts as a result of their child being involved in anti-social behaviour.”

Assistant County Fire Officer Jim Owen (Fire Safety) said: “All too often during the summer period we find ourselves attending an increased number of incidents involving people in difficulty whilst playing in or near water, this campaign allows us to work with communities and partners to give advice about the dangers of open water and fire safety whilst identifying alternative activities.”