In March, the Government announced measures to protect women and girls in public spaces, including the rollout of initiatives to improve the safety of women in public spaces at night. This will be delivered through a new £5 million Safety of Women at Night Fund.
The Fund will sit alongside the £25m third round of the Safer Streets Fund which was launched on 3 June 2021.
The Safety of Women at Night Fund will support initiatives focused on preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG) in public spaces at night, including:
- In the night-time economy (economic activity taking place in the evening and night time)
- In venues
- On related routes home.
The main aims of the fund are to:
- Reduce incidents of violence against women and girls in public spaces at night, including in the night-time economy
- Reduce the fear of VAWG and improve feelings of safety in public spaces at night, including in the night-time economy
- Build an evidence base for what works in improving women’s safety in public spaces at night, including in the night-time economy.
The night-time economy is defined as economic activity taking place in the evening and night-time. A night-time economy area is one where there is a concentration of such economic activity. Night-time economy venues are any premises offering food, drink, entertainment, cultural or sporting events at night (between 6pm to 6am).
The fund is open to:
- Police and crime commissioners in England and Wales
- Local authorities
- The British Transport Police
- Civil society organisations (charities, community and voluntary organisations, social enterprises and cooperatives).
The total amount available for this fund is £5 million.
Applicants are eligible to submit one bid with a maximum value of £300,000.
Fund details | GRANTfinder
Eligible Expenditure
For the purposes of this Fund:
- Public spaces are defined as the parts of a town or city (whether publicly or privately owned) that are available, without charge, for everyone to use or see
- The night-time economy is defined as economic activity taking place in the evening and night-time. An night-time economy area is one where there is a concentration of such economic activity. Night-time economy venues are any premises offering food, drink, entertainment, cultural or sporting events at night (between 6pm to 6am)
- Related routes home will include public transport hubs and forms of transport where a charge for use would be applied.
All forms of VAWG occurring in public spaces at night or the night-time economy will be in scope. This includes action taken to reduce or prevent any of the areas in the following (non-exhaustive) list:
- Rape
- Assault by penetration
- Causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent
- Sexual assault (including unwanted sexual touching)
- Abduction
- Harassment
- Stalking
- Exposure
- Voyeurism
- Upskirting
- Relevant behaviour under the offences in sections 4, 4A and 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.
How To Apply
Bids must be submitted through the online Jaggaer e-sourcing system by the deadline of 1 September 2021 (23:59).
Further information is available in the Instructions to Bidders document, available on the Jaggaer e-sourcing system.
Useful documents & links
Useful Links
Addresses and contacts
For further information on how to obtain this grant locally, please contact the following:
- Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Tel: 020 7035 4848
Email: [email protected]