Turning up the volume on safety – Birkenhead’s Safer Streets Summer showcase
26.08.25
–
Wirral
Birkenhead town centre will take centre stage today (Tuesday 26th August) as Home Office Minister Lord Hanson joins the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Merseyside Police, and partners for a day of action as part of the Safer Streets Summer campaign.
The government-backed initiative brings community safety partners together to drive down criminality and antisocial behaviour in town centres, with a focus on building safer, stronger neighbourhoods.
The event will begin with an open land search in the Woodlands and a community walkabout through the town centre, during which Lord Hanson of Flint will join the PCC Emily Spurrell, members of Wirral’s local policing team and community safety partners on the beat.
They will engage with residents and businesses, listen to safety concerns, distribute crime prevention materials, and highlight the work taking place as part of the Safer Streets Summer initiative.
The group will then visit Future Yard, a community music venue and creative hub which has been funded through the PCC and Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership’s (MVRP) Youth Empowerment Scheme to help provide positive opportunities for young people in the area, helping to prevent crime and build brighter futures.
Through their Young Futures programme, Future Yard are providing vulnerable young people with access to free music-making skills and training sessions, as well as high quality artist-led tuition.
Through mentoring, artist development and the opportunity to perform live in the venue’s performance spaces in front of up to 700 people, talented young people on the Wirral are being supported to build a career in the music industry.
The visit will include a tour of Future Yard’s facilities, meeting some of the young people, as well as discussions with those involved in the project about the work being undertaken to build self-esteem, confidence, and resilience among young people from some of the region’s most deprived wards.
During the visit Lord Hanson, who was born and went to school in Liverpool, will also be briefed on the results from the first month of Safer Streets Summer on the Wirral including six coordinated action days, deployment of the mobile police station and a number of trading standard operations.
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “This event demonstrates the power of partnership in creating safer, stronger communities, and it is a pleasure to be able to showcase the highly effective work being undertaken here in Merseyside to Lord Hanson.
“Our communities deserve town centres that are thriving, safe places to live, work and socialise. Through the Safer Streets Summer campaign, we’re doubling down on the work that goes on day in, day out, to tackle the issues that matter most to local people.
“From enforcement activity and high visibility policing to community engagement and pro
blem-solving initiatives, we’re taking a multi-pronged approach to address the issues that we know can spike during the long days of the summer.
“Through my Youth Empowerment Scheme, were also investing in grassroots initiatives like Future Yard, focused on addressing the root causes of antisocial behaviour while also empowering young people to realise their potential.
“Future Yard exemplifies how creative engagement can transform lives. It is a privilege to support their work with young people and strengthen community cohesion.”
Merseyside Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Nicola Hughes said: “This is a great opportunity for us to show Lord Hanson the work we are doing in Birkenhead so that he can see first-hand just how hard we are working with our partners to make the Safer Streets Summer campaign a success.
“It’s an opportunity to give an overview of the issues we face locally and demonstrate what we are doing to tackle them, which includes engaging with the community with visible officers on foot going to areas of high crime which helps us prevent crime and reassure the local community.
“Our operations are centred on what the community want in tackling antisocial behaviour, using hotspot policing and targeting criminal activity to help them feel safe knowing we have put more resources in their area to tackle crime.”
The Safer Streets Summer campaign launched across the UK on 30th June and will run until 30 September, deploying a wide range of tactics including high-visibility patrols and mobile police stations, problem-solving policing funded through the Hotspot Action Fund and community outreach.
It is part of the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which places a greater emphasis on the importance of Local Policing nationally. As part of this, every neighbourhood in England and Wales will have dedicated teams spending their time on the beat, with guaranteed police patrols in town centres and other hotspot areas at peak times.
To follow the campaign and get involved, search #SaferStreetsSummer on social media or visit the ‘Your Area’ section of the Merseyside Police website.