Extra help for people on night out during Commonwealth Games

Two Safe Spaces in Birmingham City Centre, established to help people with medical or practical needs on a night out, are expanding their hours to offer support during the Commonwealth Games.

The Safe Spaces are based on Broad Street and at the Arcadian and are usually only open on Friday and Saturday nights. However, the decision has been taken to open the two sites for more evenings whilst the Games are underway.

The Safe Spaces have a medical crew with ambulances on site to treat people who are injured or feel unwell. They also help people get home safely if they’ve had too much to drink or are vulnerable.

The Safe Spaces have already helped hundreds of people at the weekends, but with the Games set to start there was agreement that their opening hours needed to increase.

There has been a Safe Space at the city’s Arcadian since 2019, after initially being funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner, whilst the Broad Street site opened just before Christmas last year.

“The expansion of our Safe Spaces for the Games is really positive and welcome”, said West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster.

“I’ve seen first-hand how the Safe Spaces help people on a night out and it is reassuring to know that whilst the city entertains thousands more people over the next fortnight that the support is there to help them, if they run into difficulty.”

The extra hours for the Safe Space in the Arcadian are being funded by Southside BID and the Arcadian itself.  Jo Kinsela is the Arcadian Centre manager, “I’m really pleased that our Safe Space leads the way, reducing ambulance call outs for the NHS and saving hundreds of hours of police time by looking out for anyone who might find themselves vulnerable on a night out. 

“We, along with our friends at Southside BID are happy to extend the hours and fund the Safe Space to look after revellers during the Commonwealth Games in our city.”

The Safe Spaces opening hours in the Arcadian are…

29^th July – 21:30 – 05:30

30^th July – 21:30 – 05:30

31^st July – 21:30 – 02:00

1^st August – 21:30 – 02:00

2^nd August – 21:30 – 02:00

3^rd August – 21:30 – 02:00

4^th August – 21:30 – 02:00

5^th August – 21:30 – 05:30

6^th August – 21:30 – 05:30

7^th August – 21:30 – 02:00

8^th August – 21:30 – 02:00

The Safe Space opening hours in Broad Street are…

28^th July – 10:00 – 05:00

29^th July – 10:00 – 05:00

30^th July – 10:00 – 05:00

4^th July – 10:00 – 05:00

5^th July – 10:00 – 05:00

6^th July – 10:00 – 05:00

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