Last year they made a £1,000 donation to the funding-dependent Safe Hub, operating from within the Market Place’s St Nicholas’s Church - and have matched it with an identical gift this summer.
In the intervening 12 months the centre’s three Safer Street Wardens - currently operating between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights - have provided “pastoral care” to 1,000 individuals caught up in disorder. Within the safety of the church the team offer hot drinks, snacks, water, blankets and, where needed, flip flops to substitute for lost footwear.
Since its launch in February 2022 the running total of alcohol, drug and domestic abuse related incidents, as well as those with suspected mental health issues, now stands at over 4,000 incidents to date.
The Hub remains a key element of a partnership led by Durham County Council who employ the wardens and is supported by Durham Constabulary, the parish council, city centre businesses, the Temperance Trust and the Police and Crime Commissioner.
The operation was originally launched to aid women in distress but is now committed to extending a hand to anyone thought to be vulnerable. While demand for the Hub’s services remains constant it is often at its busiest during the university’s academic year.
Eric Bulmer, chairman of the freemen’s charitable trust added: “We are pleased again to be able to support a group working to care for vulnerable people in a safe environment.”