Purple Flag secured for fourth year in a row

Wednesday 5 February 2020

Delivering Dunfermline has announced that the town centre’s nightlife has secured the Purple Flag award for the fourth year running as three new organisations also lend their support. One of the organisations, the Community Payback Team*, managed by Fife Council Social Work Criminal Justice department, helped to get the Safe Zone ready for the festive period in December 2019. The national charity, Barnardos is also helping to provide training on how to spot vulnerable children while local charity, Frontline Fife is helping to address issues arising from temporary homelessness.   Lisa Edwards, Delivering Dunfermline said: “We are very pleased to have secured this UK-wide award for the fourth year running. The judges highlighted the Dunfermline initiatives that really stood out. These included the Business in the Community Clean Up Projects such as the work on the Gap Site with Avant Homes donating staff time while the Dunfermline Street Pastors also received a special mention for mentoring the rail partners scheme in Scotland. Also commended was the raised profile of Dunfermline that resulted from entering and winning key awards and presenting at national conferences.  Our partnerships were assessed as being strong with broad representation and we’re building on this further now that we have these three new partners.   I would like to also thank our existing partners for their support; this is a real team effort. The partnership is committed to completing regular walking routes around the town to identify areas of concern and quickly fix issues around lighting, graffiti, overgrown areas of ground, as well as suggesting other long-term improvements.”  Spearheaded by Delivering Dunfermline, the scheme has close partnership working with Fife Council, Police Scotland, Pubwatch, Community Safety Partnership, Street Pastors, the Safer Communities Team, Forth Crossing Security and Retailers Against Crime and many more.   At the end of January 2020, The   National Association of Town and City Management (ACTM) informed Lisa Edwards at Delivering Dunfermline that the town had been successful in securing the award.  Councillor Helen Law, Convener of the Dunfermline Area Committee said: “This is a good achievement for Dunfermline; to secure the Purple Flag four years in row is tough. For a town of its size, Dunfermline has a good night time economy with two theatres, lots of pubs, restaurants and venues hosting live music.  Although people may take safety for granted, there is a lot of work by the partners behind the scenes to help ensure that people have a safe night out.” The award recognises a vibrant and diverse mix of dining, entertainment and culture. Safety and well-being on a night out are other key measures for the Purple Flag. Delivering Dunfermline, with part funding from Fife Council, have, over the past few years, installed decorative lighting displays around the town centre. This not only helps with safety but creates an attractive environment throughout town: last year has saw additional lighting at the Carnegie Hall, on the trees in the High Street and opposite Coadys Pub, on the town centre side of Carnegie Drive.  The partnership also supports the bus marshals and taxi marshals  to help safe night time dispersal. The Purple Flag programme is managed by the Association of Town and City Management which works alongside – a partnership of key stakeholder groups backed by the Home Office, police and businesses, as well as the UK sponsors Diageo Great Britain.