Active bystander training

Swale Borough Council taught people how to tackle violence against women and girls with free active bystander courses.

The “Bystander train the trainer” events showed people how to intervene and prevent harmful and dangerous situations and gave them the skills to pass this training onto others.

The council teamed up with Folkestone and Hythe District Council to fund the two online training sessions as part of their Safer Streets projects.

This training targeted people who are in a position to teach others and will help show them how to recognise and react to dangerous situations, as well as how to offer support to others who are in difficult circumstances.

This follows 10 previous active bystander training sessions which taught over 250 people the skills needed to be an active bystander.

Being an active bystander means you should take:

1. direct action: call out negative behaviour, tell the person to stop and ask the victim if they’re okay
2. distract: interrupt, start a conversation with the perpetrator, use an excuse like asking for the time
3. delegate: if you don’t feel you can get involved, ask someone else to (e.g. bar staff or door staff).
4. delay: if it’s too dangerous, call the police and wait for the situation to pass, then check on the victim.

Funding for the campaign came from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund, after Swale - through the Community Safety Partnership - worked with the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner to successfully bid for the additional resources.

The money is being invested into measures in Sittingbourne and Sheerness town centres that help tackle the higher level of crime, antisocial behaviour and violence against women and girls.

Cllr Richard Palmer, chair of Swale Borough Council’s community and leisure committee, said:

“The ‘train the trainer’ events were an amazing opportunity for people to learn how to pass on the valuable knowledge of how to identify and best deal with harmful situations.

“It is important to recognise that we can’t always act, but this training gave people the tools to know what to do, whether diffusing a situation or finding help before things get worse.

“Even being able to recognise a negative situation is brewing is a great skill, allowing you to keep yourself and others around you safe.

“If we stand together, we can reduce antisocial behaviour and show the people creating these harmful situations that it will not be tolerated.

Cllr Elliott Jayes, vice chair of Swale Borough Council’s community committee, said:

“We wanted people, like charity workers and others who interact with people on daily basis, to take up this great opportunity which allows them to pass these skills onto others.

“People have benefited from this training as it helps them make their environment a safer space, especially for women and girls.

“The previous courses taught more than 250 people the skills needed to identify and how best to deal with harmful situations they witness and has helped create a safer space for all.”

The sessions took place on 16 to 19 September and 28 to 31 October where staff from Kent Police, Urban Pastors, Network Rail, NHS, members of the public and charities like Sateda and Change, Grow, Live learnt how to teach active bystandership.

The four-day sessions’ 22 spots per course were booked out and was delivered by specialists from Cultivating Minds UK.

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