BRAUNSTONE BLUES PROJECT TO RECEIVE FUNDS FROM POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER
A project aimed at reducing demand on blue light services in the busiest area of the city is set to receive more than £300,000 of funds from Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Sir Clive Loader.
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s Braunstone Blues project will be awarded with £314,000 from Sir Clive’s Strategic Partnership Development Fund, which was formally agreed by members of the Strategic Partnership Board at a meeting last week.
Braunstone Blues is a team of five staff from: Leicestershire Police, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue and East Midlands Ambulance Service. They were set up last year to help reduce demand and repeat calls to emergency services in Braunstone.
The team will undergo positive engagement working with local residents to reduce demand on police, fire and ambulance services and will target resources at those people identified as creating the highest demand. The project will deliver ‘Healthy, Safe and Secure’ visits to individual households, establish a ‘Citizens’ Academy’ to recruit and train local residents to become ‘Expert Citizens’ to encourage greater community cohesion, work alongside local community groups and carry out a mapping exercise to assess the available support services.
Sir Clive announced his new strategic Partnership Fund as part of his 2015/16 budget and precept proposals. Funding worth up to £2m has been set aside over the next two financial years to support and develop new strategic partnerships, collaborations and joint working across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
On announcing the funding plans, Sir Clive said: “With less and less centralised funding available, blue light services must adapt and work together to meet new demand pressures. Innovation is desperately needed to ensure we are all working in the most efficient way and using our resources effectively.
“The Braunstone Blues project supports this vision by focusing on prevention and education to reduce risk and harm. The Fire Service has considerable experience in promoting safety awareness; the number of fires and deaths has reduced significantly over the years. Quite often the demands of one agency have a direct impact on another and so it makes sense to tackle the problem jointly and share our expertise for the common goal.
“Preventing emergencies and avoiding unnecessary blue light responses will free up valuable resources for all three agencies without undermining the quality service the public receives.”
Andrew Brodie, Assistant Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, said: “There are lots of reasons that this unique approach to reducing risk and demand is the best possible for people in Braunstone Park. It will stop incidents happening in the first place. It will support people to be healthier, safer and more secure in their homes. It will also help local people to help themselves and their neighbours, whilst reducing reliance on stretched public services.
“By working together we will not only improve our service, but also increase our ability to deliver services and save money; this is a win-win for everyone! Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service has proudly reduced demand, deaths and injuries. We will improve even further in partnership and be able to share our learning about prevention and protection.”
Assistant Chief Constable Phil Kay added: “The Braunstone Blues team has been working together for a short time and have already had a positive impact on the residents and community groups in the area.
“Working with other emergency services and wider partners will allow us to provide better services to the people of Braunstone and find new ways to reduce demand on all services. I am confident that this will lead to the residents of Braunstone creating a healthy, safer and secure place to live for themselves.
“Once we see how successful this will be in the Braunstone area we will work to roll out similar initiatives in other areas of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.”
Sir Clive will now liaise with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to agree a delivery plan for the project, which will include regular performance and financial monitoring requirements.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- To find out more about Braunstone Blues please contact Braunstone Blues on 07800 709 802 or braunstone.blues@lfrs.org
- You can follow Braunstone Blues on social media:
Facebook: @braunstoneblues
Twitter: @braunstoneblues
Instagram: braunstoneblues
About the Braunstone Blues
In May 2015 Braunstone Blues was established. This is a dedicated team consisting of a Watch Manager and a Community Safety Advisor from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service; Police Constable, and Police Community Support Officer, from Leicestershire Police; and a Paramedic from East Midlands Ambulance Service. The team has since extended to a second Paramedic and an Occupational Therapist.
999 demand data from all three services was analysed and it was found that the small geographical area of Braunstone produced close to 4,600 999 calls every year. This was roughly a 56% EMAS, 40% Police, and 4% Fire. The population of the area was 15,700 people living in 6,000 homes. This was shown to be the highest area of demand in all of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
The team work with partners and residents of Braunstone to deliver a healthier, safer and more secure community by educating and directing residents to appropriate services via a home visit service and delivering appropriate campaigns, to reduce the number of emergency calls in the area.
There are four main streams of work for Braunstone Blues; Home Visits, Community Events, working with high demand users and running Life Skills sessions in the community.
Contact:
Jessica Essex
Braunstone Blues Communications Officer
07966 111 273
jessica.essex@lfrs.org
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