Hackney,
09
April
2021
|
12:01
Europe/London

Rebuilding a safer Hackney: Online portal launches for Hackney’s late night venues

Hackney Nights - Mar 2020 - Canon 70D -238

A new online portal has been launched for local late night venues, to help support them through the coronavirus pandemic and beyond. 

The Council’s inaugural Hackney Nights portal will serve as a hub for information and will play a key role in supporting our night time venues, which continue to be significantly impacted by the pandemic. 

It will provide venues – such as bars, restaurants and off licences - and their staff with access to information and resources on coronavirus safety to support them to reopen safely. Venues who sign-up to the portal will also have access to training courses on a range of key night time safety issues, such as women’s safety, responsible alcohol use, managing vulnerability, hate crime, substance misuse, mental health and wellbeing in night time spaces, with more anticipated to be added over the coming weeks and months. 

Additionally, the portal will provide a faster distribution of night time safety updates and alerts from the Council, police and other partners, alongside information on local events for licensees. 

The Council has worked closely with Hackney web design firm Igloo to develop the portal, which will feature bespoke training courses developed by Council officers as well as training provided by a range of different organisations such as the Met Police, Drinkaware and Good Night Out, who support venues to tackle sexual harassment. 

The portal is part of the Council’s Hackney Nights project, which encompasses a range of night time safety initiatives to help create a safer Hackney for everyone. This is funded by the Late Night Levy, which is paid for by local late-night licensed venues to contribute towards a safer night time economy. 

The Council will also shortly be launching a Hackney Nights’ accreditation scheme for local late night venues, which recognises venues that meet certain night time safety criteria. Venues will have their accreditation reviewed annually.

Other Hackney Nights initiatives include a large-scale targeted additional police presence and public awareness campaigns such as Reframe the Night, which tackled the damaging culture of victim-blaming around night time sexual harassment and saw licensees receive free training from Good Night Out.

If you’re a local licensee, you can sign-up to the portal by visiting: hackneynights.co.uk/signup

 

Samantha Mathys, Late Night Levy Manager
I am incredibly proud of Hackney’s late night venues and businesses, who have worked tirelessly with Council and police officers to ensure that their premises are Covid-19 secure. 

Our online portal will continue to build on Hackney’s collaborative response to supporting a safe and well-managed night time economy at this challenging time and support our local night time economy in the long-term, by bringing together the Council, police, licensees and other key partners on one centralised, sustainable platform. 

I would encourage all licensees to sign-up to the portal to help us rebuild a stronger, more connected and safer night time economy for staff, customers and local communities.
Samantha Mathys, Late Night Levy Manager