Cornwall & West Devon region supports student efforts to make city life safer

Cornwall & West Devon region is behind Plymouth’s Palmerston Heights and Saltram Meadows developments have donated significant funds to the city’s student-run night patrol team.

Cornwall & West Devon region presented Plymouth Night Patrol with their £2,500 cheque on Union Street in the city centre as they began their work on Wednesday (13th).

The award-winning and life-saving organisation – which currently has 64 active members – is dedicated to emergency response and safeguarding in the night-time economy. Their volunteers receive extensive training allowing them to deploy, onto Plymouth's streets three nights a week, safeguarding their peers on nights out.

Some of the organisation’s work includes:

• Patrolling, in teams, core nightlife areas of Plymouth, engaging with students and public on nights out and making early interventions to assist vulnerable individuals;
• Responding to emergency calls from venues regarding vulnerable, unwell, or injured people;
• Providing emergency medical support to ill or injured individuals before ambulance arrival;
• Supporting student victims of crime on nights out and provide a visible deterrent to prevent street crime occurring;
• Engaging with students regarding safe behaviour on nights out including drug risk awareness, drink safety awareness and sexual assault support;
• Implementing immediate safeguarding for vulnerable students including removing them from danger and separating intoxicated individuals from less intoxicated parties who may be trying to take advantage of them; and
• Liaising with police, venues, street rangers, and other teams to identify areas of vulnerability and improve the cities safety resource deployment.

Persimmon donates £24,000 to good causes and much-valued organisations across Cornwall and West Devon every year, with recent recipients including Cornwall Air Ambulance, Shekinah, and Building Plymouth. A donation was also made to fund a defibrillator at its Palmerston Heights site.

The five-star builder will see new plots becoming available at Palmerston Heights in Derriford and Saltram Meadows in Plymstock in the spring.

Cornwall & West Devon region Sales Director Jane Cartwright said:

“Plymouth Night Patrol is an organisation unlike any other we have supported through our Community Champions scheme and we couldn’t be happier.

“They do incredible work and have enormous buy-in with the student body and the nightlife scene so we know just how appreciated their work is.

“No doubt our customers and future residents at Palmerston Heights and Saltram Meadows will want to enjoy a night out in Plymouth now and then, and will feel all the safer for the Patrol’s work.”

Anthony Haynes – from Plymouth Night Patrol’s Senior Operations Team – added:

“We’re delighted to have secured this vital donation from Persimmon and thank them for supporting our work in keeping people in Plymouth safe.

“This funding will enhance our operational capabilities, maintain our training programme, and purchase the equipment that helps our volunteers undertake the work they do for the community.”

Cllr Sally Haydon, Plymouth Council Cabinet Member for Community Safety, commented:

“We have all been very impressed with Plymouth Night Patrol’s work since they started looking after people in our city and was delighted to attend their cheque presentation with Persimmon.

“I want to commend Persimmon for using their Community Champions scheme to support such an important and valued safeguarding scheme in our city, something I am certain is the envy of many other nightlife centres.

“The Night Patrol will now be better equipped than ever before to deliver for the Plymouth’s people.”

Cllr Charlotte Holloway – Plymouth City Councillor for the Drake ward that covers the University – also said:

“I have shadowed the night patrol previously and seen the excellent work they do first-hand. As a local councillor that represents hundreds of students and residents who enjoy Plymouth’s night time economy, I am most grateful for what they do to keep people safe.

“To do their job, the patrol team need to be properly equipped and Persimmon’s donation will help them to do that. I would urge anybody who want to support Plymouth Night Patrol to get in touch with them so they can continue to make a difference.”