Life-saving gifts for Liverpool as nightlife campaigner John Hughes says city is safer than ever

The construction company improving the streets around Concert Square has presented the city with 10 bleeding control packs, to help save lives in the event of a knife attack.

The gifts from the Graham Group have been given to bars in Fleet Street, where work is still underway to block pave roads and create a pedestrianised area at weekends, aiming to improving the Liverpool nightlife experience.

And it means there are now 120 bars – along with 50 Hackney drivers – in the city who have the valuable equipment and the training and knowledge to use them.

“It was a wonderful gesture from the company who have been working on Wood Street, Slater Street and, now, Fleet Street,” says head of Liverpool Nightlife CIC John Hughes, “and it is helping us to make the city safer than ever.

“The packs, which cost £100 each, can be vital after a knife attack or an accident, and surgeons have already told us that they have saved five lives.

“The people we purchased the 10 packs bought by the Graham Group from included training, and that’s already taken place at Camp and Furnace.”

John adds: “We are in our 14^th year of Purple Flag status, which makes us the safest to come for a night out. And we want to keep it that way.”

Work on the roads and pavements, which includes installing electric barriers, has been taking place since February and will hopefully be completed by November. The idea is that throughout weekends the area will be closed off to vehicles and people will be able to walk more freely around.

“There won’t be any cars flying down the roads, making it safer for people who visit,” adds John.

But it’s only part of the picture as John, who works closely with the council, Merseyside Police, Liverpool BID, and others, strives to keep the city problem free at night.

“For the last 18 months we have been working hard to get permanent boxes around the city which will have bleed packs in, and which will be accessible via an emergency services’ code 24 hours a day, so they’re there when they’re needed.

“We have scouted out 50 potential places, and an initial eight boxes will be going out. We have had funding of £16,000 off two top city judges from the Proceeds of Crime fund, so one will go outside the court, and £10,000 from Liverpool BID.”

John reveals too:

* Merseyside Police have funded 50 knife wands to check if people are carrying knives before they enter a bar or club – and 25 have already been handed out for use

* He is hoping to increase the presence in the city’s CCTV camera room: “The BID Levy payers pay for a dedicated person in the CCTV camera room every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and we are speaking to the police and the council to get funding to increase this.”

* He is also hoping to get night bus services resumed and get a Safe Bus in the city centre which will offer treatment and triage to people who have been hurt, a meeting place for people who’ve lost their friends, or somewhere for those who just need to talk to someone. It will even have a phone charging facility.

* There is an increase in radios to BID Levy payers and others to improve communication between bars and clubs and security across the city – the police have just provided funding for a further 30 – to warn each other of possible issues and people who are of concern. “We are going to be distributing the new radios and, hopefully, by Christmas we will have 100 premises with them.”

John goes on: “We are retaining the Purple Flag status so this shows this work has a lot of meaning and value, and we are very precious about keeping that Purple Flag status. It’s a continuous job to find out what else we can do.

“We are a shining beacon for the rest of the country in what to do to keep a city safe, and how to work together to do that.

“And we are the number one place to come for a night out, so we must be doing something right.”