Safebase opens to keep Falkirk revellers safe over the festive period

Safebase opened its doors for the first night of its annual Christmas campaign on Friday night.

The initiative, which is a partnership between a number of different organisations, works to ensure people enjoy their night out while keeping everyone safe in the town centre.

Elaine Grant, manager of Falkirk Delivers who are among the partners, said: “Friday was the first night of Operation Christmas where we put on the base.

"We were also open on Saturday. The Safebase initiative has been running for a number of years now. The purpose of the base is to offer a safe haven for people that are on a night out.

"It’s a partnership between Falkirk Street Pastors, Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service, Specialised Security and Falkirk Delivers.

"We have a paramedic and we have first aiders patrolling the town centre. The Street Pastors go around making sure people are okay and giving them drinks of water, flip flops and silver foil blankets on colder nights.

"The base helps take pressure off the emergency services on busy nights. For example, instead of the police taking someone to hospital if they have fallen and bumped their head, they can bring them up to the base and we’ll make sure they get to the hospital if required or get home safely, allowing the police officers to get back out patrolling and keeping the town centre safe.

“The Safebase was previously run out of the council buildings in Park Street. However with that closed, Black and Lizars have kindly given us the unit on the High Street which we use as Santa’s Post Office during the day and it’s our Safebase at night.”

Last weekend was the first of three over the festive period this year when the team will be operating the Safebase. It will be open this coming weekend – Friday and Saturday – as well as on Friday, December 30 and Saturday, December 31.

Elaine explained the Safebase is there to offer help in any situation with the reasons very varied: “It can be anything from someone has had too much to drink, someone has slipped and fallen, someone has lost their friends or had an altercation with their partner and are upset. We’ll find them, settle them down and make sure they are safe and get them home.

"It’s a great atmosphere because everyone is there and with people on nights out they are in good spirits. There’s always a warm cup of tea and a friendly chat for people and we make sure they are okay and they get home safely by contacting a family member or putting them in a taxi. It works fantastically well. It is funded by Falkirk Council through the Safer Streets Partnership.

“Everyone that uses the base thinks it’s amazing. They think it’s a fantastic service, and everyone that’s part of it loves being part of it. There’s a real community spirit from all the partners. People that come are always amazed it’s been running for so many years.”