The Cheltenham Guardians Safeguarding Team deliver female safeguarding services into Cheltenham’s ‘purple flag’ night-time economy.

Partnering with Gloucestershire Constabulary and Cheltenham Borough Council, the team’s primary and priority function is to ensure the safety, security and well-being of women in the ENTE environment.

Uniformed and covert safeguarding officers deliver this through their flagship safeguarding initiative the India Protocol every Saturday night and Sunday morning between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The India Protocol is the longest established ENTE female-focused safeguarding initiative in the United Kingdom today. Created in 2016 after the rape and murder of India Chipchase, the India Protocol administered by the Cheltenham Guardians’ experienced team is responsible for safeguarding thousands of women in Cheltenham’s Saturday night-time economy.

The Safeguarding Team’s wider function may extend to the provision of general welfare services and emergency services support should circumstances allow, but not at the detriment of India Protocol service delivery.

Since their launch in 2015, their award-winning volunteers have ensured the safety of thousands of women and have saved the community, the emergency services, the NHS and the criminal justice system over £1.5million and thousands of operational duty hours at no cost to the police or local authority.

Today in 2023, they are an integral and essential component in the policing and care provision in Cheltenham’s Saturday evening and night-time economy.

The Cheltenham Guardians Safeguarding Team says: “The normalisation of sexual harassment and assaults in nightclubs and the wider night-time economy has condemned young women entering this environment for the first time to experience the same. Help break the chain. See it? Experience it? Report it!”

They have a new project launching in April 2023: Guardian Girls.

The Guardian Girls Safety Briefing (GGSB) will equip and empower girls so that when they venture out at night, they have the necessary tools to help keep themselves and their friends safe. This will be a unique opportunity for 13-18-year-old children and girls to experience the ultimate inside track to safety in a night-time economy environment. The briefing will be delivered by members of the award-winning Cheltenham Guardians Safeguarding Team, the longest serving specialist ENTE female safeguarding service provider in the United Kingdom.

(Source and Image: https://www.cheltenhamguardians.org/)