Improving perceptions of safety

Increasing wellbeing is one of the key aims of People Positive, our Social Impact & Community Strategy. We know from our own research that maintaining environments where people feel safe is essential for fostering healthy, thriving communities. Whilst levels of crime are lower in Mayfair  than some parts of London, reported crime is often higher than the Westminster average and people living and working locally have said they don’t feel safe. So, we’ve been addressing these concerns through targeted interventions to help Mayfair feel safer for everyone. 

• We’ve worked with hotel managers to introduce four Mayfair hotels to the Safe Haven app, which offers refuge to anyone feeling vulnerable by directing them to the reception areas of a managed building at any time of the day or night.  
• We continue to hold safety workshops and crime prevention drop-ins in partnership with the Met Police to share guidance with occupiers and residents about reporting crimes and steps to stay safe. 
• Work is underway to better understand and respond to homelessness in the area, which requires appropriate coordination with a range of stakeholders including Westminster City Council, local BIDs and charities that provide outreach programmes.  Westminster City Council is developing a ‘Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy’, focused on prevention, response and support for people experiencing homelessness in the borough. We welcome the council’s ambition and will continue to liaise with them to support the strategy’s development and delivery. 
• We held a session with The Passage & St Mungos to discuss the reasons behind increased levels of homelessness, local services available, and ways that people can support the charities’ efforts. The session was attended by 40+ residents and businesses and received some excellent feedback! We’re also in conversation with the CLCC team at Farm Street Church, Mount Street to see how we can support their programme which provides food, drink and a listening ear to around 140 people in need each week.
  

  Please email mayfair@grosvenor.com if you want to find out more about any of the above, or if you have any other ideas about how to make Mayfair feel safer.