Speak Up For Safety – Our work around Hate Crime

In 2024, nearly 12,000 disability hate crimes were reported to police forces across England and Wales, reflecting a troubling continuation of the national crisis that saw a 42% rise in incidents since before the pandemic. In response, our charity is proud to relaunch the Speak Up For Safety campaign in partnership with Merseyside Police, building on last year’s success and deepening our commitment to community safety.

The Speak Up For Safety campaign began when we saw the barriers that many of the people we support face when accessing their communities, due to past experiences of discrimination. To address this, we established a focus group of people with lived experience, collaborating closely with representatives from the police force.

Together, we developed resources and solutions tailored to real safety needs, offering practical guidance on recognising hate crimes, building confidence, and fostering greater independence, which has now become a really important annual campaign for Community Integrated Care, always taking place during October’s National Hate Crime Awareness Week.

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Police Safety Webinar

The Speak Up For Safety campaign brings together a powerful blend of insights and expertise to improve community safety:

• First-hand experiences from those we support, providing invaluable real-world perspectives.
• Expertise from our internal team, ensuring strategies align with best practices in social care.
• Collaborative input from national police leads, building a unified approach to safety and security.

As part of this year’s campaign, we are running a webinar for operational staff, external guests, and individuals we support covering hate crime, supporting people to engage with their local police and feel safe in their community. The webinar takes place on Tuesday 14th October 14:00-15:00 and will be led by our Chief Quality & Risk Officer, Jemima Burnage, alongside people we support and experts in hate crime from Merseyside Police. You can register to attend by clicking here.

The webinar will cover:

• How social care teams can build stronger relationships with their local police in tacking challenges like anti-social behaviour, crime or discrimination.
• Empowering people with support needs to recognise and understand if they have been victims of a crime or hate crime, and how we can help stand up for their rights.
• Identifying when someone you support might be experiencing “mate crime” – manipulation by a so-called “friend.”
• Guidance on supporting people to report crimes.

Community Integrated Care’s approach to hate crime continues to:

• Empower social care professionals to provide better support to individuals engaging with the police.
• Equip people who draw on social care with the tools and confidence to stay safe from harm in their communities.
• Provide accessible guidance for the sector on recognising signs of hate crime.
• Encourage people to become more independent in their communities.

In the coming years, we plan to continue working the people with lived experience and representatives from local and national police forces, to offer annual campaigns, ongoing training for our teams, and accessible resources. Together, we’re laying the foundation for safer, more inclusive communities—where everyone has the tools, support, and encouragement to live boldly and independently.