Sheffield BID Bulletin - what's been happening ...

Welcome to the September 2016 issue of the Sheffield BID bulletin.

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SAFER - providing tailored support for businesses and their staff

BID Police Sergeant Matthew Burdett has been supporting businesses and staff throughout the city as part of our Safer theme – providing more safety initiatives to support the city as it changes and develops.
This has included working with Virgin Money as they developed and then opened their new Sheffield Lounge. Sergeant Burdett said: “It was extremely good to forge links with the business before they opened and give advice about city centre issues and security advice.
“Since the new lounge opened we have worked with staff providing crime prevention training and practical advice. This has also been an excellent opportunity to welcome the business into the city centre partnership.”

Holly Garforth, pictured with Sergeant Burdett, is Events and Promotions Manager at the Lounge. She said: “It has been key for us working with Sergeant Burdett of the BID and this in turn has helped us make vital contacts across the city centre, including the Sheffield Retail Forum.
“The team enjoyed the training and I am sure it will help them be more vigilant. We regularly see the Police Community Support Officers, which has helped our staff develop strong links with them, and Sergeant Burdett is always accessible if we need help or advice.”
If you feel your business or organisation could benefit from this kind of support from the BID, please contact Sergeant Burdett at p olice@sheffieldbid.com.

Farewell to the Herd!

The Sheffield elephants, who have created one of the biggest mass participation arts events the city has ever seen, will be auctioned off in October in their final fund-raising effort.
Sheffield BID has supported the Herd, which is raising funds for Sheffield Children’s Hospital. BID Manager Diane Jarvis, pictured being filmed about the Herd, said as well as supporting such a worthwhile cause, she genuinely believed that the Herd of Sheffield had presented other opportunities.
“There is no doubt the elephants have enhanced the city centre’s image as a vibrant destination, encouraging visitors to stay longer and explore more of the city.

“They have been enjoyed by adults and children alike. One couple from Birmingham made the trip specially to follow the elephant trail. It’s been great to see that many of the businesses involved in Sheffield BID as a whole have been so actively involved in the Herd. The project has had a real community spirit to it.”

The Children’s Hospital Charity has sold more than 46,000 trail maps and the app has been downloaded by over 13,000 people. The herd of elephants will take centre stage at the Crucible Theatre on Thursday 20th October, as they are auctioned off for the charity. Find out more at www.herdofsheffield.com

Purple Flag status
Sheffield is proud to be Purple Flag accredited - an accreditation process similar to the Green Flag award for parks and the Blue Flag for beaches. It leads to Purple Flag status for town and city centres that meet or surpass the standards of excellence in managing the evening and night time economy. The next full assessment takes place in December. The Purple Flag steering group, will present to an independent assessor and then start a walk round the city centre which carries on through the night. To find out more contact Matthew Burdett at police@sheffieldbid.com.

Students find out more

Around 60 students at Sheffield Hallam University heard from Sergeant Burdett in the summer about his work for the Sheffield BID, policing the city centre and working closely with businesses in the centre. The 16 to 17-year-olds were on the government funded National Citizen Service programme.

Rough sleeper patrols
Partners have been working together to increase rough sleeper patrols in the city centre over the summer. Sergeant Matthew Burdett said: “We are working closely with health agencies and charities to signpost individuals into care and to remove rough sleepers from places of residence and business prior to them opening.”
BID businesses can call in to report any issues with rough sleeping and these are added to a patrol. Sergeant Burdett said the increased service in the BID area aims to provide help and welfare for those that need it and to disrupt the practices of rough sleeping within the city centre.
“Working with partner agencies we will be looking at long term solutions and initiatives to assist us in delivering this objective.” In the last month the patrols have dealt with around 140 rough sleeper incidents within the BID area.
To find out more or report and issues please contact Matthew Burdett - police@sheffieldbid.com.

Are you a company member?
If you're a BID levy payer, joining us as a company member will enable you to influence how the Sheffield BID invests the money it receives from businesses in the BID area. Your representative will be entitled to vote on resolutions presented at Annual General Meetings (and any other members’ meetings that may be held. And it's free to join. Find out more on the BID website.

Battle of Britain parade

Sergeant Burdett worked with Warrant Officer Nick Longden of the Air Cadet Organisation to ensure a smooth Battle of Britain parade through the city on September 18. Nearly 100 people took part in the parade from City Hall through the city to the cathedral. Sergeant Burdett worked with Nick, of 362 Elm Tree Squadron, to plan and implement road closures. He is pictured with Squadron Leader Caroline Mason of 367 Squadron Air Cadets.

Great Exhibition of the North

It’s the countdown to the big announcement - which city will be hosting the Great Exhibition of the North? Sheffield was among four shortlisted in the summer – Blackpool, Bradford and Newcastle-Gateshead were the other frontrunners – and an announcement is due this autumn.
Sheffield BID has announced it will provide financial support if the city is successful in hosting the major celebration of the arts, culture and design, set to take place in the summer 2018.
If successful the city centre will gain £5m of government funding, which needs to be matched through commercial partnerships. The Culture Consortium is leading the push for Sheffield to host the prestigious event.
Sheffield BID manager Diane Jarvis said: “Being host would offer many, many opportunities for our city and we are proud to be a supporter. The whole city needs to get behind this and tell the organisers just why they need to pick Sheffield as hosts.” www.sheffieldculture.co.uk

Alive after 5

Work is taking place behind the scenes to support the development of an early evening economy for Sheffield and together ensure the city is Alive after 5 for the benefit of residents and city centre workers.
BID manager Diane Jarvis said: “We have completed the process of collecting consumer research and talking to businesses across the city to take forward this exciting initiative.
“There is already so much happening after 5pm in the city but we need to make sure people know about it! We’ve had really positive discussions with the Sheffield Retail Forum and are keen to work together to develop the early evening economy for Sheffield.
“One of the messages that has come out of the research so far is that many people automatically start their journey home at the end of their working day and end up stuck in rush hour jams.
“If they knew there were plenty of alternatives to keep them in the centre – they are very likely to think again.”
If you would like to get more involved or find out more about the work please contact d iane.jarvis@sheffieldbid.com.

It’s Raining Words
Next month sees the 25th birthday of the Off the Shelf Festival of Words and as part of it, Sheffield BID is supporting a unique art project called It’s Raining Words.
Sites in the city will reveal Yorkshire sayings as if by magic when it rains – thanks to water-activated art by American artist Peregrine Church (pictured below). This is the UK premiere of the work and you can find out more at www.offtheshelf.org.uk Off the Shelf is one of the UK's largest and most popular literary festivals offering something for everyone.

Positive feedback for our first city centre BID cam
We’ve had some great feedback since we installed our new BID cam on Fitzalan Square, where we were experiencing problems with graffiti, high levels of street drinking and anti-social behaviour.
Antonia Barton, who works at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “The situation has improved vastly and it is not nearly as intimidating as it was a few weeks ago.” The BID's Matthew Burdett said: “The camera coupled with police patrols has helped get the problem under control and this work will continue."

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