West Sussex Community Safety

12/06/2026

Last month, the Alzheimer's Society invited our Digital Safety & Fraud Prevention team to deliver a scam awareness session to the Sangam Women’s Group—a welcoming, multicultural community organisation in Crawley that regularly partners with the Society to host open days and wellbeing events.

More than 25 group members attended the morning session, taking part in lively discussions and sharing their own experiences of staying safe from fraud.

In the afternoon, the team continued their work with the Alzheimer’s Society at Crawley Baptist Church, focusing on practical steps the church members could take to recognise, avoid and report scams.

These in-person sessions play a vital role in connecting with communities across the county and helping us spread awareness of online safety and fraud prevention.

If you know of a community group that would be interested in a free online safety or fraud prevention session, please contact us by email: [email protected]

08/06/2026

🏆 The World Cup kicks off this Thursday, and last week, members of our team partnered with Horsham Pubwatch to deliver training for licensed premises, helping staff recognise early signs of harassment, sexual violence (including drink spiking), domestic abuse, and hate-motivated incidents.

We also shared guidance on how to support someone experiencing harm, and when and how to escalate concerns.

This training equips venue staff with the skills to safely manage escalating or concerning behaviour, and to intervene in a safe and balanced way.

By working together, we’re helping businesses create safer environments during the tournament and reducing the risk of violence, abuse, and anti-social behaviour linked to late night activity⚽️

Pictured (from L to R): PC Marvin Lucas (West Sussex Licensing team), Chris Maldon chair of the Horsham Pubwatch, Abs Haque, Jodie Munday licensee of Horsham Brewery & Tap Room and Lisa Hunt (West Sussex Licensing team).

04/06/2026

In a recent YouGov study, half of British parents admitted never speaking to their children about harmful online content, despite 90% of 11-year-olds now owning a smartphone.

Over half of British parents also said they haven’t come across any resources to help them navigate these conversations, with nearly three-quarters of parents saying they would feel comfortable correcting misinformation if properly equipped.

To help families navigate online risks, the 'Kids Online Safety' website (link in comments) offers practical, ready to use guidance to help parents start conversations with their children about what they see online.

It includes advice on how to begin talking about online safety, tips on identifying what information can be trusted, and age appropriate guidance for addressing issues such as misinformation, harmful content, ragebait and misogynistic messaging.

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash.

02/06/2026

The council has renewed its Adult Social Care Strategy to improve how adults and carers are supported across the county.

The plan has been shaped with people who experience care, carers, and partner organisations, and focuses on providing clear information, early support and help closer to home.

With more people needing care and services facing financial pressures, the strategy aims to make it easier for residents to understand their options and get the right support at the right time.

To find out more, visit the West Sussex County Council website (link in comments).

29/05/2026

Non consensual intimate image (NCII) abuse, often referred to as revenge p**n, occurs when someone shares, or threatens to share, intimate photos or videos of you without your permission.

It’s an issue that can affect anyone, but if you’re worried that a n**e, semi n**e, or sexual image of you has been posted online, there is help available.

StopNCII.org is a free, confidential tool designed to support adults who are concerned that their intimate images may be shared without their consent.

The service uses secure technology to create a unique digital fingerprint of the image. This fingerprint is then shared with participating platforms to help detect and prevent the content from being uploaded or redistributed. Most importantly, your actual images never leave your device, ensuring your privacy is protected.

To learn more or create a case, visit the StopNCII.org website.

StopNCII.org is operated by the Revenge P**n Helpline which is part of SWGfL, a charity that believes that all should benefit from technology, free from harm.

28/05/2026

Knife Crime Awareness Week took place last week, and we recently met with FAZAMNESTY to understand how voluntary knife surrender schemes like theirs can encourage individuals to willingly give up their weapons.

FAZAMNESTY is a grassroots organisation focused on supporting and protecting vulnerable people against knife crime, and the visit helped identify how well-organised voluntary surrender schemes can:

• reduce immediate risk to the public by removing weapons from circulation
• build trust with young people and communities
• support behaviour change through mentoring and follow up support for people who do carry knives

Although West Sussex is one of the safest places to live in the UK, we’ll be using what we learnt at the meeting to help us shape best practice on knife amnesties, surrenders and sensitive community engagement on the topic.

If you have information about anyone carrying a knife, report your concerns 100% anonymously through the Crimestoppers website.

27/05/2026

Across West Sussex, work is already taking place to help make sure everyone can enjoy the 2026 FIFA World Cup safely, especially during late night matches.

Major sporting events are always enjoyable as more people attend pubs and clubs to watch the matches, but this can also increase the chance of individuals being harmed, with late night activity and alcohol consumption linked to increases in domestic abuse, sexual violence, drink spiking and other violent behaviour.

To help people enjoy the tournament safely, we are working with venues and the night time economy to make sure people look out for one another, trust their instincts and get help if something doesn’t feel right.

Sussex Police and our WORTH Services team will also be out visiting high risk domestic abuse victim survivors to provide support and advice as part of Operation Hope.

If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, you are not alone and WORTH Services can help - https://bit.ly/4d1cq59.

Photo by Fauzan Saari on Unsplash.

26/05/2026

🚨 Referrals for the FREE AudioActive SHIFT programme close on Sunday (31 May 2026) – don’t miss out 🚨

SHIFT offers 1:1 support for young people aged 11–17 in Sussex who may be facing challenges at home, school or in their community. Hundreds of young people have already taken part, building confidence, developing new skills and receiving tailored support.

✅ Who is it for?
Young people at risk of offending or experiencing:
• exclusion or risk of exclusion
• negative peer influences or criminal associations
• drug use or possession
• aggressive or coercive behaviour
• signs of exploitation (e.g. missing episodes, unexplained money)
• carrying weapons

📌 The programme is part of a trial, so some young people will receive music mentoring, while others may be offered alternative support.

If you're a parent or carer who thinks their child might benefit from SHIFT, you can fill out an online referral form on the AudioActive website until Sunday (31 May 2026).

Click on the link in the comments below to find out more.

22/05/2026

Some advice from NHS Surrey and Sussex in light of the lovely weather that is forecast for the bank holiday weekend and beyond ☀️

With high temperatures forecast across Surrey and Sussex over the next few days, here are our top tips for staying healthy:

🤝 Look out for others who may be more vulnerable in the heat, like older people or young children
🚰 Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated
⛱️ Seek shade and cover up during the middle part of the day
🧴 Use SPF at least 30 and reapply regularly

21/05/2026

April saw our whole team come together to support the first Junior Citizens event in .

Coordinated by Child Safety Media, locally led by Chichester Fire Station Manager Anton Mezzone, and jointly funded by Arun District Council and Chichester District Council, the two-week event brought together a wide range of organisations to help Year 6 pupils learn essential life skills and understand how to stay safe as they prepare to move on to secondary school.

Our focus was online safety, and we spoke to more than 800 children from 29 different schools about the risks of playing games online and how making friends with other players isn’t always what it seems.

Each child took home a bookmark highlighting the red and green flags of making friends online, along with practical tips to help keep their personal information safe.

To find out more about the event, you can read the full update on the council's website - you can find the link in the comments 👇️