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Safer Communities Awareness Week

15-19 September 2025

#SaferCommunitiesAwarenessWeek #SCAW2025

The Safer Communities Awareness Week is an opportunity to raise the profile of community safety and highlight innovative work that is taking place across Wales.

Started by the Wales Safer Communities Network the first Awareness Week took place in September 2023. From 15 to 19 September 2025, we’ll be raising awareness of community safety and the theme “working together for cohesive and inclusive communities”.

 

Get involved

Share the message

We have created a range of suggested social media messages and assets to help you support the campaign across your channels. Download the bilingual toolkit below.

Follow us on our social media channels to stay up to date with activity throughout the awareness week:

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If you’d like to submit any case studies or good practice examples to be shared throughout the week, please do so by emailing us at safercommunities@wlga.gov.uk with the subject line ‘Safer Communities Awareness Week – Case Studies’.

 

Attend an event

We’re holding a range of ‘Lunch and Learn’ events throughout the week on a variety of topics related to community safety and community cohesion.

 

Lunch & Learn: Incels and the manosphere – Monday 15 September, 12:00-13:00

As part of our commitment to building inclusive communities, this session explores how online ideologies can undermine cohesion and safety, and what we can do to respond.

Join us for a thought-provoking hour, exploring the rise of incel ideology and the broader manosphere. Dr Andrew Thomas will unpack the psychological and social dynamics behind these online communities, their links to misogyny, and dispel myths about the incel community.

Speaker: Dr Andrew G Thomas CPsychol MBACP SFHEA RSA, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University

Register here

 

Lunch & Learn: Changing perceptions about rural fires – Tuesday 16 September, 13:00-14:00

Wales has many rural communities, and fire can cause community tensions. This session will highlight how inclusive dialogue, and partnership can transform rural fire management and create more cohesive communities.

We will explore how we can shift public understanding of rural fire management in Wales. Peter Greenslade and Scott O’Kelly will discuss the governance of the Wales Wildfire Board, the importance of partnership working, and the role of communication in promoting safe and sustainable land management.

Speakers: Peter Greenslade, Corporate Head of Community Risk and Scott O’Kelly, Arson Reduction Manager, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Register here

 

Lunch & Learn: County Lines in our communities – Friday 19 September, 12:30-13:30

This hour-long, online session will explore the County Lines threat to our region and how it undermines community cohesion and safety. Attendees will gain a baseline understanding of the signs and symptoms of County Lines activity and how exploitation impacts vulnerable individuals and divides communities.

The session will highlight how organisations and services can work together to identify, prevent, and respond to exploitation, fostering inclusive and integrated approaches that strengthen community resilience.

Speaker: Detective Inspector Richard Weber, County Line Tactical Coordination & Support Officer, Tarian ROCU

Register here