Businesses and organisations across Cleveland are being encouraged to sign up to a powerful new accreditation scheme to ensure they create safe spaces for everyone.
Businesses Against Abuse (BAA) is designed to tackle violence against women and girls, child exploitation and knife crime.
Backed by Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matt Storey, the initiative provides free training and accreditation for all businesses. That includes the retail, night-time economy, and transport sectors.
The training – carried out by professionals from Ivison Trust, ARCH, St John Ambulance and Eva Women’s Aid – will help staff to recognise predatory behaviours. It will also help to identify ways to respond and understand the next step of the appropriate reporting processes.
Delivered by the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV), the aim is to reduce incidents of serious violence in public space areas, specifically in town centre locations.
The BAA model was first developed and launched in Cambridge in 2024. It aimed to confront violence against women and girls and has since trained thousands of staff.
2026 training sessions
The Cleveland PCC has agreed to fund a total of eight training sessions in 2026, with the aim of replicating the scheme’s success in other parts of the country.
This includes face-to-face sessions in Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland as well as four online sessions.
Businesses within the scheme will make a commitment to being a safe space for all customers, in particular women and girls and young people.
Each business will receive training, resources and content packs to support employees to secure the accreditation.
Matt said: “Making our communities safer and more resilient is a partnership effort and we could not make the impact on the public’s feeling of safety we are striving for without the backing from local businesses.
“I want everyone in Cleveland to feel safe and protected at all times and the Business Against Abuse scheme is a fantastic piece of collaboration work which can help make that happen.
“Anyone who is in fear of abuse while in a business setting should be able to feel they can make themselves known to a member of staff and know they will be helped.
“The Businesses Against Abuse scheme also allows staff to be trained to understand the link between predatory behaviour and the risk of a crime being committed, which in turn, could help stop crimes being committed before it’s too late.
“We must do everything possible to protect the right of the people in Cleveland to enjoy our public spaces safely without the threat or risk of violence. I look forward to supporting businesses who choose to help improve safety for all.”
For more information and to sign up go to: Businesses Against Abuse Accreditation Sign Up