The Alley wins the National Personal Safety Award!

Northern Ireland’s Alley Theatre has won the prestigious Safer Workplace Award at the National Personal Safety Awards 2009 presented by The Suzy Lamplugh Trust in London last week.

The National Personal Safety Awards were held at the Hilton Hotel in London, with the Alley scooping the top award of the night, the “Safer Workplace Award” sponsored by Royal Mail. This was a tremendous achievement for the Alley Theatre, who faced tough competition from organizations from across the UK and Northern Ireland in making the finals shortlist and was delighted to be announced winners at this star studded gala night.

“The Alley Theatre is delighted to be recognized for our hard work in promoting personal safety amongst staff and user groups” commented John Kerr, Alley Theatre manager. “The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is recognised around the world as being the leading authority on personal safety and to win recognition at their recent awards ceremony was a tremendous achievement for The Alley Theatre, Strabane District Council and our staff”

The judges said that measures the Alley Theatre took to improve personal safety was incredibly thorough, and what particularly impressed them was the fact that as well as risk assessments, training and policies, they actually effected a culture change, so that all employees are now encouraged to openly discuss any safety concerns and to plan their working day with safety in mind. It was very clear to the judges that this was not a tick-box exercise, but that the Alley Theatre places the personal safety of its staff at the heart of everything it does. Also shortlisted for the Safer Workplace Awards were Norfolk County Council and EDF Energy.

Ann Elledge, Director of Personal Safety at Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said “The National Personal Safety Awards were established by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust two years ago to recognise the achievements of organisations, workplaces and individuals around the country in promoting personal safety. We were extremely impressed by the calibre of nominees this year and The Alley Theatre were deserving winners against impressive competition.” For more information about the National Personal Safety Awards, visit www.suzylamplugh.org/awards.

Arts and Business Course proves a great success!

I took part in an "Art of the Pitch" course earlier this year which I really enjoyed and which I feel I took great benefit from. The links made on the course with fellow particpants and potential sponsors has already led to several successful relationships, including the securing of a performance at the Alley by one of the particpants and cementing the sponsorship relationship with one of the panel.

Arts and Business have now profiled the event as a case study on their website, check it out at http://www.artsandbusiness.org.uk/Case-studies/2009/oct_dec/ni_artofthepitch.aspx

Personal Safety First at the Alley!

The Alley Theatre received some wonderful news this week as the highly respected Suzy Lamplugh Trust, one of the worlds leading personal safety experts, short listed the venue for the prestigious "Safer Workplace" award at their annual awards ceremony set to be held in the Hilton Tower Hotel in London in November 2009.

The National Personal Safety Awards were established to celebrate and highlight organisations around the UK who are providing exceptional procedures and support in personal safety issues for staff. With the new nomination, the Alley can now seen as one of the top 3 organisations in the UK for putting personal safety of staff at the top of their agenda, an amazing achievement for this wonderful regional theatre.


The Alley Theatre certainly impressed the panel of judges, who have been inundated with nominations from around the UK. David Adams from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust said: “We were delighted to receive a nomination from The Alley Theatre for our National Personal Safety Awards. Their unique and comprehensive application exhibits how seriously the issue of employee personal safety is taken by the management of the Alley Theatre, and we are very pleased to shortlist them for this national award.”


The Suzy Lamplugh Trust was established in 1986 after the disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, a 25 year old estate agent who disappeared after she went to meet an unknown client. So far her body has not been found. However, she has been presumed murdered and legally declared dead. Her parents, Paul and Diana Lamplugh, believed that Suzy, like most people at that time - and even now - was simply unaware of the possible dangers that individuals can face in society. Paul and Diana founded the Trust to highlight the risks people face and to offer advice, action and support to minimize those risks. The Trust is now based at The National Centre for Personal Safety in central London, working with a wide range of partners in the public, private and voluntary sector, always seeking new ways to keep people safe from violence and aggression.

Strabane is a great place to live and work, however the Alley has to ensure they take staff safety seriously. Thankfully the Alley staff had not had to suffer any incidents of violence and aggression from patrons, however at least our staff are trained, prepared and supported if something did ever happen.

For more information about personal safety in the workplace click here to be redirected to the official Suzy Lamplugh Trust Website.