Hundreds attend community event showcasing project to make Dallow a safe place to live, work and visit

Over 1,000 people have attended a major community event in Luton promoting the work of a partnership project to improve community safety.

Inspire FM, Luton Council and Bedfordshire Police led the organisation of this weekend’s Dallow Fest, a free community event supported by the ongoing Dallow Cares project.

Saturday’s event at The Dallow Centre offered free activities for children and parents to enjoy together including a gladiator dual, arts and crafts and a virtual reality experience.

The day showcased Dallow Cares, a flagship programme involving different agencies and community groups which aims to make Dallow a safe place to live, work and visit.

The programme is comprised of community members and partners from Bedfordshire Police, Luton Council, Bedfordshire’s Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit (VERU) and the Luton Youth Partnership Service, as well as voluntary and community organisations such as Mary Seacole Housing Association and The Ebonista Project.

Alongside weeks of enforcement action by police, Dallow Cares aims to build community resilience against organised crime by bringing different communities together and providing opportunities for people.

The name ‘Dallow Cares’ was created by the children of Dallow Primary School, who also designed the logo and slogan ‘Together we can change’ to highlight that the community want to make a difference.

Detective Inspector Liz Spurling, leading the Bedfordshire Police Dallow Cares project, said: “Dallow has a rich and diverse community which we are championing through community engagement events such as these.

“Tackling organised crime is about much more than just arresting people. The aim of Dallow Cares is to protect our communities and stop people from getting drawn into and exploited by organised crime.

“We are committed to providing holistic and long term solutions to these problems, ensuring issues like fly tipping and drug dealing through to child criminal exploitation have no place in our communities.

“Dallow Fest had an amazing turn out thanks to the incredibly hard work of so many agencies. It was a real success and showcased the amazing ongoing work Dallow Cares is doing.”

Mohammed Tariq, Station Operations Manager at Inspire FM Station added: “This was a truly great event which gave an opportunity for the community to get together and find out more about the services available to them.

“Thank you to everyone who came, and the partners involved in putting it all together.”

Are you a resident of Dallow? Dallow Cares needs more residents to become involved in the project by suggesting areas for improvement and speaking up for local issues that you find important in the community. Email [email protected] to get involved.