Spotlight oncostof livingcrisis
City centre businesses have praised a new online reporting system aimed at reducing the problems posed by antisocial behaviour.
The initiative, which was implemented by Go Forth Stirling following complaints from traders based in the city, was rolled out to local firms via a series of training sessions aimed at allowing businesses to become more connected in reporting incidents taking place.
The Sentrysis system, run by the Retailers Against Crime (RAC) group, sends out real-time alerts when thefts and other incidents are happening across the city and also allows business owners to report incidents to warn others and create evidence logs to help police.
Among the business owners who attended the training sessions was Grant Reid from Calluna, which has been based in Murray Place for the last five years.
Grant told the Observer: “The location of our shop is the main thing because Murray Place has always been a congregation point for people to hang out rather than go shopping.
“It is slightly detrimental to trade when you have a large group of people like that and so people avoid the area, which isn’t great for tourists coming here ahead of what will be a fairly decent tourist season.
“We used to have a lot of drunk people but thankfully that has died off now, it’s just a group of around 20 to 30 kids who are congregating around Murray Place on Friday and Saturday afternoons.
“They just don’t have a lot else to occupy their time but it’s just an intimidation factor, most of it is just kids doing what kids do and they are not bad people, although there is a minority of bad kids that maybe will shout abuse at people walking around.
“The great thing about the system is that it allows you to log any activity that is going on, if there are any thieves or gangs coming into the area because the 101 service is so hard to get through to.
“You can log that activity and see what else is going on in the high streets.”
That message was echoed by Lisa Davidson, who runs
Tinkerbells Emporium gift shop in nearby Friars Street.
Lisa added: “I’ve heard from other businesses struggling with people loitering about rather than actual crime, I’ve been quite lucky in that I haven’t had many issues with theft in the shop.
“The new app has made a huge difference. The word is getting out there that businesses are all connected so you get real-time updates about anything that is going on and you can add your own experiences on there.
“It was brilliant because I was able to get the training and then share that with the neighbouring businesses to me, so it means that we don’t have to bog the police down with small incidents.
“It also means that people wanting to come into the city are seeing that businesses are all talking to each other and that maybe Stirling isn’t the place to go if you want to go shoplifting or commit crime like that.”
After launching the system, Go Forth Stirling project director Danielle Mcrorie-smith said: “Like all city and town centres, Stirling has issues with youth crime which seems to have increased since the pandemic and lockdowns.
“We want to highlight the fact that businesses are not always reporting the issues they encounter which means police officers and youth teams don’t have the data they need to support the allocation of additional resources to tackle anti-social behaviour.
“So, we’re reminding our traders to make use of their access to the Sentrysis system and to actively contribute to it by logging any instances of ASB they encounter.
“It’s all part of the BID’S remit to help create a more welcoming city centre environment.”
How to survive the cost of living crisis is at the heart of a new hour-long show by a local arts school.
On Sunday, March 19 Stirling’s Monument Performing Arts will give its unique take on the issue.
The cost of living crisis is the topic on everyone’s lips today. Its impact on ordinary people is huge. Every day it’s making life harder and harder for local families. Almost one-in-five children across Stirling is living in poverty.
MPA principal Louise Murray said:“the insurers Aviva launched an innovative crowdfunding project that addresses the cost of living situation.
“We applied and they accepted our quirky idea – a provocative but entertaining stage show by our pupils and staff using song and the spoken word to examine different aspects of the crisis and suggest a way through it.
“The cast comprises MPA students, former students (now professional actors), teachers, some of our friends at Falkirk’s Tryst Theatre – and a surprise VIP guest.”
MPA director Craig Murray added:“we envisage the evening as a radio play, so the cast will be working from scripts which should add to the spontaneity and informality of the night.
“It also makes the important point that we are indeed‘reading between the lines’– that we know all too well the distress the crisis is causing to people in the Stirling community.
“We’re mixing the fun sketches with satire, the personal, the absurd, the hard-hitting and the harrowing – songs about food; interviews with so-called experts; a local young mum at the end of her tether; an OAP lonely and confused; an NHS doctor facing an impossible workload.
“Yes, it is controversial but it’s pertinent, unflinchingly depicting the plight of ordinary people in crisis trying to make ends meet. But in these taxing times, sometimes the only escape is to laugh out loud and long.”
MPA will make a donation from the evening’s proceeds to Start Up Stirling, the local foodbank charity which has been supporting local people in need since 1994. Donations for Start Up Stirling will be gratefully received at the show.
‘The Cost of Living Crisis – MPA Reads Between the Lines’will take place in their studio in Causewayhead at 7.30pm on Sunday, March 19. Tickets, which are free, are available on a first come, first served basis from mdcpupilinfo@aol.com
It’s all part of the BID’S remit to help create a more welcoming city centre environment