The Vodafone UK Foundation have renewed their membership with Secured by Design (SBD), the UK police security scheme.
The Foundation funds two vulnerable person protection products accredited with SBD, the TecSOS Device for high risk victims of domestic abuse; and the Bright Sky Mobile app.
The TecSOS product enables victims of domestic violence in the UK receive a faster response from the police to help save them from serious injury or worse. Victims are provided with a device, that when activated alerts the police service directly.
Victims of domestic abuse are assessed by police and partner agencies and if deemed high risk and it’s appropriate, they are issued with the device by police. Responding officers know that they are dealing with a high risk domestic violence victim, and have details about the risk they may encounter, prior to attending.
Most police forces in the UK use TecSOS, which is provided on a ‘not-for-profit’ basis. To date over 18,000 victims in the UK have been issued with it. The device has the ability to support someone when outside of the UK, and other countries such as Spain and Germany also issue TecSOS. The TecSOS is delivered and managed by the Thames Valley Partnership, supported and funded by the Foundation.
The Bright Sky Mobile App, launched by crisis support charity Hestia and the Foundation, is the first smartphone app to provide a UK-wide directory of specialist domestic abuse support services enabling users to locate their nearest support centre by searching their area, postcode or location.
The app provides support and information to people affected by abuse, and acts as a resource and source of advice for people wanting to help others. A short questionnaire helps users assess the safety of a relationship and there is information about forms of abuse, the types of support available, steps to consider if leaving an abusive relationship and how to help a friend affected by domestic abuse.
The Bright Sky app is available in English, Urdu, Punjabi or Polish and is free to download on iOS and Android devices at the App Store and Google Play Store.
You can find out more about the Vodafone UK Foundation and their SBD accredited Vulnerable Person Protection products at https://www.securedbydesign.com/.
