‘There are so many incidents which I think really show the necessity and the usage of it’
A pioneering safe space for vulnerable people at Hull Paragon Station is going strong after three years and has become “a blueprint” for other spaces across the railway network. The Safer Hull Paragon Hub launched on the bus side of Hull Paragon three years ago this August and has handled just over a thousand incidents in the time since, from missing children to individuals in crisis.
TransPennine Express (TPE) put £100,000 towards its creation. It is a multi-agency safeguarding hub, used by the likes of British Transport Police (BTP), the station’s security, Carlisle Support Services, and multiple charities, including neuro-diverse family support group Aim Higher.
Stephen O’Callaghan, TPE’s safeguarding and crime prevention lead, stated it was the first of its kind in the rail network. It had “been like a blueprint for other ones that have opened” elsewhere, such as at Leeds.
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How it began and what it offers
Mr O’Callaghan has worked for TPE for two years. He was BTP’s liaison sergeant before and became seconded onto TPE as the security manager.
He was at the forefront of developing the Safer Hull Paragon Hub. He worked with TPE’s station manager Ben Courtney and multiple safeguarding agencies were engaged with.
£100,000 TPE funding helped transform a disused mobile phone shop at the station. A kitchen was installed, there is a multi-phone point charger, and the unit can be divided into two, to allow a privacy element.
The hub has a variety of materials and activities to help make vulnerable people, including those with special needs, feel at home. Mr O’Callaghan said to Hull Live and Rail Business Daily: “We wanted it to be an inviting and welcoming space where we can make sure people get the right level of help that they needed. We also knew this hadn’t been done before.”
“I feel really proud from a TPE perspective that this was put in place,” he said, adding, “It’s been like a blueprint for other ones that have opened across the rail network.” Multiple charities use the hub free of charge.
Regulars include Aim Higher on Fridays, domestic violence and sexual assault support group Blue Door on Mondays, and youth safeguarding charity Railway Children. On Tuesday mornings, the hub hosts Allied Pharmacy Sutton Park, who run free blood pressure checks.
TPE also run ‘Try the Train’ days, sometimes with partners like Aim Higher, to help first-time and nervous passengers build confidence in rail travel. Mr O’Callaghan added: “We opened it up and it was like a snowball effect, more people hear about it, more people want to utilise the space.”
‘So many incidents which show the necessity of it’
The hub has helped a number of vulnerable people get the support they need. “There’s been approximately 30 incidents every month so you’re talking in excess of a thousand incidents that have happened in the three years it’s been opened,” said Mr O’Callaghan.
Incidents are logged cases where people have required assistance, so do not reflect the hub’s use for the likes of charities hosting sessions there. The incidents range from missing children to medical interventions, to crisis incidents.
“There are so many incidents which I think really show the necessity and the usage of it,” said Mr O’Callaghan.
‘People have said we feel so much better this is here’
Responding to a Rail Business Daily question, Mr O’Callaghan said he felt it had helped save lives. “I think so, yeah. I can tell you now there’s been people in crisis that have used this.
“I’ve been coordinator here since the start of the year,” said Warren White, who has been in the railway sector 20 years and is the hub’s coordinator. “This sounds cheesy, but there’s so many days I leave work beaming. It’s just really rewarding.”
For Ms Robinson, the ability for Aim Higher to be based out of the hub was invaluable, given it covers Hull and East Riding and has no specific centre of its own. “We can take the charity out to people rather than people coming to us.”
Mr White reflected on the reassurance the hub’s presence offers. “A number of times people have said we feel so much better that this is here. We might not need it, but we know it’s here should we need it.”
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