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Darlington awarded Purple Flag status

Darlington awarded Purple Flag status
21 January 2020

Fantastic news – after a rigorous assessment process, Darlington has become the first town in the North East to be awarded Purple Flag status, a standard awarded to those towns and cities across the UK that offer safe and enjoyable nights out.

The council, along with the police and other organisations and businesses from across the town centre worked closely together for several months in the lead up to submitting the application before Christmas.  As part of the feedback the assessment panel commented they were highly impressed with the submission.  

Part of the assessment process also involved a team of national expert assessors visiting our town on a busy Friday evening in December.

The assessors were looking for how safe and welcoming the town felt, how easy it was to move around the town and to get home safely, how good the range of leisure and entertainment venues were in terms of choice, and how the town generally looked and felt.

The group received a warm welcome from Darlington Hippodrome, The Forum and Vue Cinema to name just a few of the town centre venues visited during the assessment evening.

The Purple Flag standard is an accreditation process similar to the Green Flag award for parks and the Blue Flag for beaches. It helps people to quickly identify town and city centres that offer an entertaining, varied, safe and enjoyable night out.  

Darlington will be awarded the flag and presented with the certificate at a ceremony hosted by the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM) in April.

Leader of the Council Heather Scott said: “This is excellent news for our town and sends out a clear message – Darlington is a thriving and buzzing town and very much a destination of choice for a safe and enjoyable evening out.

“As Council Leader I’m very proud of what’s on offer in Darlington and how well our local businesses, the Council and other partners have work together to showcase the very best Darlington has to offer as part of the assessment process.

“I hope our Purple Flag status will encourage more people to visit Darlington for an evening out and make the most of the many restaurants, bars and entertainment venues we are lucky enough to have. 

Jasmin Robson owner of Hash and Hatch said: “We are delighted to be the first town in the North East to be awarded Purple Flag.  It’s been a real team effort from all involved in submitting the application and making sure we were inspection ready.

“I am really proud to be involved, and hope it encourages more people to come to Darlington for an enjoyable and safe night out.”

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