Good Night Norwich

Norwich Business Improvement District, along with local partners, has recently launched a brand new campaign to promote a safer night out in Norwich.

Using funding from the UK Home Office, and delivered in partnership with Norwich City Council, the ‘Good Night Norwich’ campaign is part of a range of projects delivered by Norwich BID to support the evening and night time economy (ENTE) in the city centre.

The aims of the campaign were both to increase feelings of safety in the sector, and highlight how the public can be an active bystander in the evening and night time economy. Its foundational messaging has come directly from meetings and discussions with key stakeholders including The University of East Anglia, Norwich University, Norfolk Constabulary, SOS Bus, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, and operators of Norwich bars and clubs.

The campaign is based on the familiar concept of reminder notifications, providing helpful tips on having a safe night out, such as ‘Charge your phone’, ‘Find my Friends’, and ‘Book a Taxi’, encouraging users of the ENTE to pre-plan their night out, and look out for one another.

Each campaign design points to the Good Night Norwich website, where users can find more comprehensive information about safety in the ENTE, such as locations of emergency phone-charging points, information on venues that have drink-testing kits to detect spiking, and links to active bystander training.

The campaign launch coincided with the return of students for freshers’ week, and included advertising across the city, as well as activations at student events throughout the Autumn. The designs were then surveyed by students and under 25s, with over 90% of them enthusiastically supporting the campaign.

This imagery has been developed into an industry toolkit and has gained the support of local businesses.Highlighting helpful resources for ENTE users, the toolkit is available to download via the Good Night Norwich website and contains social media graphics and print-your-own posters. The campaign has already had interest from Castle Quarter, and The University of East Anglia who are using the industry toolkit to promote a safe night out.

With many leisure, dining and entertainment venues at Castle Quarter, we’re visited by lots of groups of friends on a night out and fully support the BID’s work to ensure people can have the best time out in Norwich and remain safe. As a Good Night Norwich partner, we’re working with our tenants, such as Boom Battle Bar, Castle Social and Putt Putt Noodle to make use of the campaign messages and information, so that together we can help people go out and get home safely.

Gemma Hyde
Marketing and Administration Manager at Castle Quarter