Chelsea Football Club has joined every Premier League football club in London in signing up to the mayor of London’s Night Safety Charter to make their venues safer, more welcoming and help tackle violence against women and girls.

The Women’s Night Safety Charter is an established pan-London initiative, originally launched in 2018 by Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, his deputy mayor for policing and crime, Sophie Linden and London night czar, Amy Lamé. The charter is part of the mayor’s Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and London’s commitment to the UN Women Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces global initiative.

The club has pledged our commitment to taking action to improve safety for women at night, pledging to:

  • Nominate a champion within their organisation who actively promotes women’s night safety

  • Demonstrate to staff and customers that their organisation takes women’s safety at night seriously

  • Remind customers and staff that London is safe, informing them what to do if they experience harassment when working, going out or travelling

  • Encourage reporting by victims and bystanders

  • Train staff to ensure that all women who report are believed

  • Train staff to ensure that all reports are recorded and responded to

  • Design public spaces and work places to make them safer for women at night

London’s night czar, Amy Lamé, said: ‘A huge welcome to all London’s Premier League football clubs, Boots and Tesco for signing up to the Women’s Night Safety Charter. They join over 2,100 venues and organisations that want to ensure London is the safest and most welcoming city in the world. Whilst we still have work to do, I hope they inspire other businesses from a range of sectors to sign up and help women and girls feel safe in our city at night.’

Key representatives came together at Stamford Bridge, including pictured (left to right below): Christine Goodbrand, female representative on the Fans’ Forum, Chris Jurasek, Chelsea FC’s CEO, Amy Lamé, London night czar, Barbara Charone, director of Chelsea FC and trustee of the Chelsea FC Foundation, and former Chelsea Women and Lioness captain and Chelsea FC Foundation ambassador Katie Chapman.

Barbara Charone said: ‘Chelsea FC is proud to play an important role in our community. The signing of the Women’s Night Safety Charter is another way we can ensure a safe and welcoming environment for everybody. We support the mayor of London in making our city a place where all women of all ages and girls feel confident at night, including at our football ground.’