No Holiday From Abuse - How Lincolnshire Reframed Domestic Abuse Prevention in a Transient Coastal Environment

The Lincolnshire coast is one of the county’s greatest assets, a vibrant tourism economy, vast natural beauty, and a place of rest for millions each year. Yet beneath this success sits one of the most complex safeguarding environments in the region.

This blog sets out how Lincolnshire Police and partners moved beyond reactive responses to domestic abuse and implemented a data‑driven, preventative model that reduced harm, protected children, and embedded safeguarding directly into the holiday environment.

The Lincolnshire coastline spans over 680 square miles, includes 50+ miles of coast, two Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and areas of restricted airspace due to an RAF weapons range.During peak season, a resident population is temporarily overlaid by more than four million visitors, concentrated across:

• 262 caravan parks

• 40,000 static caravans

• Large holiday resorts, short‑stay accommodation, and hotels

  
  

While tourism underpins the local economy, this seasonal surge fundamentally reshapes demand, risk, and vulnerability across policing, health, emergency services, and the voluntary sector.

Domestic abuse (DA) emerged as one of the most significant yet historically under‑examined harms within this transient population.

Domestic Abuse: Hidden in Plain Sight 

For this programme, domestic abuse was defined as a pattern of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading or violent behaviour, including sexual violence, perpetrated primarily by partners, ex‑partners, family members, or carers.

Historically, domestic abuse along the coast was not absent; it was misunderstood. Transient populations arrive with limited or no local history, making conventional safeguarding tools less effective.

The reality was stark:

• Domestic abuse became one of the highest recorded crime types along the coast during summer

• Skegness and Ingoldmells consistently recorded the highest levels in Lincolnshire

• Skegness alone accounted for 6% of all DA recorded county‑wide

• 33–40% of incidents occurred between June and August

• 30–34% of incidents occurred within caravan and holiday parks

  
  

This was not random crime. It was seasonal, situational, and predictable.

What the Data Revealed 

Above is a map of identified hot spot areas relating to Domestic violence. The larger the spot the higher the demand in that area. These larger spots focus on a selective number of our caravan parks.

Five years of crime and call‑for‑service data revealed clear and repeatable patterns:

• Later peak times on the coast (22:00–02:00)

• Greater involvement of current partners and family members

• Offenders from outside Lincolnshire rising from 24% to 38% during summer (predominantly from Nottingham, Sheffield, Leicester, and Mansfield)

• Higher levels of assault with injury

• Children more frequently present and witnessing abuse, especially in holiday parks

  
  

Risk shifted geographically from town centres during the day to caravan parks at night, intensifying around check‑in days and school holidays.

Understanding the “Why” 

 This project went beyond counting incidents. It asked why holidays intended for rest were becoming periods of heightened risk.

Five interacting drivers emerged:

1. Transition stress Incidents peaked shortly after arrival. The move into “holiday mode”, not the holiday itself, proved most volatile.

   
   

2. Extended alcohol availability On‑site entertainment and family events created longer and earlier drinking opportunities.

   
   

3. Environmental compression Small living spaces removed physical and emotional escape routes, escalating conflict.

   
   

4. Financial and emotional pressure Discounted holidays increased access but also intensified stress where expectations failed.

   
   

5. Children present in greater numbers Between May and September, 23% of DA incidents involved children witnessing abuse, with some sites showing an 80% increase.

   
   

The conclusion was unavoidable: this harm was foreseeable and preventable.

A Strategic Shift: From Reaction to Prevention 

Historically, responses focused on enforcement after harm occurred. This programme deliberately re‑engineered the model, guided by four ambitions:

• Reduce harm, not just reports

• Reach victims privately and early

• Embed safeguarding into the holiday environment

• Reduce repeat demand on services

Prepare: Quiet Access to Support 

A bespoke Lincolnshire Coastal Safety Guide was embedded into accommodation:

• Universal, non‑stigmatising design

• Multiple safety topics (fire, beach, crime prevention)

• Healthy relationships section with discreet QR access to DA and VAWG support

  
  

Crucially, the guide was also shared pre‑arrival through schools in visitor source areas, shifting prevention upstream, before families reached the harm geography.

Protect & Pursue: Matching Resources to Reality 

Policing approaches were realigned to match actual demand:

• Targeted presence on check‑in days and late‑night peak windows

• Focus on known hotspots and transit routes

• Licensing engagement aimed at preventing escalation, not post‑incident response

• Late‑shift staffing redesigned to cover the true 22:00–04:00 risk window

Prevent: Making Abuse a Community Issue 

Safeguarding messages were embedded across:

• Family venues, cafés and leisure sites

• Social media and partner platforms

• Multi‑agency networks through the Atlantis Alliance

  
  

One campaign post reached 645 shares, outperforming other high‑profile safety messaging that week clear evidence that silence was being challenged.

What Changed: Measurable Impact 

Despite increased visitor numbers, participating sites saw:

• Reductions in DA incidents

• Lower risk grading

• Earlier, safer access to support

• Reduced policing demand

Reductions in DA incidents at participating parks:

• Haven Mablethorpe saw a reduction from 12 incidents in 2024 to 5 incidents in the 2025 season.

• The Grange holiday park in Mablethorpe saw reductions in 2025 compared to 2024.

• Haven Skegness had 3 of their Domestic Abuse Stalking and Harassment (DASH) Risk assessments graded as medium in 2024. In 2025, all 9 were graded as standard, showing a reduction in risk as well as volume of incidents.

Victims accessed help earlier, discreetly, and safely. Children were indirectly safeguarded, and policing demand decreased where engagement was active.

By contrast, comparable non‑participating sites experienced significant increases, effectively forming a natural control group.

The control group arose because two of the identified hotspot sites were not willing to take part. The providers declined participation due to corporate branding or perception concerns, as they operate a holiday park group with multiple sites across England.

One of these sites was directly comparable to the participating parks, containing onsite facilities such as pools, bars and evening entertainment. This non‑participating site saw an increase in DA crime reports, reinforcing the intervention’s impact: Butlins saw an increase from 14 reports in 2024 up to 25 reports in 2025.

A second non‑participating site, which does not have onsite venues but is entirely surrounded by bars and clubs, making it similar in design and demand, also saw an increase in incidents, from 2 in 2024 to 10 in 2025.

From 2024 to 2025:

• Visitor numbers increased

• DA incidents in caravan parks decreased

• Overall coastal demand rose slightly suggesting place‑based prevention works where embedded

Ruling Out Alternative Explanations: Visitor Numbers

To ensure that the observed reduction in reports was not attributable to a decrease in visitor numbers, visitor data from selected holiday parks was reviewed. The data covers the period from 1 May to 30 September (inclusive) and excludes sub‑let units and holiday homeowners.

The analysis showed the following:

• Haven Mablethorpe recorded 96,237 guests in 2024, increasing to 108,500 guests in 2025.

• Haven Skegness recorded 54,158 guests in 2024, increasing to 66,134 guests in 2025.

This demonstrates a substantial increase in visitor numbers across both locations during the 2025 period. Despite this uplift in footfall, a reduction in reports was still observed.

Learning, Legacy, and Transferability 

This model demonstrated that:

• Safeguarding can be designed into places, not added after harm

• Transient populations are reachable with the right approach

• Partnership‑led prevention is cost‑effective and sustainable

• The approach is transferable to any tourist or transient setting

Conclusion: Building Safety Where People Come to Rest 

Domestic abuse along the Lincolnshire coast is not an inevitable consequence of tourism. By combining data analysis, partnership engagement, environmental design, and victim-centred access, harm can be prevented at scale. This project shifted domestic abuse from a reactive policing issue to a proactive, preventative, and community-wide safeguarding model.

The results demonstrate measurable reductions in harm which is grounded in evidence and learning. Allows earlier access to support, and embedding of safeguarding into the holiday environment, creating safer spaces for families and children. Crucially, it shows that policing and partners can act upstream, changing outcomes for families and children before crisis occurs.

This was not just a reduction in incidents. 

It was a fundamental shift in how safety is built into places where people come to rest, reconnect and be protected.

There is no holiday from abuse. But there can be no holiday from safeguarding either. 

Author: Barnaby Prince,

Police Community Support Officer, Lincolnshire Police

Dementia Safeguarding Lead & Member of the force Safeguarding Network

Police lead for the Atlantis Alliance – Collaborative Coastal Working