Not saying where I live in the UK but I basically live in an area many people call "chav central" and I've only ever had positive experiences with them. When I was in school about 17 there were some girls who kept saying shit behind my back and this tall thin guy who had tattoos, always wore this grey tracksuit and a backwards flannel/plaid patterned cap would keep stepping in to defend me. He ended up asking me out one day and I said no because idk if I was ready for a relationship back then. he was understanding about it though. every time someone says the word "safe" to mean "good" I think of him because he'd always say "saaafe man" to me while giving a thumbs up
A few years back I had this incident where I went down the shop on my bike and my bike lock mechanism broke (the metal part you put the key in quite literally crumbled) so my bike was tied to a pole and it wouldn't unlock. just as I thought I had to abandon my bike two men in their late 20s who ig you'd call stereotypical chavs come and offer me some help to break the lock so I can get my bike back. one ended up running all the way home to get some special cutters to cut the cable off and I got home with my bike. These two are off the top of my head. sure they can be intimidating and maybe I just got lucky lol