Safe Night Out

As your Guild of Students, your safety on nights out is extremely important to us, whether that’s you being and feeling safe at our events, at a venue in Selly Oak, or in the city centre.

We are committed to increasing awareness and letting you know what we’re doing to keep you safe, as well as working with you to see what else we can do to improve your safety.

What Are We Doing To Keep You Safe?

From the moment you arrive at one of our Venues to the moment you leave, we have various measures in place to ensure you are safe and have the best possible experience.

Our measures to keep you safe begin before our events have even started.

Tickets:

  • E-tickets for each event are scanned and recorded when you arrive at the venue.
  • We also use an official events stamp on promotional material, so you know the event is a legitimate Guild event. Find out how to identify an official Guild event.

Upon arriving at our club nights, we have a number of checks in place before admitting attendees to promote safety in our venue.

ID Checks:

  • All students need to provide a valid Student ID
  • Guests of students need to bring proof of age ID; the details are recorded upon entry.

Searches:

  • Amnesty boxes are placed at the beginning of the queue.
  • All bags are searched.
  • A ratio of entrants are asked to participate in body searches by SIA (Security Industry Authority) trained staff, using handheld metal detection wands. If you refuse to be searched, you will not be allowed entry.
  • From time to time, you will see passive drug detection dogs at our club nights. Should the dogs detect the presence of drugs, a physical search may be carried out.
  • Anyone who has been identified as carrying possible substances by the drug detection dogs, is searched using handheld metal detection wands.

If you require assistance during one of our events, we have the following measures in place. You can also approach a member of our staff team should you have any concerns.

CCTV

  • We have a high quality CCTV system in place.
  • We have Body Worn Cameras which security staff activate when an incident occurs.

Bottle & Drinks covers: 

  • We don’t allow any glassware or glass bottles at our club events.
  • Bottle covers are available at all bars within our venue, free of charge
  • Drinks covers are available at all bars within our venue, free of charge. 

Drink Testing Kits: 

  • We have information in our venue and toilets, highlighting our safety measures, how to recognise the signs of spiking, and what to do if you think your drink has been tampered with.
  • We have testing kits available from Security for anyone who suspects their drink has been spiked.
  • We will replace your drink if you think it has been spiked.

Chill Out Room: 

  • We offer a designated room at all club night events, which is staffed by First Aiders, where members can go to take time out, charge their phones, drink water etc.

If you require support when leaving one of our club nights, please speak to our staff team.

  • If requested, our staff will walk you to the taxi point (East Gate) and wait with you until your taxi arrives.

If you’d like to talk to us about a safety concern you have please contact us.

Safety Awareness

We are committed to ensuring that all students feel safe on nights out, be this one of our events or elsewhere. A way in which we do this is by providing key information and raising awareness of things to be mindful of when on a night out.

Drink Spiking

We would like to assure you that the Guild has a zero-tolerance policy towards spiking!

That means that anyone caught spiking within our venue will be excluded and reported to the Police and University. If you report a spiking incident to us, we will offer you our full support while we carry out an investigation. Any reports of spiking will be reported directly to the Police.

Spiking is where someone ingests something without their knowledge or consent, and this alters their state of mind and (or) inhibitions. This could be done to make the victim more vulnerable to things including theft, sexual assault or it can be seen as an attempted joke. 

Drink spiking is where something is added to your drink, usually either alcohol or drugs, without your knowledge and (or) consent. This is understood to be the most common form of spiking.   

Previously there have been increased reports of people being injected with drugs across the UK, via needles, without their knowledge or consent (needle spiking). It’s believed that the same drugs are being used, as those used in drink spiking, as the symptoms are very similar. 

Drink spiking is believed to be the most common, but there are potentially other types; for example, smoking a cigarette which has had drugs added to it.

  • All staff receive training information about how to recognise the signs of spiking and what to do if you suspect you’ve been spiked
  • We ensure our staff receive the very latest information during an extended staff briefing before each club night, with a focus on spiking and how to prevent and escalate this
  • Prioritisation of First Aid/Welfare/Spiking incidents during club nights
  • All staff have been trained in what to do if a member uses the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme 
  • We have information in our venue and toilets, highlighting our safety measures, how to recognise the signs of spiking, and what to do if you think your drink has been tampered with.

Simply put, it can happen anywhere. While it is often associated with night clubs, spiking can happen in pubs, bars, restaurants and at house parties or pre-drinks.

It’s very serious and it is illegal to spike someone’s drink or inject them without their knowledge and (or) consent. The maximum sentence for someone found guilty of drink spiking is 10 years in prison (and expulsion from university).

Victims of spiking are never at fault - the responsibility lies solely with the perpetrators.

The most effective thing you can do is stay vigilant of your surroundings and friends. Some things you can do are: 

  • Always keep your drink in sight
  • Be careful accepting drinks from people you don’t know, or have not seen been poured at the bar
  • Avoid sharing drinks
  • Don’t drink unattended drinks (minesweeping)
  • Make sure you know how you are getting home and only use reputable means of transport, or walk home with people you know and trust
  • If you think your drink has been tampered with don’t drink it
  • If you see something suspicious report it to the venue staff or the Police
  • Tell a bar manager, security member of staff
  • Stay with them and keep talking to them
  • Call an ambulance if their condition deteriorates (if you are at the Guild we will do this for you)
  • Don’t let them go home on their own
  • Don’t let them leave the venue with someone you don’t know or trust
  • Try and prevent them drinking more alcohol as this could lead to more serious problems.

The effects of spiking vary significantly depending on what you’ve been spiked with. The symptoms of spiking can be very similar to the symptoms of when you have had too much to drink. Your symptoms could include:

  • Lowered inhibitions
  • Loss of balance
  • Feeling sleepy
  • Visual problems
  • Confusion
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Unconsciousness

If you or a friend start to feel strange or more intoxicated than you should be, then get help straight away.

Accreditations

We are continually working to improve and offer a high level of service within all of our venues. One of the ways we ensure this is by completing these accreditations.

BBN logo

Best Bar None (BBN)

We have held BBN Accreditation for over 10 years. BBN is an accreditation scheme supported by the Home Office that assesses venues against, venue management, staff training and care, customer safety and welfare, and customer service and community.

LASVI logo

Licencing Savi (LASVI)

We are a LASVI accredited venue. LASVI is a scheme that has been developed by the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives at the request of the Home Office. It is designed to deliver a wide range of crime prevention initiatives.

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