At Keele SU, your well-being and safety is our top priority. Across the country, students have become increasingly aware and more concerned about drink-spiking incidents. We want you to be aware of the support in place for students, but we also want you to be aware of the reporting tools available to you at Keele and externally.
Our venues are run by students, for students, and safety is our number one priority. Our bars are verified on an annual basis by a home office and drinks industry accreditation scheme called Best Bar None, which assesses venues on improvements to safety in the evening and nighttime economy. Here are a few things we do to ensure that you have a safe night:
Student Union safety
Staff and safety bus service:
We have dedicated student staff who look after your safety and well-being while attending Keele SU events. Each nighttime event will have a first aid presence. These students wear green Keele SU first aid uniforms. Also, our venue team leaders (dressed in black Keele SU polo shirts) are first-aid trained and will be present whenever our bars are open, ensuring we have a wide-reaching and visible first-aid presence across the entire building.
We also run a safety bus service for our late-night events and a safety bus dedicated to first aid emergencies. This enables us to react hastily in the case of an unfortunate event. Additionally, we run a more general safety bus service that will typically function on most events, from the start until it ends. The safety bus takes off-campus students from the SU to the university’s surrounding areas, primarily Newcastle and Hanley. Although this service is free of charge, the safety bus works on a priority system. This is to ensure that the most vulnerable students get home safely and is to deter the use of the safety bus as a taxi service.
Spiking protection
Keele SU’s Wellbeing Officer holds a training session with the nighttime event staff around spiking awareness and prevention. This training focuses on our spiking protection measures, common types of drugs and their effect on the body, as well as spotting the signs of overdoses and spiking and how to react accordingly.
What physical protection does Keele SU offer?
We also offer spiking protection as a preventative measure on our bars, this consists of drink covers and bottle stoppers. Drink covers are anti-spiking single-use foil covers which prevent your drink from being tampered with. Bottle stoppers are plastic devices which fit inside the top of your bottle – they have a hole through the middle of them with just enough space for a straw to fit through. Once bottle stoppers have been inserted, they cannot be removed, they close the gap in the top of your bottle and greatly reduce the possibility of your drink being spiked. Both measures are free of charge and should be available on all bars – please do not hesitate to ask!
Testing Kits
Keele Students’ Union has a variety of testing kits to offer clarity and enhance your safety. Firstly, drug testing kits. We have drug testing kits available from the ground floor of the Students’ Union building; these kits can test for ecstasy, LSD, Cocaine, MDMA (purity) and Ketamine. These are free and available to discreetly collect during the opening hours of the Chatterbox (11 a.m. – 3 p.m.).
Also, subject to availability, we have drink testing kits in the Duty Manager and First Aid offices for our nighttime events. These are for our venue staff to use to offer clarity and collate evidence around drink-spiking incidents. If you think your drink has been spiked, please do not dispose of your drink – take it to one of our event’s crew and we can deal with it appropriately.
Ask for Angela
Our venue staff are trained so that students can ‘Ask for Angela’; this is a discreet safety initiative to help people who feel unsafe, threatened, or vulnerable. Asking for ‘Angela’ is a code phrase that can be said to the venue’s staff, whether that’s our events crew, security, or bar hosts. That member of staff will then look to support and assist by taking the endangered student to a safe space. Whether it’s a Tinder date gone wrong, unwanted attention or you have been separated from a friend – we are here to support you and make you feel safe.
SafeZone
SafeZone is a mobile application that is used to enhance student safety across campus. The app has multiple safety features, including buttons for first aid and emergencies, which provide instantaneous access to the university’s campus safety team and additional support as needed. Use of the emergency button will send the campus safety team your GPS location so they can offer further assistance and ensure you are safe and well.
The app also has an anonymous reporting tool where incidents can be reported. Within this, there are options for sharing your location and additional information, both of which are at your discretion.
If you’re walking home alone, or feeling vulnerable, SafeZone also has a Check-in and Check-in Timer feature which allows you to share your live location with the campus safety team. The app can be downloaded here.
What to do if you think you have been spiked at Keele SU?
Live reports
- Report the incident to a member of staff within the venue.
- The student is taken to a safe space and will be given assistance is given by our first aid team.
- Any evidence is retained and preserved: any drinks are tested, and timeframes are established. Details about who the student was with, what their movements were, and any other relevant information will be collated and recorded.
- Our first aid safety bus will drive the student to a location of their choosing. We recommend seeking further medical assistance at the local hospital and filing a report with Staffordshire police so that the incident can be investigated to the highest extent possible.
Retrospective reports
- If you believe the incident happened at Keele SU, you can email your report to SU.security@keele.ac.uk.
- Include details about the incident. Appropriate details can include the date the incident occurred and any timeframes, the location of the offence, witnesses, suspected perpetrators, and police involvement.
- Staff will log a report to TOPdesk in the spiking category.
- An email will be sent in response to the report, outlining the support available at Keele, internally and externally. Within this, a police report with Staffordshire Police is strongly advised. This is because they have more resources, sanctioning power and jurisdiction than we do. However, we can provide them with any further information and CCTV footage which they need to carry out any investigations.
What support is available to you?
Emergencies:
If you or someone else is in danger call:
Campus Safety Team: 888 from an internal phone / 01782 733999
Emergency Services: 999
Internal services:
Student Support and counselling Worried it will affect your academic and university experience? Please seek out your Student Experience and Support Officer and or your Campus counselling services.
Confidential Advice:
Our ASK team are experts on the disciplinary processes and internal support available at Keele. For free, impartial and confidential support, please get in contact with Advice and Support at Keele SU. Appointment: Advice & Support at Keele SU (office365.com) Telephone: 01782 734800 Email: ASK@keele.ac.uk
Sexual Violence Liaison Officer Team (SVLO):
For non-emergency matters, you can also use the dedicated email address for reporting sexual violence. This email address inbox access is restricted to a very small number of specially trained staff: Email: Studentservices.SVReporting@keele.ac.uk Telephone: 01782 734481
External Services:
Student assistance program, free 24-hour confidential helpline and app available for all Keele students.
Access the Health Assured app...
Android: My Healthy Advantage - Apps on Google Play
iOS: My Healthy Advantage on the App Store (apple.com)
Charities
Victim Gateway Telephone: 0330 0881 339 Email: help@staffsvictimsgateway.org.uk
Savana Telephone: 01782 433204 Email: info@savana.org.uk
Sexual Assault Referral Centre Telephone: 08009700372 Email: info@grangepark.org.uk
Register for talking therapy on the NHS Website: North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Wellbeing Service
Samaritans Telephone: 01782 116123 Email: jo@samaritans.org
Anonymous reporting and additional support:
Crimestoppers Telephone: 0800 555 111 Website: Giving information | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org)
The Egalitarian Website: the egalitarian. Reporting Tool: Spike Report (theegalitarian.co.uk)