A statement from your Full-Time Elected Officers

Here at Keele SU your welfare and safety are our top priority. We have seen on social media that students are becoming more concerned about the increase in people reporting drink spiking incidents across the country and we want to make sure that you are aware of the support and reporting tools available to you at Keele. 

We pride ourselves on having safe nights out and events for students, offering services such as Street Team and the Safety Bus, and being recognised on an annual basis by Best Bar None – an accreditation scheme supported by the Home Office and drinks industry that aims to improve standards in the evening and nighttime economy, ensuring a safer night out to all. 

All our bar staff are “Ask Angela” trained. This is here to help you when you need to get out of a bad situation when you're in our venues. Go to any member of the events staff, club staff, bar staff or security and Ask for Angela. It’s a discreet way to ask for help. 

If you would like to protect your drink, we give out ‘Spikeys’ which are free to pick up from the bars and cover your bottles with a hole in the top for your straw to stop anyone being able to tamper with your drink. We are also looking at supplying cup covers for larger drinks so that they can also be protected. 

Our Elected Officers are going to be coordinating campaigns to highlight the issues related to drink spiking.  The next stage of the ongoing campaign will be rolled out over the forthcoming weeks.   

If during a night out you think you have been affected by spiking or have witnessed an incident then please report this to a member of bar staff, or the security team or a first aider (dressed in a green Keele SU jacket), or a steward (dressed in a red Keele SU jacket).  They will then be able to support you by getting you to a safe location in our venue, supporting you or those affected, testing your drink for foreign substances and/or alerting the emergency services. 

If you would like to report an incident after the event has happened, then please contact us on su.feedback@keele.ac.uk  

We also recommend that you download the SafeZone App, which is free to download and gives you immediate access to campus security and a team of first responders. More information can be found here. 

What we all love about Keele is our sense of community. We care about what happens on our campus, and we want to ensure that everyone, whoever they are, whatever they study or wherever they live, feels safe, supported and accepted. Keele SU operates a zero-tolerance approach #NeverOK. Any student who is believed to or has enabled drinks to be spiked will be reported to the University and the Police. This behaviour is in breach of the Keele SU Code of Conduct and could lead to removal from university and criminal charges. 

If you want to make a change or have any ideas of how we can improve our offer at Keele SU we are hosting a drop-in Thursday 21st October 5pm – 6:30pm where this topic will be discussed. The drop-in will be hosted on the ground floor of the Students’ Union in the colorful seating area. 

Useful Contact Numbers:  

Staffordshire Police emergency number – 999 

Staffordshire Police non-emergency number – 101 

University Security - 8888 (from your room if you are calling from on campus) or +44 1782 7 33004  

Students' Union Security - 01782 733720 

Rape Crisis 

NHS drink spiking pages

Student services - Keele University 

Advice & Support at Keele SU www.KeeleSU.com/ASK