It’s time to make a change. It’s time for all nightclubs, venues, and institutions to stand up and say enough is enough.

 

With incidents of drink spiking increasingly taking centre stage on the national news agenda, the opportunity to use the momentum generated from national Girls Night In campaigns and local boycotts cannot be wasted.

 

As a bar, venue, and your Students’ Union, our STOP SPIKING campaign will seek to make lasting positive change using three distinct approaches:

 

• IMPROVED EHU POLICIES: Working with University counterparts, we want Edge Hill’s sexual misconduct policy to be widely available, easy to understand, and robust when it comes to the sharing of information between departments and safeguarding students on campus.
   
• BENCHMARKING SAFETY IN THE COMMUNITY: We want to work with local police, community partners, and licencing to establish a practical benchmark of safety in all local premises. If you want to go out in Ormskirk, you should feel safe and looked after by the venue and their procedures.
   
• BETTER REPORTING: We want more students to feel confident in reporting incidents of spiking, wherever they happen, without shame, stigma, or fear of repercussion. Our independent Advice Centre can now be used to anonymously report spiking incidents, with data feeding into our reports to key EHU stakeholders and this campaign.

 

Much of the above work has already started. Check out our timeline of actions to see what we’ve been up to and what our plans are going forward.

 

 

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EHSU STANCE

 

We want to be clear in saying that the narrative around drink spiking needs to change. Society needs to stop saying “don’t get spiked” and start saying “do not spike,” and these messages need to be driven by bars (including SU Bars), security staff, police, health workers and all individuals.

 

Spiking in all its definitions is abhorrent behaviour and will not be tolerated.

 

We believe a huge part of changing the victim-blaming narrative is the role of venues and the actions they take to prevent spiking happening in the first place. To protect all students, SU Bar and Venue has the following measures in place:

 

 

• Registered contracted security for all evening events including a policy to have at least one female member of staff on the security team.
   
• The only Ormskirk bar to hold Best Bar None Gold Accreditation, with the scheme’s express purpose including reducing alcohol-related crimes and ensuring continual improvement
   
• Mandatory Bag Searches at all evening events in addition to random searches of individuals at the door

 

• Comprehensive CCTV and continual auditing to improve security for all customers
   
• Strict student-only and guest sign-in policy in place
   
• Ask for Angela training for all staff and clear signage in SU Bar and Venue
   
• We have a zero-tolerance policy for drugs, anyone found in possession receives an automatic ban from the premises
   
• Any drugs which are found are logged and surrendered to the police at an appropriate time
   
• We have a robust vulnerability policy in place which has escalation procedures included
   
• Toilets are checked periodically by security staff
   
• All reports of spiking are thoroughly investigated and where we believe a crime may have been committed / if appropriate are reported to the police
   
• Our new ticketing platform ensures only verified students with an active union cloud account can purchase tickets for our night-time events, any guests must be signed in by a student and their information is recorded. This makes it easier for us to identify people and escalate any incidents as appropriate with the university
   
• We check both proof of age and student ID on the door of our events
   
• We engage with the university, local community safety partnership, licensing, the police, pubwatch, and other key agencies to ensure collaboration on night-time safety
   
• We share our event plans with key agencies to ensure they have appropriate resource in place
   
• We have drug detection dogs in attendance at random points throughout the year
   
• All staff are trained on drug and alcohol awareness and vulnerability awareness
   
• Key staff are trained in alcohol and drug impact and have attended SOS-UK workshops
   
• We have 12 first aid trained staff
   
• We have six Personal License holders within the team meaning these staff have a better understanding of alcohol licensing and the law
   
• We now have a dedicated welfare team working at evening events who are first aid trained and have mental health first aid training
   
• All of our SIA contractors have first aid training, drug training and vulnerability training
   
• We have escalation procedures in place for venue management should a potential spiking be reported / present to us
   
• There is media displayed around the venue with tips for a safe night out
   
• We supply foil stop tops for drinks on request at the bar

 

We want to be clear in saying the work, however, does not stop here. We want to continually improve our own spaces so that students don’t feel in danger when enjoying themselves. We want all local venues to meet a standard, benchmark of safety and protection for their customers, which is why we support the principle behind the current national petition to improve safety in clubs and venues nationwide.

 

These are long-term projects that we commit ourselves to and would invite others in the local area to do the same.

 

If you would like to report an instance of spiking or similar behaviour, please get in touch with our team at sucomms@edgehill.ac.uk and we will signpost you to the best services for your needs, either within Edge Hill or outside of it.

 

 

 

Report a Case Through Our Advice Team

 

Spiking is so abhorrent because it robs an individual of their autonomy and ability to control a situation. It is therefore often incredibly difficult to report instances of spiking, through feelings of confusion, shame, or lack of trust.

 

No victim of spiking should ever be made to feel it is their individual duty to report spiking. If you are, however, in a position where you would like to report a spiking incident (either on or off campus) anonumously, you can do so through our independent and confidential Advice Team.

 

Simply email us at suadvice@edgehill.ac.uk to speak to one of our expert and friendly team.

 

Please note: our Advice Team can be used for reporting and signposting services, and if you contact us we will refer you to University and external services to offer the best support for you.