Safety | Self Care

The Students’ Union aims to protect you, and in order to do so we have multiple Gamechangers in place to ensure that your experience at University is safe and as comfortable.  

Coming to University for some people, can be the first time they live independently, and for others, can be a new move to a different city. It’s important to remain vigilant in your surroundings, and take the necessary steps needed to keep yourself and your belongings safe. To guide you with top tips, we run ‘Be Safe’, which helps remind you of all the ways you can remain safe and secure when out and about.

Staying safe on night’s out: 

• Watch your drink – if you leave your drink unattended, you put yourself at risk of being spiked.
• How are you getting home? – Before you go out, make sure you have a plan to get home at the end of the night. Use trusted taxi companies, and make sure your friends know when you leave.
• Stay in a group – Try to stick with your friends on a night out. This way you will be less vulnerable and less at risk of being a target for crime or an accident.
• Would you do it sober? – Before you act out or do anything irresponsible, dangerous or inappropriate, ask yourself whether you would do it sober? If the answer is no, don’t do it. 
• Keep your phone charged – If you need to ring a taxi, contact friends or get help, don’t let your phone battery die as this could leave you vulnerable. Make sure your phone is fully charged before a night out and keep it on low power mode to retain the battery.  

You meet a lot of different people at University, you form new friendships and sometimes relationships. It’s important for your wellbeing and safety that you’re surrounding yourself with positive people. Toxic relationships and friendships can have a negative impact on your wellbeing, the people you surround yourself with should be supportive, caring and respectful to you rather than putting you down, not giving you boundaries and regularly getting angry at you. If you find yourself in a toxic or abusive relationship, either physically or emotionally, there are lots of support services that you can access.

Ask Angela is a national safety campaign to protect vulnerable people. If you ever you feel like your safety is compromised when with someone new, simply go to the bar and ask for Angela. This will alert the bar staff that you need to be safely removed from a situation, and they will discreetly take you away.

Safety is also about feeling safe in yourself. If you ever feel as though you are being subject to hate crimes or hate speech, Staffordshire University and Students’ Union have a zero tolerance for hate with their #NoExcuse Gamechanger. No one should feel unsafe due to their race, ethnicity, sexuality, religion or ability and we aim to change behaviours across our University.