Everyone should feel safe in our borough at all times and be able to enjoy a night out without any risks. To ensure the safety of all Redcar and Cleveland residents during night time, we worked together with Cleveland Police and Cleveland Unit Reduction of Violence to start two new initiatives across all licensed premises to prevent night time crimes.
Ask for Angela
Originally developed by Lincolnshire County Council in 2016 ' Ask for Angela' is a scheme which operates in bars, clubs and other licensed businesses, aiming to support customers who feel unsafe, vulnerable or threatened.
If you find yourself in a situation where you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, you can discreetly seek help by approaching venue staff and ask them for ‘Angela’.
The staff will immediately know you need help and they will look to support you by re-uniting you with a friend, escorting you to a taxi, or by calling venue security and/or the police.
If you see the below poster in the venue you are in, don't hesitate to 'Ask for Angela' if you need help.
Spiking awareness
We all know someone who has had their drink spiked. It can happen to anyone at any time.
Thankfully, most cases of drink spiking don’t end tragically… but they can: rape, robbery or even death are all reported outcomes, so the consequences can be utterly devastating.
With your help, we aim to stamp out drink spiking across the Borough.
Through funding from CURV (Cleveland Unit Reduction of Violence) we are providing pubs and clubs in our area with Stop Topps & spikeys that are designed to prevent an opportunity from spiking your drink. We will be distributing them throughout the Borough.
If you manage licenced premises and would like to be involved, please contact Barbara Webster Community Link Worker on 01642 774774.
If you think you've been spiked on a night out, it is important to follow the below steps to ensure your safety:
- Find help: find a friend or a member of staff and let them know what happened
- Stay put: do not leave the venue, especially with someone you don't know or trust
- Test and report: get your drink tested and report it to the police by calling 101. If you are in immediate danger, please call 999.
The video below will give you more information about the dangers of spiking and what you need to do to be safe.
Stamp Out Spiking in partnership with Cardiff University is undertaking the largest and most comprehensive national survey on Spiking, called the A Victims Journey, to document the incidence of spiking and the victims experience after the crime has occurred.
If you have been a victim of spiking and you feel comfortable sharing your experience, you can fill in the survey at A Victim's Journey Survey (surveymonkey.co.uk)
Increasing security survey
To help ensure the nigh time safety for people going out in the evening and at night in the Cleveland area, including Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool, Crest Advisory have designed a survey to determine how safe/unsafe people feel during night outs.
If you’ve ever felt unsafe going out in a pup/club/restaurant or even when just walking on the street during the evening/night, you can let them know which are the locations that cause you to worry for your security and what are the main reasons.
This will help inform which measures need taken for the night time economy to ensure everybody can enjoy a night out without feeling anxious for their safety and to prevent any incidents such as spiking or violence from taking place.
The survey will not take longer than 5 minutes to complete and all answers will be anonymous.
To fill in the survey, please go to https://survey.cmix.com/32F8A439/19FTK32D/en-US