Following an incident of drink spiking that has occurred this week within one of the Students’ Union’s venues the Union wants to reiterate our zero tolerance policy on the possession of any categorised, banned or restricted substance within our events and commercial premises.
Following an incident of drink spiking that has occurred this week within one of the Students’ Union’s venues the Union wants to reiterate our zero tolerance policy on the possession of any categorised, banned or restricted substance within our events and commercial premises.
The Union works closely with the University and the Police to prevent and reduce the impact of drugs on campus and part of this partnership involves the sharing of CCTV footage of incidents and pushing for prosecution where possible.
As part of this, we are launching our Spiked campaign aimed at ending drink spiking on campus. Working with our partners we will be launching a number of new initiatives including:
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Increased Security Presence
We will be elevating our security protocol across our venues for the foreseeable future in a number of ways. One side effect of this will potentially be an impact on the speed of entry into our venues but it is essential that you feel safe when going on a night out at the Students’ Union. Where possible please arrive to events as early as you can.
We’ve created a range of artwork to be used across our venues and social media channels to build awareness of what you need to consider when it comes to potentially having your drink spiked. You can download these below to display at your own events or use across your social media channels to help spread the message.
Read our top tips on keeping safe when out drinking.
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Spikeys Offered With Drinks
While Spikeys have been available in our venues since September we’ll now be training our staff team to offer them to anyone purchasing a bottled beverage. They’re absolutely free of charge and simply pop into the neck of the bottle to prevent people from dropping a substance into your drink.
While we believe that our venues are very safe it’s key that we work together to tackle this absolutely malicious and dangerous crime. Even one incident like this is too many so please remember to never let your drink out of your sight, don’t accept drinks from strangers and look out for your friends.
Alongside the Spiked campaign the Students’ Union are carrying out a full security review. This work has been ongoing since the start of the Spring Term and we’re using your feedback to shape the look of our security operation moving forward. We’ll also be asking a number of students to be directly involved in the contract we put out to tender with external companies ensuring you continue to have input into this key service.
What to do if you suspect you’ve been spiked
If you think either you or a friend has been spiked contact the Health Centre or NHS Advice (111) immediately. Alternatively, the nearest A&E department is St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey. If you are in one of our venues contact a member of our security/bar team who will be able to assist you. If you suspect you have been spiked in one of our venues please contact venues@su.rhul.ac.uk with the details of the incident so that we can investigate what has happened and a member of our team will get in touch.
Download the toolkit
Spiked Poster 1
Spiked Poster 2
Spiked Poster 3