Everyone should be free to enjoy a night out safely and without fear. Lucy Callington discovers how three little words can help to protect us, right here in our village.
With a choice of six active pubs on our doorstep, we’re lucky to have no shortage of places to relax, get together with friends or meet new people.
While a typical night out in H&I can be fun, and we all do our best to make safe choices, sometimes we may need a little extra help. That’s where the safety scheme ‘Ask for Angela’ comes in.
Aimed primarily at women, the ‘Ask for Angela’ initiative was started in 2016 by National Pubwatch and was quickly rolled out to bars, clubs and other licensed businesses. It means that people who feel unsafe, vulnerable or threatened can discreetly approach venue staff and ask them for ‘Angela’.
This phrase indicates to staff that the customer may need help with a difficult situation and a trained member of staff will then look to support and assist them – either through reuniting them with a friend, seeing them to a taxi or, in more serious cases, by contacting the police.
For participating venues, training is available on the ‘Ask For Angela’ website to help educate staff on how they can help. There are posters to download which are intended to be displayed in all public areas including female and male toilets promoting that the scheme is active. Should an incident occur, staff are then obliged to complete an incident report form to monitor the scheme’s effectiveness.
Safety spotlight
Following a recent BBC report checking the impact of the scheme in London, Cambridgeshire Police visited six popular venues in Cambridge to check whether frontline staff knew about the scheme. Officers were impressed with what they saw and found that two bars gave an “outstanding” response.
On the city centre pubs, Superintendent Adam Gallop comments: “We work closely with the night-time economy businesses to make our cities and towns as safe as possible. It’s important people know, that if they have any concerns they can ask for ‘Angela’”.
Safety starts close to home
All of which got us, here at HI HUB, thinking about our own local venues and what help they offer to those who may find themselves in a situation where they feel unsafe. We checked in with our local pubs and, while none of them are officially members of the scheme, here’s what they had to say:
Steve Snudden at the Rose and Crown: “As a small, family-friendly pub we are not officially in the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme. However, myself and my staff take customer safety very seriously and are well aware of the importance of such schemes. If we were asked for ‘Angela’ at the bar we would know that there may be a problem.
“We would then bring the customer to our back room as a safe space and find out what or who is the problem. Depending on the customer’s wishes we would get them a taxi home, remove the offending person from the property or in a more serious situation call 999.
“Having worked in the hospitality trade for many years now I know how important it is to be aware of your customers at all times and treat any concerns with a quick response. It’s a shame that schemes like Ask Angela have to exist, but it offers a great way to ensure that everyone can have a great night out knowing they have the option to discreetly ask for help if needed.
“Thankfully, I’ve never been ‘asked for Angela’ but would always be ready and willing to assist any customer that did. So, while we are not officially part of Ask Angela, you can be assured that we will always be here to help if needed!”
Susannah Kate Lee at the King Bill: “I think it’s a fantastic scheme to protect and help everyone, both male and female. I always thought of it being a city thing, but you never know who may need the protection, help and support, and we are here to help.”
Raimonda Aleksiejute at the Railway Vue:“As new tenants we are happy to look into training for us and staff members in the future.”
Andy at the Red Lion: “I’ll certainly have a further look at possibly implementing it in the future.”
Next time you see an “Ask for Angela” poster on an evening out – you can feel assured that bar staff can support and assist you through uncomfortable situations, without fuss, and you have absolutely no need to feel worried about causing a scene.
And, if you don’t see a poster – feel free to approach the management and encourage them to sign up. Their support will help everyone feel safer on a night out.
Find out more about Ask Angela here.
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