Up to 300 staff to receive special training to encourage night time safety

Friday 10 January 2025

A new initiative will see Guernsey's bar staff receive special training to enhance safety and provide "peace of mind" for everyone involved and enjoying the island's night time economy.

SafetyNet's plans would see Guernsey become the first jurisdiction outside the UK to have night-time economy venues certified as 'Safe Places'.

Financial support from the Social Investment Fund means trainers can visit the island to deliver up to 10 sessions over five days.

There’s further collaboration as well, with Randalls offering free accommodation for those visiting specialists.

SafetyNet is keen to encourage more bars and venues to sign up so all 300 possible places are filled.

“We hope that this will increase trust and confidence in the night-time economy," the charity said. "We have also had the support of the police who have confirmed that this will help their investigations.”

Pictured: (Left to Right) Simon Allen, Matt Polli, Sadie Siviter de Paucar, Poppy Murray, The Very Reverend Tim Barker and Detective Sergeant Thomas Lowe, at the an event marking the announcement of the training sessions.

At yesterday launch event that support from law enforcement was made evident by Detective Sergeant Thomas Lowe.

“I don't think we can overstate how this would potentially have a good, positive effect on the community," he said. "Making the nighttime economy a safer place is crucial for Guernsey. So, yeah, we can't really say how much good this could do.”

Detective Sergeant Lowe said Guernsey Police will send staff to assist with the training programme.

“The package will help them increase their awareness of signs to be looking out for, and how to potentially respond," he said. "We're looking at sending down our crime reduction advisor to assist in the training. It's about increasing how confident they are in reporting it, or picking up on signs and knowing what to do afterwards.”

The launch event for the initiative took place yesterday in the bar Pingquay, whose Director Simon Allen has been involved with SafetyNet for some time.

He has also been a victim of spiking.

“We want to raise awareness. You know, I joined the SafetyNet charity because I was a victim of spiking myself. Being a licensee in Guernsey for over 30 years, I was very aware that people in the town should be aware of their environment and what could possibly go wrong on a night out.”

Mr Allum said the training offered will also help bar staff better engage with those who may have been spiked.

“What's the difference between a spiked drink, how to deal with it, how to deal with the victim, how to show sort of sympathy, empathy.

"It's a toolset into into your working environment, which helps you give off confidence, and if people see confidence in a venue, and you have a a certification that you are part of a vigilant group, then it's going to put off people (from spiking).”

Chair of Safety Net, Poppy Murray also spearheaded the BE LADs campaign which sought to make the streets a safer and more welcoming place at night, and looked to bolster the community mentality in stomping out abusive, harrasing and/or illegal behaviour. 

She says this is all connected.

“I think one of the crucial elements is that once the staff have had this training, it's going to increase their confidence of what to do when something happens, if a customer comes and reports something, equally if something happens to them, because it's really important to remember that this isn't just for the benefit of customers, it's for bar staff as well. 

“So we're hoping that they'll feel more confident in recognizing these behaviors that might contribute to prevention. 

“However, I would stress that it's not a bar's fault, and it's not the bar staff’s fault, if something happens in their venue, but responding to it is really important. What this training will do is bring consistency across the island, so it doesn't matter what venue you're in, if it's certified, you know, they've had the same training, which is really important.

“The training is going to start from the 31st of March and run through the rest of that week. Once the training has been completed, as long as the venue has had 75% of its staff trained, it will become certified, which will happen in April.”

The training courses have been paid for thanks to funding provided by the Social Investment Fund.

“We've got funding for 10 sessions, which will be up to 300 bar staff, hopefully all 300 spots will have been taken," said Ms Murray.

“I know there's a really high demand for funding. There's loads of worthy causes here. I am absolutely thrilled that we were awarded the funding, and I think it's a credit to the fact that this will help so many people, and not just islanders as well, but also visitors to the island. It's also going to set Guernsey apart, because we'll be the first place outside the UK that has had venues certified. It's a really big milestone.”

Pictured: You can find out more on the training sessions and the impact SafetyNet hopes to have on Guernsey's Nighttime Economy on their website.

Chair of the SIF, and Dean of Guernsey, The Very Reverend Tim Barker, said the work that SafetyNet is doing is vital

“If people are afraid to go out, they won't go out, they won't socialize, and actually being with other people, rather than sitting at home behind a phone, is really important. So if this makes it easier for people to go out, to enjoy themselves, to meet new friends, then it's all good at building up community.

“We hope it's going to make a difference for the people who are coming into the bars, who are taking part in the nighttime economy. We want them to be safe, and if this is a way of helping them to be safe and at the same time to encourage the vibrancy of the nighttime economy.”

Lead officer of the SIF, Sadie Siviter de Paucar, added: “we currently fund across all sectors, and actually this was the first time that we've had an application for funding like this, for safety in the nighttime economy, and actually, it was pretty interesting to read about the increasing incidents of unsafe incidents that are happening. So we’re pleased to be able to help in this respect.

“We have multiple ground grant funding rounds open every year, and currently we fund across all sectors, whether that's art, environment health, mental health, physical health, disability, nighttime safety, or the economy.”

READ MORE...

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