Night Time Safety Update

The Students’ Union are aware of an incident that took place in Tokyo Joes on Saturday 5th November 2022. 

We cannot comment on the ongoing police investigation, but we wish to emphasise that the Students’ Union is committed to ensuring student safety is a priority, both at the University and in the city with our partners. We want to reassure students that whilst our partner venues experience incidents like this only rarely, we acknowledge that this happening will have heightened students' concerns and therefore we will be putting in additional precautions and support

We know that students attend Tokyo Joes throughout the week, so for anyone that may have been present at the venue when the incident happened, please feel free to contact us at hello@upsu.net if you are in need of additional support.

What are we doing

• At the SU, we continue to work closely with the city to feedback any student concerns around safety, share safe night out messaging and ensure that you can still enjoy social activity with your friends without fear. 
• This Wednesday the Union will also have a Welfare table present outside Tokyo Joes during wristband collection for Purple Wednesdays, our staff will be there for you, if you need to talk about night out safety.
• Your Welfare Officer will be hosting another Ask & Action forum with the Police and other partners from the city on Tuesday 15th November (more details to follow), for students to be able to address any concerns and feedback
• Your Welfare Officer, Natasha Layley will be shadowing Purple Wednesday and is approachable if you need. 
• The venue is continuing to review their safety and security processes and we will continue to feedback and support with this - they have purchased metal detectors as an extra precaution that will be installed in the venue as soon as possible.

• The national issue of safety is something that Students Unions have an important role to play in helping to tackle. We will continue to work with others in the city such as police, the council and venues and will lobby and inform policy and priorities when needed.

What can you do

• Follow our safe night out safety tips to help you know what you can do to keep yourself and others safe.
• Don’t forget the three ‘D’s of being an active bystander, always ensuring your own safety first.
• Utilise University and Union services when needed to support your own wellbeing, such as the University Wellbeing Service and the Union Advice Service.