Alongside working with the night time economy staff at the Student’s Union bar 3Sixty and re-certifying them as part of our Safe Place Project, we’re proud that we have been able to deepen our partnership with RSU by also training up students themselves. 

We had a large level of correspondence with RSU’s Welfare Officer and Activities and Opportunities Officer to create a bespoke workshop that will assist the welfare officers of over 150 student’s societies and teams  to be vicitim bie fiocussed, trauma-informed responses to disclosures of harmful incidents, including but not limited to spiking, sexual violence and hate crimes. 

Over three sessions in an afternoon, we opened up the conversation with student welfare officers regarding how to respond to disclosures of harm as an effective ally. By firstly confirming exactly what constitutes these different kinds of harmful behaviours, we then looked at the current university processes and ways in which students can report. We applied this information and created unique guidance for officers on how to signpost victims to university reporting mechanisms using empowering and validating language. After understanding the different trauma responses, we applied our knowledge and skills to real life scenarios from students in our community through engaging group work activities.