Hi everyone!

Most of the blogs that we put on here are light-hearted and about all the fun and amazing things we do, but this time I would like to talk about something a bit more serious.

Keeping our students safe is a priority for both the Students’ Union and of the University, and we want to do everything we can to make campus and Huddersfield a safe environment for all students.

Since being elected, it quickly came to my attention that one of your main concerns is your safety. You have plenty of ideas on how to make you and your fellow students safer whilst at University and I thought that it was my duty as Community Officer to help!

PC Laura Jackson is the dedicated Police Officer for the campus and is happy to hear of any concerns you have on and off campus and will do what she can to assist in continuing to provide a safe place for all students to enjoy.

There have been a number of robberies recently that have occurred in and around the town centre during the early hours of the morning where the thieves have targeted individuals walking home after a night out and forcing them to withdraw cash from the nearest ATM.

Laura told me that several people have been arrested for these offences and the police had had fewer reports but this highlights how you should be savvy when it comes to your safety. Laura offers the following safety advice to lower your chances of being targeted;

• When out at night, try to use a taxi rather than walking
• Try to keep in a group
• If you do walk then stay alert – don’t wear earphones, keep hoods down so you can hear and see anyone approaching and don’t take shortcuts
• Keep to busy, well-lit roads
• Let someone know what time you are expected to arrive home and let them know when you are home
• Don’t carry large amounts of cash
• Don’t display valuable items such as mobile phones, cash and jewellery and try to disguise laptops when carrying them around
• Keep your house keys in your pocket for easy access

Over the past year, I have been developing a Safe Taxi Policy for taxi companies to sign up to, pledging to provide safe travel for all students. So far GT Taxis and A1 Taxis (pictured) ​ have signed the Safe Taxi Policy. As a Students’ Union we recommend that you use these two taxi companies when travelling at any time, ensuring you receive a safe and cheap journey.

These two companies are also offering to provide an emergency taxi to any student who is need of one. This means that you are able to order a taxi from either GT Taxis or A1 Taxis, give them your student ID details and get a FREE taxi home at that time from any destination. The taxi company will then invoice the Students’ Union for the taxi ride and we will contact you for the payment of the taxi at a later date.

I do want to emphasise that this emergency taxi system is put in place to help students who cannot afford to pay to get home at the time and should not be taken advantage of. The Students’ Union will be taking responsibility of the initial payment of the journey but will be following up for repayment through the student ID number given to the taxi company.

Secondly, before Christmas 124 of you said that you wanted to have better lighting on campus and that this improved lighting will make you feel much safer when walking through campus at night, especially through the winter months when it gets a lot darker a lot earlier. Laura Jackson and myself, met with the Estates Department to tackle this issue.

During the meeting with Estates, I brought up key areas that you students felt were not bright enough and areas in which the lights were not working. Myself and Laura were informed that there are over 500 lights on campus, and that all the lights are slowly getting changed to brand new LED white lights, which are a lot brighter than the yellow glow some of the lights have previously been producing. In addition to this, Estates have recently put up a new flood light on the bridge across the canal leading to the Charles Sikes Building, and 3 brand new LED lights in the Wakefield Road car park on campus, brightening the car park and the footpath along the canal outside the University Health Centre.

We recognise that some routes are quicker than others when you may be walking home from campus, however, we would like to encourage you to take the brighter routes across campus and when walking home even if they do take a bit longer.

Thank you for taking your time to read this, and if you ever have any more concerns or ideas around safety, then do please let me or Laura Jackson know!

Laura works between Monday and Friday 8am – 4pm and can be contacted by email – L.Jackson@hud.ac.uk

Tom Bowden

Community Officer