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What it's all about
Hello,my name is Jennifer, I’m the Women’s Representative at Northumbria Students’ Union.
During our last meeting, some concerns were again raised about student safety (male and female) when walking home at night in Newcastle. As a result, I’m trying to get a Walk-safe scheme running here in Newcastle.
This works in a similar way to school “walking buses”. Two or three trained volunteers wait at a designated point on campus, gather up any students who are ready to head home, and then walk via a route which allows them to drop people off along the way, meaning that nobody has to walk alone (or pay for a taxi).
Ideally, I’d be aiming for 2 “buses” per night, 2 or 3 nights a week. Areas covered would depend on demand, but would probably include the outlying halls and main student housing areas. If we have enough staff, we could also extend this to an on-demand service, where a pair of volunteers walk single students home.
What's needed to make it a reality
You'd need to be willing to turn up on a regular basis to walk groups of students (1-15 or so) from events on campus - not just popular club nights, but anything which goes on late. As far as possible you'd have a route which allows you to go straight home afterwards. You'd be working in pairs or trios, and training would be provided.
Single volunteers or university societies/campus groups who want to get involved would all be very welcome - the more the merrier!
I'd also like to hear from anyone who could (or who knows someone who could) help with the neccessary training for volunteers (I've some sources in mind, but others could be useful)
Lastly, I know Durham University used to run one of these schemes - if there's anybody who was involved in that, or a similar one elsewhere, please get in touch - you probably know things I don't!
A scheme like this is obviously most needed in the winter months, rather than the summer. I'm hoping to get the groundwork laid, and a pool of volunteers trained during this semester, so that we're ready to roll out the scheme from the begining of next year.
Comments
It sounds like a really good idea that will have a huge impact on the safety and wellbeing of the students at Northumbria. As you know, we have funding which you can access to turn your idea into a project. Would you like to pop into the Student Activities Centre to talk about how we can do that, and the resources that you would need? Get in touch by sending me a message through this website or through my uni email!
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