Claim Back West Street (CBWT), a safer-streets campaign founded by the Steel City Courier, has achieved all three of their aims only five weeks after the campaign was launched.
The campaign was launched on the 15th October and pledged to meet these aims over an eight week period, however these have been achieved in just five.
The campaign began in response to a surge in alleged spikings at nightclubs in Sheffield, including The Foundry at the University of Sheffield’s Students Union.
In response to these events at the Foundry, a spokesperson for the university said that: “We take any reports of drink spiking very seriously and work closely with our Students’ Union and South Yorkshire Police to ensure that students feel safe and supported to enjoy nights out in Sheffield. We would urge any student who has experienced an incident of drink spiking to report it to South Yorkshire Police, and to contact our support services so they can receive the help and support they need.”
Just five weeks in, their three main aims have been achieved. These aims are: to have safe spaces on west street, to push for all West Street bars to introduce anti-spiking measures and to bring street volunteers to Sheffield.
Wiktoria Wrzyszcz, one of the faces behind the campaign, said:“Achieving our aims in just 5 weeks isn’t something that we expected at the start. It’s a really positive outcome because it shows that there are people and organisations who heard us and want to change something in the city.”
Over this short period of time, CBWT has gained backing from the University of Sheffield Femsoc, City Ward Councillors, South Yorkshire police, Sheffield Night In, Street Pastors and a handful of other West Street bars including Molly Malones.
Miss Wrzyszcz added that “it was really important that we got backing from major pubs and bars. We managed to organise an online meeting with representatives of all of these groups, who want to cooperate with each other to start important changes.”
Other organisations supporting the campaign include major west street bars such as Bloo88 and Tiger Works, as well as from Sheffield MP Louise Haigh and the University of Sheffield Vice Chancellor Koen Lamberts.
Miss Wrzyszcz said CBWT has been working closely with these bars and organisations in order ensure the safety of individuals during nights out, this includes “a volunteer group who would help people that are vulnerable or have been spiked” and also “posters created to raise awareness.”
She also said: “The City Council will allocate £5000 to anti-spiking measures in local pubs such as spikeys and drink covers.”
Despite having achieved their aims, the campaign is still fighting for safer streets in Sheffield, specifically West Street. Miss Wrzyszcz said that “as a group of students we are really proud of what we’ve achieved.
“It is amazing that we’ve instigated so many important discussions over the last few weeks and that the steps have been taken by organisations in charge to make West Street safer for everyone in Sheffield.”
Image credit: Claim Back West Street Campaign