Students put a stop to spiking
A GROUP of ingenious students from Huddersfield University’s Costume Society have banded together to create a brand new drink cover to help protect people out on the town from having their drinks spiked.
The drink covers, dubbed ‘Huddies’ were created after the campus Safer Student Police officer PC Phil Hardy, suggested that something could be done to tackle the issue of drink spiking that has dominated the news agenda in recent months.
Made from fabric, the cloth covers fit over any open drink cup or bottle and can protect your drink from anything unexpected being added to it.
Although Huddersfield itself doesn’t have a big spiking problem, elsewhere in Yorkshire does, and the move has been welcomed by students across the university for adding an extra layer of safety for their nights out.
With drink spiking cases continuing to rise last year, in October 2021, 300 venues across Bradford, Calderdale, Wakefield and Kirklees were invited to take part in a pioneering new licensing initiative to try and improve safety in bars, pubs and clubs across West Yorkshire.
Yet despite the new steps to try and tackle the issue, some revellers felt they weren’t ‘taken seriously’ when reporting incidents to authorities. This prompted two more West Yorkshire students, Elysia O’Neill and Della Claydon to create a new public database called ‘Spike Report’ where members of the public can report any incidents directly to the independent service.
Elysia and Della, who are both postgraduate students at the University of Leeds, said: “We want to be able to go to venues with a problem but also with a solution.
“One of the common things with spiking is the venue doesn’t take it seriously and that has a domino effect so only one in ten people that are spiked report it to police.
“There is a massive problem with people feeling they’re not believed or taken seriously so for the Spike Report to be a way for people to legitimise what happened is a massive thing.
“I think what we’ve proven is there’s a demand for people to be informed.”
In nine days, the website was flooded with 160 alleged incidents, including one person who described the terrifying moment they “lost feeling in my arms and legs” and suffered blackouts after having just one drink at Popworld in Leeds.
A similar scenario was reported in Sheffield, with the victim reportedly unable to stand and suffering blurry vision during a night out at Corporation.
In West Yorkshire specifically, more than 600 incidents of spiking, including by injection, have been reported in the region in the last ten years, but few cases have led to suspects being charged.
Designed and prototyped by the Costume Society President Caroline Devonport, the new covers are now on sale to students for a suggested donation of £1.50, with donations going to the Huddersfield charity WomenCentre, who provide a range of services for women in the area.