Keeping Cardiff Safe: Work ongoing to raise awareness of various safety initiatives

Whether partying with friends, dining out with a date or attending a sporting or music event, we want everyone visiting our capital city to feel safe.

That’s why we work closely with a range of partners – from Cardiff Council to For Cardiff and the wide variety of licensed premises – to ensure Cardiff city centre is welcoming for all.

In recent months, our officers have been working hard alongside partners to raise awareness of, and promote, the Ask For Angela initiative.

The national scheme has been running since 2016 and is intended to make assistance easily available to anyone who finds themselves in danger or in an uncomfortable situation.

The premise is simple – anyone needing to escape a situation in which they feel vulnerable should be able to ask a member of staff at a venue to speak to ‘Angela’, with that individual able to quickly gauge the request for help and provide discreet but appropriate support and assistance.

Despite the scheme operating across the UK, buy-in and awareness has varied across the country, so our teams have been working tirelessly to try and ensure Cardiff is providing a suitable and consistent service.

They’ve worked closely with venues to highlight the scheme and stress its importance, as well as to ensure relevant training is provided to staff.

A recent testing exercise over the festive period saw venues visited by plain-clothed officers, with all but one responding appropriately to the coded ask for help.

Inspector Rya Cowan-Davies, from Cardiff’s Community Safety Department, said:

“It’s so important for us and our partners that everyone – regardless of age or gender – feels safe when they come to Cardiff.

“Ask For Angela is just one initiative we want everyone to be aware of and feel confident to use should they ever need to.

“As well as raising awareness and understanding about Ask for Angela with bars, clubs and restaurants throughout the city centre, we’ve also been ensuring staff at the venues know what services know about the support services available to them, from our Safety buses, to Street Pastors, alcohol treatment centres, and so on.

“We’ll be running further test operations in the coming weeks, during key dates such as the Six Nations, but also during quieter periods.

“As well as working to safeguard anyone who needs it, we’ll be continuing to work with partners to focus on perpetrators of crimes including sexual offences."

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