Student clubbing woes spark safety fears as 80% of students report feeling unsafe on nights out in Leamington Spa

The upcoming academic year will not only see students return to lectures and seminars, but also to pubs, bars, and clubs. The nightlife around the University of Warwick is almost as much a part of campus life as the campus itself — yet is it nearly as safe?

To understand feelings among students about the safety of nights out in Coventry and Leamington, The Boar conducted a survey asking participants to describe their biggest issues with the local social scene after dark.

40% of respondents went clubbing once a week and 23% went multiple times a week

A 2021/22 survey by Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS) highlighted the idea that a return to university means a return to nightlife for most students. Their survey found that 81% of students believed that drinking and getting drunk is a part of university culture, and that 53% consumed alcohol more than once a week.

The Boar’s survey responses indicated that students at the University of Warwick are no different from those who participated in the SOS survey two years ago. The results found that of the students who responded, 40% go clubbing once a week and 23% go multiple times a week. The remaining respondents attend clubs every couple of weeks or for special occasions, with 3% stating that they used to go multiple times a week but no longer do so.

Most nights out for students at the University of Warwick are in Leamington Spa. The town is the home of popular clubs Smack and Neon, as well as many other bars and pubs. Yet 80% of respondents said that they have felt unsafe whilst on a night out in Leamington.

Students spoke of experiencing “pushing and shoving” in Neon, and being “worried about crowd crush” in the queue for Smack. One respondent mentioned having experienced homophobic abuse, and another spoke on a time when they were faced with racial abuse.

Warwick students, particularly first years living on campus, also often go to the city of Coventry for nights out, in particular to the nightclub Kasbah. Over half of the survey’s respondents said they had never felt unsafe on a night out in Coventry, but of the ones who had, many put it down to experiencing, or hearing of, incidents of spiking.

None of the staff did anything to help when I was visibly unsafe

Survey response

In 2023, following a recorded increase in incidents of spiking in 2021, the Home Office published a policy paper titled ‘Understanding and Tackling Spiking’. This rise in spiking incidents coincided with students returning to university following lockdown, and the greatest number of incidents took place in university towns. The report stated that investments into projects that focus on protecting women have been made and that educational initiatives had been created to raise awareness for the problems caused by spiking and the severity of the crime.

Concerns regarding spiking were prevalent in The Boar’s survey responses discussing clubs in Leamington Spa. One respondent spoke on being spiked and said: “None of the staff did anything to help when I was visibly unsafe.” Another response mentioned they had heard of spiking incidents in Leamington and Coventry, and that “apparently, the owners of these clubs don’t do much to prevent this.”

Google Reviews of nightclubs local to the University of Warwick further emphasise worries over staff responses to spiking. A review of a Coventry nightclub posted five months ago claimed that after the reviewer was spiked in the club, “they refused to give the police any CCTV footage”. They added that the police said that this often happens.

Another common theme throughout responses to the survey were concerns about men: whether this was “older men” in Kasbah described by one respondent, or “creepy men” in Neon mentioned by another.

One respondent to The Boar’s survey said: “We know it’s not ‘all men’, but it’s too many.” In 2021, following the murder of Sarah Everard by a male police officer, the hashtag ‘#NotAllMen’ trended on social media. This was countered with the idea that not all men are perpetrators of misogynistic actions, but nearly all women have been victims of it.

Another respondent bought to light their own experiences of being made to feel uncomfortable by men. They mentioned how they “haven’t felt unsafe” but have “definitely felt uncomfortable”, stating that “there’s a very fine line between the two”. Students being made to feel uncomfortable when on nights out should be enough to show that a wider nightlife safety problem exists.

At the University of Warwick, ‘circling’, which sees societies play drinking games prior to POP! on a Wednesday night, is a controversial pastime that has previously been banned due to concerns it was fostering an unsafe atmosphere for participants. A past 2019 ban led to the introduction of a code of conduct for circling by the Students’ Union (SU). Evidence from The Boar’s survey suggests that following this implementation most students feel safe whilst circling; 80% of respondents always felt safe when participating in circle games, although 3.3% did not.

However, while the majority of students did not feel threatened during circle, many had negative experiences clubbing on campus in the Copper Rooms, in the SU Building. Some respondents mentioned incidents of spiking in POP!, and another mentioned having heard a rape alarm go off in the Copper Rooms. Speaking on hearing this alarm, they said: “No member of staff seemed interested or seemed to have an urgent interest in helping the individual.”

Safety on campus is one of my biggest priorities (namely, the Safer Warwick campaign)

Enaya Nihal, SU President

When contacted about this by The Boar, Enaya Nihal, SU President, urged anyone feeling unsafe on a night out or afterwards to reach out to the SU for support. She said: “We unfortunately were not aware of this incident prior to the article and are more than willing to talk to the student about what happened, and what support we can offer them. Safety on campus is one of my biggest priorities (namely, the Safer Warwick campaign), and I have worked with Estates and Community Safety on several initiatives that will make campus feel safer and help students get home safe, based on student feedback from the Safer @ Warwick survey we ran last year.”

Ms Nihal continued that although the Operations Team is “highly trained” in safety, support, and aid, they “are always happy to undertake continuous learning”, and were undergoing additional training for harassment and assault prevention. In addition to this, the SU was taking steps to certify its venues as safe spaces per the Egalitarian’s Safe Place Project.

Two other survey respondents said that although they felt safe inside the Copper Rooms, they had found the walk back to their accommodation on campus daunting. The Boar spoke previously to Ms Nihal, then-SU Vice President for Welfare and Campaigns, on her work to fix lampposts on campus to ensure that students did not have to walk home in the pitch-black darkness.

A University spokesperson told The Boar: “We take the safety of our community on campus incredibly seriously. The security of our students and staff is our top priority, with 93% of respondents agreeing in a recent survey that they feel safe on campus. However, we know there is always more work to do and are determined to build upon our effort to ensure everybody on campus feels safe, no matter what time of day or night.

“As part of this work, we have recently repaired and upgraded lighting around multiple areas of campus, and also run 24-hour Community Safety Patrols, which are increased during the darker nights to provide reassurance for our community.”

When students do feel unsafe on campus, they can turn to Nightline, a service offering peer-to-peer support throughout the night via phone calls, instant messaging, or email. Students can also drop in and receive products in-person. The service is next to the Rootes residency hub, next to Red Square and the International House. 47% of respondents to the survey said that they were unsure of where Nightline is located, although all respondents were aware of what the organisation does to support students.

Know your limit, stick with friends

Survey response’s advice

Finally, The Boar’s survey asked respondents to provide any advice on nights out to freshers. Many wanted to reassure incoming students that despite any of the dangers, “nights out are so fun”, with one saying that “things can feel scary, but usually they aren’t”. Another said that in their experience, people “have been very kind” on nights out. The Mix, a charity which offers support for under 25s, reiterated this idea. Their website page, which details how to stay safe on a night out, reminds young people that they “deserve to have a fun night out and feel safe”.

The reoccurring advice provided from existing University of Warwick students was to stay in a group, look out for each other, and not to feel pressured to “go out or drink if you don’t want to”. One respondent summarised the advice given in one simple sentence: “Know your limits, stick with friends.”