Ask For Angela’s landmark partnership with Unite Students brings enhanced safety to student accommodation

Unite Students is home to over 64,000 students across the UK. Photo: Umair Dingmar on Unsplash

Moving into student accommodation should be an exciting experience. But for many it is daunting. Meeting people from all over the UK (and beyond) can be overwhelming and it’s hard to know who to trust. In many circumstances, students are scared to admit they need support, in fear of embarrassment or of the situation escalating. But now, a new partnership between Unite Students, the UK’s largest provider of student accommodation, and the nationally recognised safety initiative Ask for Angela, aims to empower students to speak up. 

Founded in 2016, and originally designed for the hospitality industry, Ask For Angela encourages people to use the eponymous phrase to discreetly ask for help if they’re feeling vulnerable, or unsafe, to ensure they receive assistance from trained staff. 

Following the success of the pilot scheme in Manchester, Birmingham and London last year, over 64,000 students across Unite Students' 143 properties in 22 cities can now access the initiative, marking the first time the scheme has been embedded in student housing at scale.

Grace Pollard, Projects and Marketing Manager for Ask for Angela, said: “When students are going to a new city, they're still finding their feet and I think that creates a lot of vulnerability. Just having the security that the sites do operate on Ask for Angela and there is help if you need it, would have been amazing for me when I was a student."

As a community interest company, a key part of the campaign is highlighting that anyone can become vulnerable. 

Miss Pollard said: “Vulnerability can arise at any point for any reason. So I think it is incredibly important to note that the scheme can be adapted to any sort of venue and organization, and is used both in the daytime and the nighttime.”

Residents can also access the scheme in Unite Students’ app, used by over 46,000 students each month.

Diana, a Unite Students resident in Birmingham, said: “It’s great that Unite Students has decided to launch this nationally. While I already felt safe, having Ask for Angela trialled in our accommodation made me feel even safer. I’m sure others will really appreciate having access to it too.”

All student-facing Unite Students’ employees, including Resident Ambassadors who promote the initiative, receive specialist vulnerability training to help them spot signs, particularly those that aren’t obvious (e.g., glazed eyes, being withdrawn, or having ripped clothing), and learn how to intervene safely and discreetly. 

Staff are also trained on how to respond to instances of drink spiking, prevention of sexual harassment, and how to be an active bystander. 

Issac Alcántara Heatlie, Project Manager at Ask For Angela Community Interest Company, hopes that this new initiative will encourage “safer socialising" in student accommodation.

He said: "I want people to feel safer in the venues. Even if they don't need the support, they have the reassurance in student accommodation that the staff are trained, that they can support each other and that safer socializing is a key aim of that accommodation.”