NTIA and Savenightife CIC launch the Night Safe Champion Programme – Welfare Engagement Accreditation and Training for Venues 

NTIA and Savenightife CIC have joined forces with Safeguarding Nightlife to launch the new Night Safe Champion Programme, which will focus on the key challenges faced in the night time economy and hospitality communities. The programme will provide a new approach to accreditation and training that will lift professional standards of night time operations and provide educational pathways to meet these standards and cover topics such as Vulnerability Awareness, Sexual Harassment, Drugs and Alcohol Awareness, Spiking, Conflict Management, Working in Licensed Premises, an Inclusive Approach to Safeguarding, and of course the role and responsibilities of a Night Safe Champion, welfare engagement officer.

Through a consortium of partners, the Safeguarding Nightlife Accreditation programme aims to unite industry specialists to create a continuous life-cycle within which standards, education, assessment, benchmarking and engagement meet the defined needs of our diverse night time communities through the workforce. The programme has been built around the direct needs and challenges of our customers and workforce with great consideration given to the unique dynamic of our night time environment. 

The Partnership will officially launch the Night Safe Champion Programme on the 10th February at the Night Time Economy Summit at E1 London amongst esteemed guests from the Music, Leisure and Entertainment Industries.  Panellists Deborah Hewitt (Safeguarding Nightlife) Silvana Kill (Savenightlife CIC) Ian Graham (Metropolitan Police), Michelle Roycroft (Help Me Angela), Tamzin Lent (Where You At App) & Danny Clare (Ask for Clive) on the 10th February at 13.30pm will be discussing the importance of understanding the diverse needs of the customer, and in particular, how to support them when they are at their most vulnerable as well as the importance of addressing the challenges as a community. 

The Night Safe Champion and Welfare Engagement Officer roles have been created to support people who find themselves in a position of vulnerability in the hospitality and night time economy spaces.The Night Safe Champion will be the central interface of support and guidance between customers, workforce, security and regulators. The role and responsibilities have been set to ensure direct support is available when people need it the most.

The programme will also take a blended learning approach which research has shown to be the most effective way to challenge and observe effective solutions to develop and change. Taking control of your own learning can bring a stronger sense of accomplishment and studies have shown that a blended learning style is best placed to support information sharing. Experienced tutor teams will be working closely with industry experts, helping us to take control and entrust our industry with the role of safeguarding our communities.

Mike Kill CEO NTIA Says
“Our industry has always advocated for the safety of our customers and our staff at night. businesses across the industry want to do everything possible to ensure that customers and staff are able to socialise and enjoy culture in safe spaces.”

“The accreditation scheme is a functional, yet versatile approach to blended learning, which can encompass existing training mechanisms across the country.”

“Possibly one of the most important parts of this initiative is the rolling assessment process and evaluation of the accreditation, and its impact on the environments we operate within.”

“As an industry the more our workforce is aware of safeguarding and vulnerability, the bigger part we play in reducing the crimes attached to vulnerability across wider society.” 

Silvana Kill, Director Savenightlife CIC says
“We have listened to our communities and the challenges faced. We acknowledge that more needs to be done to ensure our customers and people feel safe. We understand that it takes more than writing policies, and placing well meaning posters. We need to do more.”

“Our aim is not just to increase awareness, but through collaboration, give back the confidence communities are presently lacking, and empower people to feel safeguarded and know what to do in a vulnerable situation.”

“This NTIA partnership we will allow us to share performance data with all music rights holders, as well as finally offering insight into music played to the respective venues and promoters.”

Deborah Hewitt Director Safeguarding Nightlife says
“Whilst designing the Night Safe Champion programme, we have brought in consultants who are experts in their field, bridging gaps to preset the most up-to-date and relevant initiatives, not only to safeguard and support our industry in taking control of their space but also to be mindful to ensure vulnerability is not misunderstood, instead empowering our community, with critical thinking to enable decision making to handle and navigate changing times.”

“Our aim at Safeguarding Nightlife is to maximise the impact of information by sharing best practices across the country, in line with local policy and standing as ambassadors to prepare and protect both our community and an industry that promotes a positive impact on our mental health, without our community coming together, through fear of vulnerability we would see a far higher fallout in family and workspaces alike. It’s our job to nurture a positive impact on preparation to safeguard as this is about our industry being celebrated for generations to come.” 

Notes to Editors:

Safeguarding Nightlife
Safeguarding Nightlife is a collaboration between various organisations and partners with the goal of setting and maintaining professional standards for night time operations.

The Accreditation program offers education, guidance, and support to meet these standards and provides a continuous cycle of professional development. The objective is to bring industry specialists together to meet the needs of customers and stakeholders.

First Aid Collective
The First Aid Collective – Emergency First Aid at Work qualification is the perfect choice to ensure that they are going above and beyond meeting the requirements of the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations. The qualification meets the requirements for Emergency First Aid at Work as outlined in the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 and the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1982.

This face-to-face interactive qualification is required where employees are working in dangerous or high-risk environments and the potential of dealing with a catastrophic bleed is possible so additional training may be needed. This qualification more than meets that need.

We operate at the highest level of expertise and training delivery, and unlike others we have lived every scenario.

Programme Business Model

Pledge to the 5 commitments: We invest in safeguarding our nightlife communities.

We strive to ensure our spaces are safe.
We drive Best Practice in safeguarding vulnerable people.
We Advocate for Diversity.
We Promote Wellbeing

Complete an assessment – based around the competencies targeted within the core modules of the programme which focus on the key challenges faced in our hospitality communities: Vulnerability Awareness, Sexual Harassment, Drugs and Alcohol Awareness, Spiking, Conflict Management, Working in Licensed Premises, an Inclusive Approach to Safeguarding, and ofcourse the role and responsibilities of a Night Safe Champion, welfare engagement officer.

Receive a report based on current competencies with a training needs analysis 

Meet and discuss recommendations and action plan a pathway to achieve Night Safe Champion Accreditation.

Yearly Review and Benchmark: Each Pledger is reviewed on an annual basis. 

The programme is developed according to progress and feedback from:

Customers via Mystery Customer Programme
Staff via online opinion survey
Community impact analysis from other businesses and key stakeholders to help understand the bigger picture of your local community.
Recording data for review and improvement, with an annual industry research report.