Charity praised for keeping women safe from spiking

Volunteers committed to tackling spiking and keeping women safe on nights out have been praised for their "truly inspiring" work by a government minister.

Minister for victims Alex Davies-Jones visited the Night Angels alongside Stroud MP Dr Simon Opher, to learn more about their street patrols and work with venues in the town.

Charity CEO Chrissie Lowery said she is "extremely proud" of what it has achieved in the last two years and hopes the model will be adopted in other places in the country.

Opher said spiking is a fast-growing national problem and explained the only way to "put a lid on it" is to first focus on communities working together to "take action".

Lowery, who is a survivor of more than 20 years of domestic abuse from the age of 16, started Night Angels to stop others from struggling the way she did in the 1980s in what she described as a "horrific" justice system.

"Back then there was absolutely nothing," she said.

Volunteers patrol the streets, often from 23:00-04:00 GMT, making sure women in clubs and venues are safe, and are a radio call away if a bar reports a spiking incident.

In these instances, they provide victim support and secure evidence to hand over to police.

"It's a big commitment from our volunteers," said Lowery. "I feel extremely proud and happy."

Opher said spiking is becoming "more common" and "something that we've really go to put a lid on," he said.

"It's really a community thing where we all have to keep people safe," he said.

"The trouble is when you go for a night out and have a few drinks you become less observant and people need to be looked after in that situation and the Night Angels do a fantastic job of that."

The ministerial visit comes after the government recently announced it would introduce a specific spiking offence in the Crime & Policing Bill before Parliament, a move that followed years of campaigning.

Davies-Jones said: "It's been a truly inspiring visit to Stroud.

"It's been really wonderful to see how the entire community has come together to really do what they can to keep people safe."

Lowery said the bigger the city is "the bigger the issue" and emphasised there is still "a lot more work to be done".

The charity, which already operates in places across Gloucestershire, is setting up further teams in Swindon from next month and is rolling out a safe spaces programme across the West.

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.