How to get students to behave

Swansea University has declared this year’s varsity event the ‘smoothest’ yet, thanks in part to the additional support that came in the form of two former police officers.

Preparations behind the biggest social event in the university calendar – Varsity – are not to be underestimated. It is the gathering of some 30,000 young people, fuelled with the excitement of competition between universities.

Every year Swansea University does groundwork ahead of the event to try and ensure that students enjoy this great occasion in safety. This includes, careful planning and also campaigns advising students not to pre-load on alcohol before the event.

But this year, the University additionally employed the help of two former police officers with sixty years’ experience on the force between them.

Under the banner of their company, Professional Together, the two former officers, Tim Jones and Phil Davies, ran sessions with the students to help them understand the potentially life changing consequences that a moment of foolishness, or a bad decision fuelled by alcohol, can lead to.

Phil Davies, a former chief superintendent who served with the Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police for 30 years said:

“Having worked in the force for decades we know that the worst can and unfortunately does happen. Although parents may give advice, young people can dismiss it as nagging. Using our background to help students think about risks and worse case scenarios clearly gets the message across.”

Richard Lancaster, JOB TITLE, from Swansea University said:

“From our perspective, operationally, this was the smoothest event we have delivered. Incidents were at a record low and all feedback from the organisational committees has been positive. The event was safe and provided no major areas of concern from our perspective or for those we worked with.”

Professional Together are now keen to enter talks with the university to discuss how this successful working partnership can be utilised to help students keep safe whilst enjoying the events of the student calendar.

As well as working with universities, Professional Together also works with many high-profile clients, such as the Welsh Rugby Players Association. The company is dedicated to helping people make better life decisions by teaching them how to avoid or deal with threats or vulnerabilities that could have a negative impact on their career and lives.