Council pleased to announce 13 local pubs take part in the ‘Ask for Angela’ training

“Ask for Angela” is a national scheme that aims to help anyone who is feeling vulnerable on a night out to get the support they need. Training provided under the programme teaches bar staff and other workers how to help someone who is feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable. All pub-goers who are feeling uneasy have to do is go to the bar and ask for Angela and the newly-trained staff will be able to help. It could be helping them to find their friends, getting them safely to a taxi or, in more serious circumstances, alerting security staff or the police.

Earlier this month, the police offered pubs in Hounslow the opportunity to take part in the “Ask for Angela” training, with staff from 13 venues taking up the offer.

These were:

• The Bell, Hounslow
• The Bell on the Green, Feltham
• The Moon Under Water, Hounslow
• The George IV, Chiswick
• The Moon on the Square, Feltham
• The Milford Arms, Isleworth
• The White Bear, Hounslow
• The Green Man, Feltham
• KTM Rox, Feltham
• Rowans Bar, London
• Circa Loca, Hounslow
• The Brewery Tap, Brentford
• The Inverness Social Club, Brentford

.More training for hospitality staff will be rolled out again in the new year.

Councillor Ajmer Grewal, Cabinet Member for Safety and Regulatory services, said: “It is great to see so many pubs in the borough taking the training to become safer environments in our night-time economy. The Ask for Angela scheme is a fantastic way for customers to discretely indicate that they are in distress and to receive the help they need without issue.”

Hounslow Council is committed to creating safer environments in the night-time economy for all residents, which forms part of the Council’s Violence Against Women and Girls strategy. Engaging licensed premises in the borough to support women in vulnerable positions is key to this commitment.