Watch Out - there's a thief about
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Watch Out – there’s a thief about
Students in Newcastle have been advised to keep an eye out for a suspicious character loitering around campus during Freshers Week.
This unsavoury character, reported to be Flem, is the resident burglar from www.toletsville.co.uk, Safe Newcastle’s Student Safety website.
He has been seen checking out unattended property, pestering students and being a general nuisance on the campuses of both Northumbria and Newcastle universities.
His main purpose however is to remind students that, although Newcastle is a safe city for students, it is important they keep themselves and their property safe during their time studying here.
Students have been encouraged to enter a ‘Caught on Camera’ competition, giving them the opportunity of winning a prize by having their photo taken with Flem. He has also been highlighting potential property thefts by marking them with branded stickers.
This is the first of a number of campaigns that will be run during the academic year to make students think more about their safety. It builds on the message sent out to new students and their parents prior to their arrival at university encouraging them to mark all of their property so it can be identified if it is stolen and offering general safety advice.
Claire Hall, Student Liaison Officer with Safe Newcastle said:
“Flem has been very active around both campuses over the last few weeks and I hope loads of freshers have seen him.
“Safety isn’t a sexy subject and the last thing on a student’s mind when they come to university. But with students owning on average more high value goods than the rest of the population they can be easy prey for criminals so it is crucial they start to think seriously about it.
“Having Flem out and about is just the start. This academic year we hope every student becomes aware of www.toletsville.co.uk and checks out the advice given on it. We will be running lots of other campaigns throughout the year for students to get involved in.
“We hope that every student’s memory of university life in Newcastle is a good one and not of crimes committed against them or their friends”.
Other student safety activity focuses on second and third years, because living in the community and not in university halls means they are more likely to become victims of crime. A further campaign promotes relationships between these students and other local residents.
Safe Newcastle’s Student Safety Group is a partnership of agencies that work together to make Newcastle a safer place for students.
Joanna Humphries, Community Safety Officer with Newcastle City Council added:
“We came together in 2002 to promote safety amongst all students in the city. Newcastle is actually a safer city for students than many others across the country but it does reflect the national statistic which shows that students are three times more likely to become a victim of crime than other people.
“The group is made up of agencies that can make a difference to this statistic in Newcastle, including the two universities and student unions, Safe Newcastle, Northumbria Police and Newcastle City Council.
“We want students to get involved and take notice of our campaigns so we do things a little differently. Our website www.toletsville.co.uk is designed by Viz artist Steve Donald and Flem is just one of a number of charters involved. It offers students practical advice, from how to keep themselves and their property safe to how to have a party without annoying neighbours and also has games, campaigns and competitions that will be run throughout the academic year”.
