LTSU / Leeds Trinity Alcohol Harm Reduction Policy

Drinks & events promotion

  1. All mass communications to students relating to events in a ‘drinking setting’ (be it events on campus or off campus), including (but not limited to) posters, mass e-mails and use of social networking sites, should not contain wording or imagery that is likely to be perceived as encouraging or condoning excessive drinking orover-intoxication. However advertising of drinks pricing is generally excepted from this rule.
  2. Event or general advertising (including, but not limited to, posters, flyers and social media) should not include alcoholor alcohol pricing as its main feature. This includes advertising for both internal and external events.
  3. Drinks offers should be devised and advertised sensibly and not aimed at encouraging excessive drinking.
  4. Drinks offers run and advertised on campus or by LTSU / Leeds Trinity University (e.g. byThe Lounge bar) should include a soft drink option (not to be promoted as a mixer).
  5. Promotional material by external companies which does not meet the criteria set out in items 1 – 3 above should not be endorsed, distributed or permitted on campus.
  6. Soft drinks prices in The Lounge bar should at all times be priced equally to / lower than equivalent alcoholic beverages; such that drinking alcohol should never be a cheaper alternative to drinking soft drinks.
  7. The Lounge bar should have a publicly-viewable drinks menu listing the full range of non-alcoholic drinks available.

Serving & treatment of intoxicated persons

  1. In line with legislation, alcohol should not be served to persons who are clearly over-intoxicated or attempting to buy alcohol for persons who are clearly over-intoxicated. This includes private functions in The Lounge and club / society socials. Alternatives such as switching to / alternating with soft drinks should be encouraged.
  2. Door / bar staff should where appropriate assist in ensuring that intoxicated persons are safe. This could include calling for medical assistance, calling a taxi, directing the student to a safe area or other appropriate measures.Staff should not consider simply ejecting a student from the bar without taking any further reasonable steps to safeguard that personto be an acceptable solution where someone is intoxicated if that person is in need of welfare assistance (unless there are extenuating circumstances e.g. the student declines assistance or is behaving aggressively towards staff).

Club & societies

  1. LTSU or Leeds Trinity University club / sports team and society officials (e.g. social secretary or chairperson) are responsible for ensuring that s. 1 and s. 22 of this policy are adhered to in relation to official socials.
  2. Clubs / teams / societiesshould offer a reasonably inclusive and safe social environment for any student that wants to join. Encouraging excessive drinking, glorifying alcohol-induced illness or pressuring members to drink is not acceptable. This applies to all official socials and tours.
  3. Club development plans should include satisfactory plans on how they will make the club’s activities / social environment inclusive for those that do not drink.
  4. Club / team / society officials are responsible for ensuring that sections 10, 11 & 12above are adhered to and that their members are sufficiently aware of them. Failure to adhere to this policy could potentially incur penalties to the club / team / society, such as a warning, loss of Students’ Union funding, freezing of budget or suspension / withdrawal of registration as an official club / team / society.

Non-drinking events & social spaces

  1. LTSU’s entertainments calendar should not comprise exclusively of ‘drink-related’ events (e.g. club nights).Entertainments in non-drinking settings should be publicised andrun both during Freshers Week and throughout the academic year.
  2. A communal 24-hour social space that is not alcohol-oriented (i.e. not a designated area for the sale or other official distribution of alcohol) should be available on campus to students.

Education & awareness

  1. Information / advice about responsible drinking should be widely disseminated to Freshers at the start of the academic year.
  2. A poster campaign should take place in semester one of each academic year focusing on reducing social norm myths around alcohol.
  3. In addition to items 16 & 17 above, at least one responsible drinking awareness event or campaign should take place during the academic year, educating people in the dangers of excessive drinking and reinforcing advice regarding responsible drinking.
  4. Information about where to find help and advice regarding alcohol dependency issues should be made readily available to students at all times, including online.
  5. There should be a notice in The Lounge bar area clearly displaying the following information:
  6. Simple tips RE responsible drinking;
  7. Who to speak to (i.e. a member of staff) or where to go if the students finds them self in a vulnerable position due to intoxication;
  8. Where to access more in-depth information about responsible drinking and the dangers of excessive drinking;
  9. Where to access help & advice regarding alcohol dependency.

Bar Crawls

  1. Neither LTSU nor LeedsTrinityUniversity endorse Bar Crawls that overtly encourage excessive drinking.
  2. Bar Crawls organised for students by LTSU or Leeds Trinity University staff or as official LTSU / Leeds Trinity club or society socials, for example the ‘Otley Run’, should adhere to the following guidelines:
  3. The Bar Crawl should start with / be preceded by a meal. This will help reduce over-intoxication by lining participants’ stomach but also make the evening more inclusive for students who do not enjoy drinking / clubbing;
  4. Bar Crawl organisers should not actively encourage students to drink excessively, and where appropriate make students aware of sensible-drinking tips, for example alternating between alcoholic drinks and soft drinks;
  5. Bar Crawl organisers should take a reasonable level of responsibility for the welfare of the students participating in the bar crawl;
  6. Bar Crawl organisers should take extra care to themselves not become over-intoxicated so that they may remain fit & able to adhere to s. 22(c) above and to set an appropriate example to the participating students.

Freshers Festival

  1. Alcohol is not permitted to be given out at Freshers Festival / Freshers Fayre.
  2. There should be no advertising, posters or other material at Freshers Festival / Freshers Fayre which is perceived to encourage excessive drinking.

Consumption of alcohol at BUCS & other official sport matches

  1. Spectators attending official sport matches (BUCS or otherwise) at Leeds Trinity (including both home and away fans) are asked to refrain from consuming alcohol whilst watching the match.
  2. Consumption of alcohol is not permitted on LTSU / Leeds Trinity - facilitated transport to / from official sports matches (BUCS or otherwise).
  3. All members of registered LTSU / Leeds Trinity clubs / teams / societies are responsible for ensuring that they adhere to sections 25 & 26 above. Failure to do so may result in penalties such as those outlined in section 13 above.Club / team / society officials, as well as LTSU / Leeds Trinity staff, should politely encourage others to adhere to sections 25 & 26 above where practicable.

Awareness of this policy

  1. This policy should be accessible to all staff and students on the Intranet and LTSU website and also displayed in The Lounge.
  2. Appropriate members of staff should be made aware of this policy and play their part in making sure that it is properly implemented. Appropriate staff members include:
  3. Staff that work in The Lounge (i.e. bar staff and door staff);
  4. LTSU staff / Officers involved in organising, running or advertising entertainments / events;
  5. Resident Mentors;
  6. Appropriate leaders in official Leeds Trinity or LTSU clubs / sports teams and societies;
  7. External companies involved in designing advertising material for use on campus;
  8. Freshers Festival / Freshers Fayre stallholders;
  9. Leeds Trinity University’s campus security team.

Policy first came into effect: 1st July 2012.
Policy last revised: 16thJanuary 2017.

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