Late Night Do It Right 2025

As Freshers’ week began, the Late Night Do It Right (LNDIR) team were at student accommodations in the city centre for the second year in a row to help support students by sharing UWE’s Drugs and Alcohol policy. We were there during the times they are having their “pre-drinks" as they were preparing for their nights out. We weren’t there to kill the mood or lecture anyone, far from it. Instead, we were all about keeping things fun and safe. 

A lot of students were surprised (in a good way!) to learn about UWE’s harm reduction approach to drugs and alcohol. Many expected a zero-tolerance policy, but that’s not what we’re about. We know Freshers' Week is a time when nights out and experimenting can happen, so our aim was simple: help students make safer choices without being judgemental or patronising to help them throughout their time at university! 

So How Did LNDIR Run? 

We set up a hub in the common room downstairs with leaflets and freebies on the tables. It made the information easy to access and gave students a chance to chill, read up, and chat with the LNDIR team in a relaxed environment. The freebies were a huge hit: condoms, spikeys, crisps, sweets, and of course, Domino’s pizza! The best part was that people could sit with friends, browse the information, and talk to us freely. 

We had some truly insightful conversations with some students telling us how they knew someone who had experienced side effects from drugs so they were glad we were there, educating people and starting these important conversations. We know that several of the students we spoke to have experience with drugs and alcohol in the past, but as this is their first time away from home it is still important to talk about as more freedom can lead to more dangerous decisions. Knowing key harm reduction information allows students to be able to explore in a safer way.  

While some of us manned the hub, the rest of the team knocked on flat doors to invite students for free pizza. 

Not only did the free pizza help line the stomachs of the students before their night out, but it also enticed them to open their doors and start our intervention. Most students were genuinely excited/surprised to listen to us talk about UWE's harm reduction policy. They were also excited for the additional freebies and some of them took the time to read the leaflets we gave them mentioning they had posted them up on their flat walls! Hearing that kind of feedback was amazing because it showed us that our message was making an impact and being absorbed.  

Some of our students called us “heros” and really appreciated the information provided. Most people found the alcohol volume cups useful and realised that a shot was smaller than they may have been pouring. However, it was nothing to be ashamed about that was why we were there. We wanted to be there and to have the conversations that could potentially be saving someone's life. For some people, the pizza was their first meal of the day and hopefully the meal that lined their stomachs before they went out that night. 

It was crucial for the LNDIR team to be there during those three nights of Freshers' Week to show the support the Student Union offers. Giving out freebies was fun, but the real win was having those honest conversations with students which are conversations they might not be used to having. Hopefully the student's biggest takeaway was that there's always support available, and if they want to try something new, the advice is simple: start low, go slow! 

If you want to find out more information about harm reduction or about the LNDIR team please click the links!