The essential student safety & wellbeing course:
Alcohol | Drugs | Sexual Safety

1 in 5 students at your university have taken drugs in the last year.
This is your opportunity to help them stay safe.

Staying Safe Programme in the media

CLICK HERE

Staying Safe Programme in the media CLICK HERE

Launched in October 2022 with the support of :

The first phase of this project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
[NIHR205267- Reducing Demand for Recreational Drugs through Harm Reduction-based University Education:
Developing and Refining The Staying Safe Programme]

University partners include:

  • “I wish that I could have done a course like this when I was starting university as I think it could have been very useful to learn about how to keep myself and my friends safe.”

    Lydia

  • "I liked how it was non-judgemental, in the sense that they understand that drug use isn't good but people do it anyway. So, the best thing to do is just educate people."

    Student G

  • "I think it will equip students with the knowledge needed to make safe choices and apply their knowledge in their daily lives."

    Shane

  • "And I like the non-judgemental part. I haven't seen that before in anything, in a video of this kind."

    Student A

  • "It was clear ... he [Adam] just cared about people not coming into harm ... It was just a lot more personal."

    Student C

  • "I thought it was really good. It was really well presented."

    Student I

  • "I think this could definitely help decrease (drug use) or help to deal with maybe someone thinking 'ohh, should I do another like line or something'."

    Student B

  • "I think the 'having a conversation' module which tells you how to look out for your friends was useful."

    Student E

  • "There is a need for a quality, intelligent, informed Harm Reduction piece, and this course fulfills that need."

    Spencer Davis

  • "I felt that they were informative without being patronising, meaning it was easy to engage with the content."

    Katie

  • "I think it's applicable to students all around the world."

    Student E

FIND MORE TESTIMONIALS HERE

Promoting safety, harm reduction and wellbeing with a focus on alcohol, drugs and reducing violence towards women.

What is the Staying Safe Programme?

The Staying Safe Programme (SSP) is an online course designed by an expert team to educate university students about alcohol and other drugs in a way that is engaging, authentic and useful.

The SSP evolved from discussions with Student Unions, Directors of Student Experience and Welfare and policy experts. It places the use of substances within the context of wider university life. SSP has the health, safety and success of students at its core. It acknowledges the competing challenges universities have, from protecting reputation and recruitment, to supporting student welfare, diversity and inclusion and compliance with current drug legislation.

With comprehensive content, its harm reduction approach aims to reduce demand and risk for those who use drugs and supports non-drug users to maintain abstinence. SSP is an excellent resource for universities and complements their existing Health and Welfare Services.  

Download the Staying Safe Programme Summary

EXPERT TEAM

The Programme was developed to draw on Professor Adam R. Winstock’s 25 years experience as a Consultant Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine Specialist, member of Drug Science Expert Committee, academic researcher, educator and harm reduction advocate. He is also the founder of the Global Drug Survey that runs the world’s largest drug survey. He was one the first people to create a suite of digital tools providing free online assessment and harm reduction tools for alcohol and other drugs.  

Collaborating with students, university welfare teams as well as experts from behaviour change, policing, sexual assault, and criminology, the SSP was launched in October 2022. Having the course created by experts builds trust and integrity. This is crucial to its success, ensuring the content is relevant, effective and tailored to meet the needs of students with diverse experiences, knowledge and attitudes. Our experts don’t just know their stuff, they know students and are fantastic communicators.

MEET THE TEAM

EXTENSIVE CONTENT

SSP places the use of substances within the context of wider university life. It does not define a person by their use of a substance. SSP consists of 32 modules covering alcohol and other drugs, their effects, potential risks and reduce the risk of harm. Each module highlights issues related to mental and physical health and other personal vulnerability factors and includes modules on the law, sex drugs and consent and civic responsibility. The course also covers how to deal with drug emergencies, disrupt sexual assault and how to make informed choices and be respectful of the choices others make. We hope the course will help people become curious not judgmental.

Pilot evaluation data from students has been very good, with feedback from university staff confirming that what we have created is an excellent resource that is highly acceptable for academic institutions. Ongoing evaluation will lead to continuous course revisions to increase engagement and support informed behavioural choice, leading to a reduction in demand and an adoption of safer use strategies.

EXPLORE OUR COURSE

ENGAGING DELIVERY

We’re not like other drug education courses.

SSP knows a student’s expectation of drugs education is low. We wanted to put clear water between us and traditional approaches. The SSP is fit for purpose and aims to raise the bar. The SSP allows students to chose modules that are of relevance or of interest to them.

Our modules are engaging, practical and aim to support students make informed behavioural choices to keep them and their mates safe. The SSP offers an evidence based, non-judgmental, practical approach, that students like. While it offers harm reduction advice to help them make safer decisions, it does not minimise the risks associated with the use of substances.

COURSE CONTENT: FIND A VIDEO INTRODUCTION TO EACH SSP MODULE HERE

Contact
We look forward to hearing from you and answering any questions you may have about The Staying Safe Programme.

Professor Adam R Winstock
Consultant Psychiatrist,
Addiction Medicine Specialist
Founder, Staying Safer Ltd
adam@stayingsafer.com