Lincolnshire's '˜Ask for Angela' campaign goes nationwide

The poster was part of the council’s #NoMore campaign, and is displayed in bars in the Lincolnshire Pubwatch schemes. It lets people know that if they are in a situation where they don’t feel safe, they can ask bar staff for help.

Thanks to social media, the poster has now been circulated more than 31,000 times around the world with people praising the idea, and the National Pubwatch scheme has now made the poster available to all its members.

In addition, requests to use the posters have come in from around the world, as well as within the UK.

Hayley Child, Substance Misuse and Sexual Violence & Abuse Strategy Coordinator for Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We know of almost 20 places in the UK who have asked us if they can use the posters, including the Met Police which covers all London boroughs.

“Now the national pubwatch scheme have made the posters available to all members across the UK, we’re expecting even more places to take it on.

“On top of that, we have also spoken to police and safety organisations who want to use the campaign in Australia, Canada, America, Argentina and Germany.”

Steve Baker, Chairman of the National Pubwatch Scheme, said: “The Lincolnshire campaign has generated a lot of interest from local Pubwatch schemes and we are grateful to Hayley for making a generic poster available to them. The safety of customers should be a priority for everyone working in the pub and hospitality trade”.

Hayley continued: “The ‘Ask for Angela’ posters are part of our wider #NoMore campaign which aims to promote a culture change in relation to sexual violence and abuse, promote services in Lincolnshire and empower victims to make a decision on whether to report incidents.

“Sexual abuse and violence is a national issue and all councils have a responsibility to tackle abuse. This was Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership’s first awareness raising campaign on this issue.

“We have had a really positive response to the campaign, including thanks from victims of abuse for the work that’s being done. The campaign has been supported by many professional partners in the county and we will be relaunching #NoMore in February to tie in with the National Sexual Violence and Abuse awareness week.”

• See www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/nomore for more information.