A nightlife team that was established in Derry in a bid to make the city's streets feel safer for people is to continue "as long as they are requested".
The Inner City Assistance Team (ICAT), which is a group of volunteers with no public funding, patrols Derry city centre Friday to Sunday from 10pm to the early hours making sure those in distress or difficulty are kept safe.
The group, which only intended to keep the scheme running for 10 weeks, came up with the idea to install the 'ask for Angela' campaign in bars and nightclubs throughout Derry.
Read more: Strathfoyle Greenway project to "open before Christmas" following delays
The code phrase is part of the Ask Angela campaign aimed at helping people who feel unsafe, vulnerable or threatened in bars, clubs and other night-time venues.
Anyone who feels this way can approach bar or security staff using the special code word ‘Angela’, which indicates to staff that they require help or support.
Speaking to MyDerry, Stephen Henry, group leader of ICAT, said: "We always had our concerns about people in the city centre. We went out and we spent three or four months doing a bit of research and we saw some incidents where people clearly needed help.
"We knew that we could be a help if we decided to go out there and help people who were in need. We were only originally going to be on the streets for around two months because we were promoting the 'Ask for Angela' campaign."
He continued: "But it has been a huge success to date and more people need help in this town than people think. We usually get calls quite regularly now about people in distress or someone who is in need of help and we would go and we would help that person.
"We would call for medical assistance, police, whatever they need to make them feel safe, we would do that for them.
"We have incidents from people who are not in a good place mentally, to people who need us to get in contact with their family. We had one incident, for example, where a boy and a girl, who were on a night out, had no way to contact their families because both of their phones had died.
"We were able to step in and provide them with the assistance that they needed and they got home safe. I don't think that sort of service is offered in the town and sometimes people aren't always there to provide the support instantly the way that we can."
Stephen said that the response that his team had gotten over the last 10 months since it was set up in December 2021 had been "hugely positive".
"We've had a lot of people ask us for assistance, more than even we were expecting. We have got a lot of calls from within the city centre and unfortunately, we've had quite a lot of calls where the person was a risk to themselves and needed support.
"It's heart-breaking at times, it really is. But it's the hard reality of where this town is at in terms of its response to people suffering with their mental health.
"We have been asked to stay on in the town and keep doing what we're doing and we've had that discussion as volunteers and we're prepared to keep doing this as long as it's requested.
"The volunteers who come out every weekend they can is truly inspiring. We have no funding at all, we do this out of our own back pocket and we just want to make sure that the people who are from this city, or visit, are safe at night."
READ NEXT:
PSNI probe alleged sexual assault on teenage girl in Co Down
- Man armed with knife jumps over Belfast takeaway counter
- PSNI release images of rammed patrol car as officers escape serious injury
To get the latest breaking news from Co Derry straight to your inbox, sign up to our free newsletter.
