At the University of Greenwich, students at the halls of residence have had bespoke training from TFS.
Over a decade ago the south-east London university sought a more agile, and student-centred, approach to the various issues over safety and security as at any student halls. As on any campus, often out of hours issues caused the most anxiety. Hence the creation by Greenwich of a team of Resident Assistants (RAs), drawn from students, to offer not only pastoral care for fellow students but a first responder capability to mediate in lower level occurrences of anti-social behaviour, particularly out of hours and over the weekends. Those RAs also needed to be trained in their own personal safety. Lower level incidents of anti-social behaviour can be ‘nipped in the bud’ instead of possibly elevating to something unacceptable.
The chosen service delivery partner was, and still is, TFS. Bill Franciscy, Head of Accommodation Services at Greenwich, says, “TFS now provides 80pc of the RA training engaging with personal safety, mediation and dealing with mental health related issues. I can honestly say that TFS have greatly supported the university to create a positive culture of safety and security awareness. The RAs have become our ‘eyes and ears’ and are able to confidently deal with a variety of issues that, in the past, would have meant the call out of a full member of staff.”
The selection of RAs is through internal screening. The applications are rising year on year as it’s something that can be added to student CVs, and comes with the offer of free accommodation. The last cohort of 32 were drawn from a pool of 120. In terms of professional knowledge TFS has linked key personal safety modules of the RA training to the Home Office approved Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS) of which TFS is approved by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
Bill adds: “There have been occasions when RAs have successfully managed high-risk situations and protected both the personnel and scene until the arrival of the emergency services.”
Bill says that the resident RA approach provides a return on investment and better protects the reputation of the university. He says: “Before we partnered with TFS there was local non-professional training provided but on reflection this did not fully meet the inherent risks, nor did it properly address corporate responsibility in terms of legal compliance. Not only are we much better prepared in terms of operational pedigree but our resilience is reviewed annually with a legacy to be proud of. In terms of an ROI the budget for TFS is money well spent.”
As for CSAS, TFS says that it offers the only blended solution for the Community Safety for Accredited Persons programme. Its resources have been developed and produced by experienced educationalists from the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth.
Ian Kirke, TFS Managing Director, said: “This award underpins the vital role that accredited persons play within the extended police family. Its practical approach and flexible learning opportunities offer a significant return on investment, especially since prior SIA learning is recognised. I welcome the pragmatic approach adopted by Police CPI and the enthusiastic approach to our blended learning solution that engages with distance learning materials thus significantly reducing the time away from the workplace. A good example of how this solution is being used is within the London Borough of Hounslow where the Environmental Enforcement Team has adopted the TFS model.”
TFS’ CSAS customers include other councils, unis, contract security companies that provide CSAS services to their own clients, and Transport for London.
