VIDEO: ‘Ask for Angela’ campaign will rescue people from creepy dates

The poster will be displayed discretely in toilets. Archant

It’s sadly an all–too–common occurrence: hitting it off with someone in a bar, then they do or say something that makes you feel vulnerable and unsafe. Now a campaign has been launched to help people discretely ask for help from bar staff before the situation escalates.

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Posters will be going up in loos across the capital to let customers know that if they need help, they can “ask for Angela” – and staff will get them help, whether that’s calling them a taxi, ringing a friend or family member, or asking the person who is causing distress to leave.

The idea might seem quirky, but pilots in Merton and Lincolnshire have shown that it’s a simple and effective way to stop uncomfortable encounters potentially escalating into violence or sexual assault.

Inspector Wayne Matthews, from the Central Licensing Team, said that the simple yet effective scheme will help people who may be “in the company of someone who is not what they seemed and they want to get away safely and with minimum fuss.”

He said hopefully it would prevent situations “escalating into something more serious,” and added: “Of course where scenarios do develop we know bar staff will contact police to attend the scene and deal in the usual manner.”