Pubs, bars and clubs that have signed up to a scheme designed to protect customers who fear for their safety are not enforcing it, an undercover BBC investigation has found.

The Ask for Angela initiative, a nonprofit project implemented in thousands of locations across the country, aims to provide a discreet lifeline for people who believe they are in danger.

Those with these fears are encouraged to use the code word “Angela” to signal to staff that they need help.

But secret filming by BBC investigators found that in half of the London venues they visited, including major chains, staff did not respond to the code word. The BBC received similar reports from across the UK.

This comes as more councils make participation in the scheme key to granting alcohol licences.

Our investigation found that staff at large chains, including Greene King, JD Wetherspoon and Simmons, were among those who did not recognize the keyword.

Greene King said he was concerned by the BBC’s findings and pledged to review how the Ask for Angela plan was communicated to his teams. JD Wetherspoon said it had successfully addressed many examples of distressed women using the scheme, but would provide additional training if necessary. There was no response from Simmons.

He Ask for Angela The initiative, which is primarily aimed at women but can be used by anyone who feels unsafe in a participating establishment, has spread from the United Kingdom to countries around the world, including Canada and the Netherlands, and operates in thousands of places. The plan is named after Angela Crompton, who was murdered by her husband.

Staff receive special training to recognize the word Angela as a sign that someone needs help.

Upon hearing the code word, employees should discreetly intervene, helping the person to safety by meeting friends, calling a taxi or contacting the police if necessary.

Venues often prominently advertise their participation in Ask for Angela, placing signs and stickers throughout their facilities, particularly women’s bathrooms, and also advertise online to say they are a safe haven.

Some people say they actively seek out these establishments when organizing dates or nights out, seeing the plan as a safety net after going through traumatic experiences in the past.

A woman, whom the BBC names only as “Kay”, explained how she had met a man for the first time after connecting to a dating app, but the meeting turned into a nightmare.

“At first it was fine,” he told the BBC. “But then the night just kept getting worse and worse.”

Within minutes of sitting together, her date began touching her inappropriately. “He started playing with my hand and I was paralyzed,” she said, visibly upset. “I took my hand away. I put it behind my neck. And he kept saying, ‘give me your hand, give me your hand.'”

When she tried to leave, his behavior worsened. “We got up and then he grabbed me around the waist. And he slid his hand down. I was scared and also a little surprised by what was happening because I said, ‘leave me alone.'”

Kay wasn’t aware of the Ask for Angela program but believes if it had been implemented correctly it could have helped and says she is now looking for places that operate it.

Following tips from women and bar staff concerned about the implementation of the scheme, BBC investigators posed as a couple on a date to try out venues that actively promoted their participation.

While most of the approaches were carried out by a female researcher, in a couple of cases a researcher made a request for help, as the plan applies to anyone who feels unsafe.

At one establishment, our undercover investigator approached the bar, as if distressed on a date, and asked, “Is there anyone named Angela working?”

“WHO?” Was the confusing response.

“Angela.”

“Er, no.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

At another participating venue, named by the BBC, the White Bear in Hounslow, west London, a man who identified himself as the manager was unaware of the plan.

He told our investigator: “No one here called Angela… 100%, I’m the manager, I know my staff.” When pressed further, he added: “Not in the last four years I’ve been here.”

The White Bear did not respond to our questions, but told us that he no longer worked there and that any “idea” of the BBC’s interaction with him was “outdated and misrepresented.”

These were not isolated incidents: 13 of the 25 places we visited did not adequately respond to the keyword Angela.

One of the venues that demonstrated how the scheme should work was Hootananny in Brixton, south London. When a researcher asked about Angela and said she felt uncomfortable, the response was immediate.

“Is everything all right?” the waiter asked without hesitation, before signaling to the manager. Within seconds, they took our investigator to a safe space and asked, “Is there anything we can help with or anything you want to talk to us about?”

Similarly, at White Hart on Drury Lane, central London, staff activated their response protocol when our investigator asked about Angela. The manager, Kristoff, took her outside and even organized a safe haven for her in a nearby pub.

“Let’s keep it inside,” Kristoff told our investigator. “Go to this pub on the right hand side… Ask for Neville. He’s a friend of mine, he’s the manager there… Stay there for half an hour and if you want to come back, come back – we’ll make sure he’s gone.”

The BBC has found that at least £900,000 of public money has been spent promoting and implementing Ask for Angela in England and Wales.

The biggest investment is in London, with £324,000 from the Mayor’s Women’s Night Safety Charter Fund and £32,000 from the Metropolitan Police.

Outside the capital, Knowsley Council in Merseyside invested £90,000, Colchester Council received £77,800 from the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority allocated £71,000. Sussex Police received £296,363 from the same Home Office fund, with a portion dedicated to Ask for Angela.

The scheme is increasingly integrated into official licensing policies in England and Wales.

Westminster City Council, which has the most licensed premises of any council in the country, includes the operation of Ask for Angela as a consideration when granting licenses to sell alcohol, as do Camden City Council and Manchester City Council.

Dozens of other councils, including Tower Hamlets, Cannock Chase, North West Leicestershire, Kirklees, Torbay, Haringey and Havant, are requiring or strongly encouraging venues to implement the scheme as part of their licensing conditions.

The BBC investigation suggests the London findings could be indicative of wider problems across the country.

Women and bar staff safety campaigners in Oxford, parts of the West Midlands, Manchester, Coventry, Kent and Brighton told the BBC of their concerns about inconsistent implementation and staff training, while organizations Women’s safety committees in Cornwall, Sheffield and Devon said the plan had failed. be adopted by many places there.

Women’s safety advocates are calling for the Ask for Angela program to be made mandatory and properly enforced. Jamie Klingler of Reclaim These Streets warns: “Women take a lot of risks when going out: often for online dating or to meet someone you don’t know. And a lot of people check in advance to see.”

“And if Ask for Angela is at a bar, you’re like, ‘Okay, they’ll back me up.’

“Finding out it’s a figment of your imagination is really horrible. We’re already telling our friends where we are; they’re tracking us, making us track our phones.

“Discovering (the flaws in the Ask for Angela plan) is more than disappointing: it puts women at risk.”

“It’s a real concern”

Sylvia Oates, director of Ask for Angela, said what the BBC had discovered was worrying.

“It’s disappointing to hear that only about half of the places were able to respond adequately… if someone asks about Angela, they clearly need help. And if they don’t get the help they expect, then the plan isn’t working.”

He said high staff turnover in the hospitality industry could make ongoing training difficult, but added this was not an excuse.

“It’s a real concern that locals have put up the sign and then if anyone asks about Angela it won’t be successful,” Ms Oates said, adding that locals advertising their involvement in the scheme had a responsibility to ensure the personnel were trained to respond.

Call for stricter measures to ensure compliance.

“I think when a venue advertises that they operate Ask for Angela, then there should be some sort of fine or repercussion if they haven’t trained all their staff.”

Mr Oates said a “strong deterrent” was needed for businesses that were not properly training staff, adding: “It is simply not acceptable for people to go somewhere expecting help and not get the help they need”.

He told the BBC he would meet MPs to discuss ways to strengthen the scheme, potentially making participation a mandatory condition for venues with alcohol licences.

Additional reporting by Laurence Cawley

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