Life as a Drinkaware Crew member
I’ve been a Drinkaware Crew staff member at Plymouth students union for the last year and I’m going back to help them for Fresher’s in September.
If someone had said to me your job is dealing with vomit, and urine I think I’d have run a mile and whilst it’s definitely a hazard of the job I’ve really enjoyed myself.
As a crew member I’m on hand with my colleagues to make sure that students have a good time, and nothing bad happens to them. The ones to look out for are the newbies, they definitely just do too much too soon and don’t seem to realise that they need to pace themselves. Some of them tend to pre-load, having several pints of a bottle of wine before they arrive at the venue. Then you’ll see them doing shots and then several more in a quick succession. That’s when it usually goes wrong.
I’d definitely recommend the job, it’s really varied and I think Drinkaware Crew are a valuable resource for students finding their first taste of freedom. It’s been good to see that students actually come and look for us when a friend is in trouble. Normally it’s someone who has thrown up in the toilet and I’ll help sober them up, give them a lolly to help raise their blood sugar and put them in a taxi.
The one thing we don’t want to see is a vulnerable student wandering down the road on their own, worse for wear at 3 in the morning. It’s a good feeling to know that you’ve helped someone. One good aspect of the students union is that we have a free taxi service so students can pay in the week if they have run out of cash, so that really helps them get home safely.
“You have to be good with bodily fluids”
We’ve not had too many cases of sexual harassment but we have had situations where it could have been particularly nasty. I found one girl unconscious in the loos, with very few clothes on having wet herself. She was out cold, in that situation my colleague and I had to call medical assistance.
Men too can suffer with anxiety and be a little worse for wear. More often than not it’s just vomit!
We do occasionally hear about groping on the dance floor, but not too often. The door-staff here are really good at sorting out these situations. We want everyone to enjoy themselves without actually coming to harm and will just throw anyone out who is making a nuisance of themselves. In terms of a job I can recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind a bit of banter, and is incredibly strong-willed.