Students speak out about experiencing spiking incidents at York clubs

Over the last few weeks, there has been an increasing number of stories surrounding spikings in and around clubs in York.

Starting on social media, the shared incidents have since sparked a student wide boycott of Club Salvation on Friday 7th March, forcing the club to close early. The success of the boycott was shared through a series of videos on the @imjustyork_ Instagram after the account had been encouraging societies and other students to boycott in solidarity with the people victim to the alleged spikings.

The following week on Friday 14th March, Club Salvation made the decision to not open for the night, anticipating the success of another student boycott. However, a spokesperson from Salvation told The York Tab that the club was full on Wednesday 12th March, another official student night.

As awareness continues to grow on social media, it has been reported that an unnamed York club and their supporting party network has allegedly sent at least one cease and desist letter to student led Instagram accounts, threatening legal action. This appears to be a response to the mass of spiking reports being posted on social media.

via @imjustyork_ on Instagram

After investigation, The York Tab can say that spikings in York are not just directly connected to student nights at Salvation, but we have also had numerous reports implicating other clubs and non-student nights.

We reached out to you, and asked for your experiences with spiking, and here are a few of the responses we received. Each response is from a named and real Instagram account, anonymous here for privacy reasons.

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This message was received just over a week ago: “I was spiked last Wednesday at [Club] Salvation. It happened in the queue, not even within the club. The bouncers watched me go from practically sober to absolutely slaughtered in a matter of about half an hour.”

The alleged incident was said to be an injection spiking outside of the club. When asked if the mentioned bouncers acted respectfully, we were told “The bouncers didn’t pay much attention, I was told I was too drunk when it was very clear it was more than just too much to drink.”

Another person who wrote in simply said, “I’ve been to salvos five times, I was spiked two of those times.” These incidents were both claimed to be on student nights, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Ziggy’s Bar and Nightclub has also been mentioned regarding student spikings: “My friend was spiked at Ziggy’s and she took a photo of her shot. She wasn’t in the right capacity to notice in the moment but the morning after she saw it.”

This student claimed to have had two incidents with spiking in Ziggy’s and no issues with Salvos, though they have never attended a Friday student night, one of the most common times of these reported spiking incidents.

Revolution York has also been mentioned, a club that holds its official student night on Sunday. One messenger said that they experienced a needle spike in Revs on Sunday 2nd March, stating that they believed it to be safe as they had never heard of any related instances in Revolution.

She observed how “They didn’t check any bags upon arrival, or student ID’s”, calling to question the safety and security of official SU nights. 

The York Student Union is currently in partnership with Club Salvation, with the official student nights being Wednesdays and Fridays. The SU has recently shared a statement about the safety of nightclubs in York, claiming: “York SU has not received any recent reports of spiking at any students’ union club nights.”

The statement ensures that the safety and wellbeing of students is the SU’s number one priority, sharing that it is listening to concerns. An email to the university’s societies reads: “While we are also proactively reviewing concern at YorkSU nights out, we have also not yet received any official reports via our designating form.”

Freddy Russell, York SU’s Community and Wellbeing Officer, told The York Tab: “As discussed in our statement on the subject this week, we know students are very concerned about night safety. In that statement we outlined a number of safety measures in place at every YorkSU club night.”

Freddy re-emphasised the importance of taking the official SU steps in response to spiking incidents: “If anyone has experienced anything that made them feel unsafe on a YorkSU club night, we urge them to report it on our reporting form. This helps us understand more about students’ experience on our nights, give clearer information to students, and make changes to address concerns where necessary.”

On Thursday 13th of March, Club Salvation and York Parties issued a joint statement on their Instagram pages acknowledging the allegations made against them in the past month. They have promised students that they are making a commitment to protect them on nights out at their venue. These posts are the first and only official acknowledgements made by Club Salvation so far, reading “You deserve to enjoy your nights out without doubt or worry creeping in.”

The following day, Friday 14th March, representatives from Club Salvation, York Parties, and York SU held a drop-in session in The Lounge on campus, inviting students to come and voice their concerns.

York Party Network have also posted on their own Instagram page, the network working in association with Ziggy’s, to inform students that it is also taking further precautions to prevent spiking at their events.

The newly created Instagram account @yorcan.makeadifference is currently boosting the measures being taken by York students, posting information and reports online until the university takes official action to tackle the alleged rise in spikings.

Until official action is taken by the SU, let this serve as a reminder that the best way to ensure your own safety is to be aware of the risks surrounding you. For those who intend to continue to enjoy the amazing nightlife that York has to offer, please watch your drink and those around you. As action taken so far has demonstrated, it is only through acting as a community that students can force new measures to be put in place.

Club Salvation, York Party Network and Revolution York were contacted for comment.