Meet the Cardiff University football team who helped students walk home safely

They walked students home after a ‘National Rape Day’ hoax

3 years ago

I’m sure many of you have heard about the amazing act that the Cardiff University football team undertook on Saturday 24th April.

After a ‘National Rape Day’ hoax was made, the boys at Cardiff University football team took it upon themselves to do something to protect the students at Cardiff.

The boys, led by Ben Marett, offered all female students their services as chaperone should they feel unsafe walking home.

We heard about the amazing act of kindness from the boys, so we decided it was only right for you to meet the people behind the operation!

So, why did the boys at Cardiff University football decide to become involved?

Jamie Payne, 20, Architectural Engineering

“[I] helped out to give the girls confidence that they can walk home in peace.”

Bar Dobbs, 21, Economics and Spanish

“Felt it to be unjust that the women of Cardiff should spend their nights in fear, had to offer my time.”

Adam Ward, 21, History

“I wanted to play my role in showing solidarity for not just my female friends in Cardiff but for what major issue [this is] for women everywhere”

Curtis Whitehead, 21, Dental Hygiene and Therapy

“To show that we are all united against sexism and not all lads are the same, some of us have been brought up with respect.”

Morgan Pritchard, 20, Human Geography

“I wanted to make a positive impact through this small gesture in standing up against an issue that girls suffer from on a daily basis.”

Jonty Doyle, 21, Business Management Masters

“I wanted to get involved because I’ve seen all the upsetting incidents recently and wanted to play my part”

Tiago Soares, 21, Modern Languages

“With everything going on at the moment, I felt it was only right helping women during the night, a small gesture can make a huge difference”

Kieran Dimelow, 19, English Language

“It’s time for change, no one should not feel safe walking home, here at CUFC we are doing our part to inspire others.”

Thayyab Hussain, 21

“I wanted to make the streets feel safer for girls in Cardiff. Giving up some of my time was the least I could do and hopefully this will inspire other men’s uni sports teams across the country to start the similar initiatives to make the streets safer.”

Leigh Allen, 21, MSG AEG

“Firstly, I wanted to support Ben and his fantastic initiative. Second, I wanted to help the women of our community feel safer. Thirdly, but least importantly I wanted a break from my revision haha.”

Bruk Ali, 23, Data Science and Analytics

“Having had friends and family who have negative [experiences] walking alone, I wanted to do my part to help females in Cardiff feel safe.”

Will Russell, 20, Accounting and Finance

“I wanted to do my part in making a stand against anyone threatening the safety of girls walking home.”

Ben Marett, 22, Human Resource Management

“I just wanted to do my bit in helping women get home safe on Saturday night. Everything else that has come of it is a complete bonus in spreading awareness for the struggles women face today.”

Nick Eveleigh, Business Management

“I wanted to help anyway I could especially considering the recent events that have gone on.”

Dylan Barrett, 20, Economics

“I wanted to help out to reduce the chance of the awful experiences that women can endure when walking home”

Luke Firkin, 20, Economics

“Women deserve to feel safe walking home and although what we did does not tackle the root cause of the problem it might have made even one woman feel safer.”

Ryan Smith, 20, Economics

“With the severity and frequency of sexual assaults in recent times I wanted to help make a change no matter how small.”

Here is the full team behind the amazing and kind act that aimed to help women feel safe across Cardiff University campus. I’m sure we can all agree that these lads have done such a lovely thing and have gone out of their way to protect women and make them feel safer during their time at university.