Safe Journey Home

Or perhaps more accurately peace of mind for the Parents of all student freshers.

There is something very special about freshers week when students are leaving behind their old high school life and starting a new life at university or college. With so much to do and with so little time available it is easy to lose yourself in the rush and forget about things like your personal safety.

However while the sons and daughters have got carried away it is likely that concern for their safety will be heightened in the minds of their parents and guardians. This is especially more so if your children have moved out of home to relocate closer to their college or university.

Safe Journey Home can offer students and their parents peace of mind by offering a service designed to increase personal safety when travelling in taxis or private hire cars.

What’s more using Safe Journey Home will only cost a standard text message for each time you use the service. Is that not a small price to pay for personal safety?

Parents can register their children’s mobile phone details on their behalf on Safe Journey Home’s website - www.safejourneyhome.co.uk - which will enable them to use the service immediately. Registration is totally free. When your son or daughter is out at night get them to text Safe Journey Home the taxi details whenever they are travelling. You will be able to log-in to the website and view message details sent. This allows you to check when your child has got into a taxi or not.

I would urge parents who are worried about their children to use Safe Journey Home’s safety service and its safety guidelines.

Safe Journey Home has been described as “a welcome addition to Crime Prevention” by Chief Inspector Brian Connel, Community Safety Department of Strathclyde Police Force. We would recommend everyone reads their advice on safety – click here.

You can use Safe Journey Home to plan your nights out by using our directories to find bars, nightclubs, restaurant and taxis. A recent addition to the directory is The Union – Glasgow’s biggest union with 6 venues in the one building. Part of the University of Strathclyde and situated on its campus at 90 John Street you will find it near George Square in the city centre.

The last word of this blog is a message to all students across the UK – whether you are starting or returning – enjoy yourself!

Yesterday’s Evening Times (Glasgow) newspaper carried a front page story about new legislation being brought in by the Scottish Government in an attempt to “clean up” the Private Hire Car industry.
Link to story here

It is reported the legislation prevents criminals from running companies and will be enforced within months.

The Police and the Licensing Boards of local authorities will be given more power to investigate radio control bases. Private Hire Vehicle companies will be required to apply for annual license - believed to cost £150 per year.

The aim of this is to allay public fears that such firms have links to drug dealing and money laundering. Interestingly the Evening Times own website poll asking the question “With plans being drawn up to license private hire taxi bases, will such measures be enough to sever the trade’s links with gangsters?” is currently sitting at 15.7% Yes, 75.0% No, 9.3% Don’t Know (As of 10am, 14th Aug 08). An overwhelming indication that the public - in Glasgow at least - still have concerns.

Safe Journey Home welcomes any initiative that aims to increase public confidence and safety in using Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles because these are our own objectives.

The difference is that Safe Journey Home gives power to the passenger to increase their own safety and to increase their own confidence. Our members are not dependant on anyone else - they are taking responsibility for their own safety.

Safe Journey Home is a service independent of which Taxi or Private Hire Car you are using. It can even be used to increase safety in other scenarios outwith taxi-use too.

For more information on how to use Safe Journey Home safety service watch our new video: An Explanation of Safe Journey Home. You will find this on our home page - click here for Safe Journey Home home page

Register now and use Safe Journey Home for free.

Safe Journey Home is delighted to announce that Boho Night Club has joined as a member venue. By gaining membership with us Boho are showing their dedication to the safety and well being of all their visitors.

Safe Journey Home members can benefit not only from a safety aspect but also from exclusive offers available to them when they visit Boho Night Club in the west end of Glasgow, Scotland. Special offers shall be advertised within the Member’s Section of our website www.safejourneyhome.co.uk. Remember that you need to be registered to access the Member’s Section. You can register for free to use Safe Journey Home website and the free personal safety service.

Here is a bit about Boho Night Club in their own words taken with permission from their website:

“Nesting in the leafy suburb of Partick in Glasgow’s throbbing west end a little jewel of a nightclub has become a regular haunt for the young and not so young since its birth in August last year.

It’s more of a late night bar with louder music rather than a full on club, more cosmopolitan than your typical modern club space.

You can pop in with your mates, play some pool, puff away on the smoking terrace or have aunty Val cook up one of her delicious chicken Tikka wraps.

Or head down to the dance floor and take in some tunes. The lime room offers the more discerning customer a fantastic range of champagne, wines and cocktails from its well stocked bar.

All in all Boho is a wee beauty shining like a new pin and we intend to keep it that way.

Come try us, you are sure to enjoy…… ”

We believe that Boho will be the first of many entertainment venues such as night clubs, restaurants, casinos, bingo halls, pubs and dance halls to sign up for membership to Safe Journey Home. We know that your safety is their concern too. Support the venues that support your safety by visiting them - at least you know that you are more than welcome - you are cherished.

You can do more than book a taxi on the Safe Journey Home service. As well as our Taxi Directory with booking details for taxis in Glasgow, Edinburgh and more regions of Scotland the Safe Journey Home website also features the Venue Directory. Here you will find the best and safest places to visit for great nights out or quiet afternoon drinks.

Register for free with Safe Journey Home for the latest Special offers which are exclusive to our members.

Safe Journey Home have announced today a Prize Draw competition to celebrate the launch of our personal safety service. 

One lucky winner selected at random will get the choice of taking home either a pair of GHD Mark IV Ceramic Hair Straighteners (RRP £119) or an iPod Nano 4GB mp3 player (RRP £99).

To enter the Prize Draw all you need to do is register for free with Safe Journey Home via the website - www.safejourneyhome.co.uk  (if you haven’t already done so) and use our SMS safety service by texting our number - 07786 200 699 - at least once between now and the end of the competition - 30th June 2008 inclusive. Remember that our SMS service only costs your standard Network Rate for a text.

All successful entrants will be put into the draw which will be made on 2nd July 2008 and the winner will be notified and asked which prize would they prefer - the GHD IV Stylers or the iPod Nano!

For full terms and conditions of the competition please click here

Remember the best way to increase your confidence when using taxis is to use our simple three step process:

1. Register with us and become a member for free - Register Now
2. Save our text number - 07786 200 699 - to your mobile phone so that you have it with it you at all times.
3. Whenever you are in a taxi (or any vehicle), text Safe Journey Home with the vehicle details e.g unique Taxi Number, Registration Number, Car Make, Model and Colour and afterwards tell the driver you have done so

Take some control back when you are using taxis and increase both your safety and your confidence when hailing a cab.

Use Safe Journey Home now and don’t miss your chance to win!

Safe Journey Home is a campaign to increase your safety when travelling home with emphasis on travelling by taxi cab.
Our mission statement is “to improve the safety of all our members”.

We have developed a personal safety service in consultation with Strathclyde Police to help give you reassurance travelling in taxis or any vehicle where you do not know the driver well.

Safe Journey Home believe to achieve this is a simple three step process:

1. Register with us and become a member for free - Register Now at www.safejourneyhome.co.uk
2. Save our text number - 07786 200 699 - to your mobile phone so that you have it with it you at all times.
3. Whenever you are in a taxi (or any vehicle), text Safe Journey Home with the vehicle details e.g. unique Taxi Number, Registration Number, Car Make, Model and Colour and afterwards tell the driver you have done so

Step 3 is the most important and worth explaining in more detail.
Safe Journey Home have consulted with Strathclyde Police to create a FREE* service which securely records information which could be vital in the event of a police investigation. This is a powerful reactive service.
Secondly as a Preventative safety measure you should tell your driver that you are a member with Safe Journey Home and you have sent the car details. It is important to do this after you have sent the text and try to drop it into the conversation with the driver.

It is important that you use Safe Journey Home when you don’t feel threatened because experience shows that situations can escalate very quickly.
If you feel threatened call 999 immediately. Safe Journey Home service is not designed to replace the police.

Let us be clear the majority of taxi drivers are legitimate professionals who work under difficult circumstances and face the potential of verbal and physical abuse with every client they pick up.
However there are many travellers who feel vulnerable and our aim is to increase their safety and bring piece of mind to all these people.

Make it your habit to text Safe Journey Home whenever you get in a car with someone you do not know well. This includes taxis but should be extended to travelling with anyone that you do not know - even friends of friends.
* Safe Journey Home is a FREE service - your only cost is your mobile network’s standard text charge.

Remember we cannot guarantee your safety but we believe that we can increase your safety and if something does happen then we can help Police catch the perpetrator.