SafeWalk continues to keep campus visitors safe.

A safe environment leads to improved campus life and an overall better performance of students in their academics.

The Student Association (SA) service SafeWalk does just as its name states, offering students, staff and visitors of George Brown College (GBC) community, a friendly walk to or from campus. Anyone who feels unsafe or uncomfortable walking alone can make use of the service to be accompanied within a two-kilometer radius from any GBC campus.

“It’s a free service all students, staff, faculty, anybody on campus, visitors even can access walks with us. We walk. It’s meant as a safety service so that if you don’t feel comfortable walking alone in the evening, you can walk with… two of our walkers, they work in pairs. And we walk up to two kilometres,” said Chris Yalousakis, coordinator of SafeWalk. “And we can walk to, let’s say, if you’re at St James, you can go to Union Station, King Station, you can go all the way to Allan Gardens.”

SafeWalk staff are trained in first aid, CPR, AED, sexual assault awareness, how to respond to sexual assault disclosure, Naloxone administration, and understanding and managing aggressive behavior (UMAB).

Changing this year will be the service’s hours of operation. Starting in September, SafeWalk will open at 6:30 p.m. at all the campuses except at Daniels Waterfront campus, where it will open at 7 p.m.

The change was brought to better meet the needs of the users of SafeWalk after reviewing the service usage statistics.

New to SafeWalk this year will be what Yalousakis calls “incognito mode.” He notes that this will be for those who may be uncomfortable walking with staff members who are wearing yellow vests. He says those getting a walk can ask staff to remove the vest at any time.

In addition to the regular walks offered throughout the year, students interested in learning to stay safe, can take part in one of the free workshops offered throughout the year.

Safety training programs include first aid, self-defense workshops, gender-based violence prevention workshops, safety-related cycling events and specialized UMAB for the general student population.

Yalousakis says previous program attendees found the lessons valuable and helped fulfill requirements for some jobs. SafeWalk will be increasing the UMAB training capacity to 40 people from its previous limit of 30 students, so more students can get access to it.

Further details about the registration and training dates can be found on the SafeWalk social media handles and on the student association website www.StudentAssociation.ca.

If students wish to get a walk, or meet the SafeWalk team, they are encouraged to look for service banners and kiosks at the front desk or the lobby of the campuses.

Students can use 1-888-210-7233 to call, text or WhatsApp during the opening hours to request a walk.

Booking can also be done in advance using the web request form available on the SA website.