Drunken students found stumbling through Cardiff are to be tagged with wristbands to act as a morning reminder of their dangerous binge-drinking.
The wristbands will serve as a warning for hungover students, unable to remember the night before, of how vulnerable they became because of excess alcohol.
Each bright yellow wristband bears the alarming question “how did you get home?” alongside the South Wales Police badge and a QR code to scan for further information.
About 1,000 wristbands have been created as part of the pioneering initiative aimed at tackling student binge-drinking in the Welsh capital.
They will be strapped to highly intoxicated individuals picked up by a free Cardiff University Students’ Union minibus service which travels through the city’s student areas.
The scheme comes as police, council and health chiefs continue in their attempts to rid Cardiff of its reputation as Britain’s booze capital.
In January, Cardiff University’s Professor Jonathan Shepherd, director of the Violence & Society Research Group at School of Dentistry, warned the city was facing a binge-drinking “epidemic”.
Campaigners have praised the wristband idea, saying heavily intoxicated students will realise they are “putting themselves at greater risk of injury or attack”.
Cardiff student liaison officer Emma Robson, who has worked to introduce the wristbands, said she hoped they would “encourage responsible drinking” among students.
She said: “If I woke up with one of these on it would make me think twice. I would feel a bit embarrassed as well.”
PC Tim Davies, South Wales Police community safety student liaison officer, said: “It’s just about educating people and making them realise that if you are that drunk, you’re putting yourself into a vulnerable position.”
The wristbands have been introduced aboard a Cardiff University Students’ Union minibus service, called the Student Safety Bus.
The free bus service – which began last year and operates between 10pm on 4am on most Wednesdays and Saturdays – is run by student volunteers with the support of South Wales Police.
It aims to identify vulnerable people such as those who are highly intoxicated and take them home or to hospital should they require treatment. The first batch of about 1,000 wristbands cost the students’ union about £150 to create.
PC Tim Davies described the range of vulnerable people picked up by the minibus during a night in Cardiff.
