See the world but stay safe and be prepared

WHEN 19-year-old Caroline Stuttle set off to travel Australia she was full of hopes and dreams.

Like many teenagers preparing to take a break before heading off to university or into the world of work,she wanted to see the world in the trip of a lifetime.

But the gap year ended in tragedy as Caroline was thrown from a bridge to her death by drug addict Ian Previte who was trying to steal her bag.

Previte was given a life sentence for the young York woman’s murder in 2002, but her family too has been handed a life sentence, deprived of Caroline’s warmth and love.

It will be ten years next year since her death, and the charity set up by her family to help other students planning to travel abroad to keep safe has gone from strength to strength as they try to prepare young travellers for all eventualities.

As well as being a successful artist, her brother, Richard, organises talks in schools, helping to educate young people on how to keep safe as part of his job for Caroline’s Rainbow Foundation.

Now the charity has given its backing to a new scheme aimed at equipping young women with the knowledge they need to reduce the risk of being attacked and to give them the tools to defend themselves if needed.

Safe Girls was set up by Debbie Potter after numerous requests from friends and family to teach their teenage daughters some essential self-defence techniques before they went off to college or university, travelling on a gap year or simply because they wanted them to be safe when out socialising at parties, nightclubs and music festivals.

Mum-of-two Debbie took up martial arts eight years ago and now holds a black belt.

“I kept getting asked, especially by friends with teenage daughters, whether there was anything around to teach them self-defence. They didn’t want to do a martial arts course, but wanted to learn techniques which they could use to defend themselves if they got into trouble.”

Debbie, from Londesborough, enlisted the help of friend and fellow black belt Cathy Henworth, from Nunburnholme and together they devised a number of workshops and Safe Girls was created.

“The courses are not just about how to defend yourself,” explains Debbie. “We spend a lot of time looking at how to avoid getting into difficult situations.

“The best form of self- defence is not to get into that situation in the first place. A lot of it is common sense but it is amazing how many people just don’t think about it.

“What people need to remember is that this type of thing is still a very rare occurrence and hopefully they will never need to use the techniques I teach them

“There can’t be many courses where the instructor starts by saying that they hope they are never going to need to use the things they are going to be taught.

“But it is all about being prepared and above all giving off an air of confidence. Any attacker is looking for weakness, he is much less likely to attack you if you look confident.

“One of the hardest things to deal with is your own panic, but if you realise it is normal to react in that way it is easier to deal with the situation.

“We teach them some simple basic techniques that hopefully they will be able to remember in the event of an attack. We want people to go travelling and go to university and have a great time in safety.”

Richard Stuttle agrees.

“Travelling the world is such an amazing experience but what we want to see is people being aware of the dangers and how to avoid getting into trouble. We really support the work that Debbie is doing.

“Teenagers think they are invincible, and that nothing bad is ever going to happen to them. But when they leave school they are naive, if they have some basic knowledge of how to avoid getting into difficult situations and what to do if something does go wrong then they are as prepared as they can be to deal with it.

“Debbie is helping them to understand the warning signs and how to deal with them.”

Despite his sister being murdered while travelling, Richard spends much of his time convincing young people they should see the world.

“Caroline was very well prepared. She did all the right things, like telling a friend where she was going, but unfortunately she lost her life. If someone is determined on a course of action then there is very little you can do, but what happened to Caroline is extremely rare.

“You only ever hear about the times when something does go wrong, not about the thousands of young people who have the most amazing experiences of their lives.

“I would hate to think that people would be put off travelling because of what happened to her. She was following her dream. You have got to go out and experience the world, that is what it is there for. “

As well as going into schools in the UK, Richard is working with other countries, including Australia, to try to keep their young travellers safe. Next year will be a particularly difficult one for the Stuttles. Caroline was killed in April 2002 and it will be a painful anniversary.

“It has been hard over the years, the charity has helped us; it does help to do something positive. We are just ordinary people who miss Caroline every day. There are still days that we don’t want to accept that she has gone. It is especially hard now, as Caroline’s friends are getting married and having children, that is really hard on my mum,” says Richard who plans to return to Australia on the anniversary of his sister’s death where the authorities are planning to mark the occasion in some way.

“I have a great love of travel, and so long as you are prepared as much as possible and are aware of what can happen then you should have the most fantastic experience of your life.”

But it is not just teenagers and their parents who are taking their safety more seriously.

“I thought the initial interest in Safe Girls would come from young women in the 16-24 age bracket,” says Debbie.

“But I have been amazed by how many enquiries they have received from women of all ages and from all walks of life. We have had grandmothers, mums and daughters enquiring about our workshops.

“It would appear that ladies are increasingly aware of their personal safety and see a self-defence course as a way to increase confidence and have that extra piece of mind as they go about their daily lives”.

Safe Girls are currently running a series of ladies only workshops and classes around the East Riding region and Debbie and Cathy are prepared to travel if people can get a group of ten or more together.

For details of these workshops or if you are a school, university or college interested in providing this training for your female students, then visit the Safe Girls website at www.safe-girls.co.uk or contact Debbie on 07841 836821

For more information on gap year safety visit www.carolinesrainbow foundation.org.

Debbie’s top tips on staying safe

Try to look confident at all times – even if you don’t feel it

Be alert to what is going on around you – avoid texting and listening to music while walking. You cannot hear people coming up behind you

If you are approached by someone, make eye contact with them

Try not to panic and make as much noise as possible

Research the countries you are visiting for their local customs to avoid offence and drawing unwanted attention

If challenged, don’t put up a fight, letting go could save your life.

Never leave your drink unattended