Vancouver nightlife support group back in action amid eased restrictions

After B.C. eased COVID-19 restrictions, the non-profit Good Night Out Vancouver is back in the downtown core to help party-goers stay safe.

The volunteers in peach shirts are once again roaming the Granville Entertainment District Friday and Saturday nights in an effort to lend a hand to nightlife patrons.

We are back! After a long and stressful covid hiatus, we are back in service w/ Dr. B’s announcement that nightclubs are ok to open. It wasnt easy making the choice to shut down& we are looking forward to seeing you this weekend
Thank you so much @CityofVancouver @downtownvan pic.twitter.com/z69jJ4U7Fp

— Good Night Out Van (@goodnightoutVAN) February 17, 2022

Stacey Forrester, founder of the initiative says they are happy to be back after the long hiatus brought on by the pandemic.

“We’ve been off of the streets for two years so it’s really good to be back. We did of course, like many nonprofits and many organizations, we lost a lot of our volunteers during the pandemic so everyone is fresh and recently trained. We put them through several sessions of training including overdose and harm reduction, and bystander intervention.”

The organization’s volunteers walk along Granville St. offering water, snacks, harm reduction supplies, and will even walk with patrons or help them get a taxi or ride share.

“Supporting people who maybe indulged a little too much and need to find their friends, or need to get into an Uber, or wait for a taxi and kind of supporting them is the big bulk of the work.”

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Over the last year, Vancouver has seen an increase in stranger physical and sexual assaults, and with nightclubs and bars open again, the organization hopes to provide a tool for people to party without worrying about being attacked.

“Volunteers are keeping their eyes out for for harassment of the folks hanging out in the public realm — whether they live there, whether they’re patrons — a big part of our training is awareness of that. And how to intervene safely, but also sensitively.”

Prior to the pandemic, Forrester says it was common for volunteers to be in contact with bouncers of party venues.

“It was pretty normal for bouncers to text the team and say, I have someone here they’re too intoxicated to be in the club, but we don’t want to let them loose.”

The communication between the two ensured people in a vulnerable state could get home safely, and Forrester says it possibly prevented certain scenarios from escalating into VPD territory.

“We did see on the news that there was a couple of fights those types of things that’s not really our lane. We tend to the things that maybe could escalate or that might go under the radar in all of the chaos.”

Forrester says she hopes bystanders can recognize volunteers again and are not afraid to reach out when they need to.

– With files from Nikitha Martins