Liverpool-based nightlife app Skiffl has announced they will give away 15,000 free condoms to ensure a “safe night out” for the cities latest batch of student revellers.

Fresher’s Week, has just been in Liverpool and a fresh batch of students take over the city’s nightlife scene from now until Christmas with around 70,000 students in total out and about. Events such as Level Wednesdays and the exclusive ‘Varsity’ student event at the Hilton Hotel’s Playground.

Skiffl Founder Liam O’Donnell, who graduated from LJMU last year, commented “Skiffl gives people access to the best night of their lives; we want to ensure that our users also stay safe no matter what happens at the end of their night!”

Over 20,000 students are expected to move into the city this year, pumping millions of pounds into the local economy.

Despite widespread awareness of condoms, research has shown that Condoms provide effective protection against STIs but many students choose not to use them – around 15% of under-25s reported having unprotected sex with two or more partners in the last year. The good news is that rates of teenage pregnancies are at record lows. In 2014 in England and Wales they were at the lowest rate since 1946, with only 15.6 pregnancies per 1,000 women younger than 20. Unfortunately, rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are still very high. There were 440,000 diagnoses in the UK in 2014, and the under 25s are one of the most high risk groups.*

Distribution of free condoms in public areas has drawn criticism in the past with some arguing that it actively encourages promiscuity. However, O’Donnell laughed off these claims commenting “Students themselves have actually embraced the idea.”