This week, Megan Prentice should have been celebrating her friend's 22nd birthday.
But instead, she was honouring Sophia Crestani's memory by cleaning Dunedin's Castle Street. The clean up comes every year in North Dunedin's student quarter, at the request of Crestani's parents.
Prentice said it always gives her a lump in her throat.
"I feel like I could cry, it feels very special to see so many people here, she'd just be amazed to see how many people are coming together, this means so much to her family as well," she said.
In 2019, Prentice attended a party at a well-known flat called 'The Manor' with Crestani.
The two friends were among hundreds of people crammed in the house.
"I asked [Crestani] to come up the stairs with me cause it was pretty crowded downstairs and that's one of the last things I remember saying to her," said Prentice.
They both got trapped in a stampede on the stairs as people tried to leave the flat. The trauma still sticks with Prentice.
"I was saying my goodbyes, I fully thought that was it."
Prentice was pulled from the chaos, but Crestani did not make it out alive.
"It's tough to think about now, looking back and thinking about all the signs that we should have been aware of and just didn't really realise, but I guess you don't go to a party and think that you're going to lose your best friend," said Prentice.
In the aftermath of her death, in 2020, Crestani's parents launched The Sophia Charter, receiving help from stakeholders that included Dunedin's emergency services, the Dunedin City Council and The University of Otago.
The initiative is designed to improve the safety and well-being of students in Dunedin, said Otago University Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Helen Nicholson.
"Last year we had a hui where all of the partners came together and drew up an action plan."
Progress has been made, said Prentice, which includes the creation of a register for flat parties. But there are still major concerns.
She said many in the community believe first-year students in residential halls need more options to socialise.
"There is nowhere, there is no controlled safe environment for students to come together."
Under the current rules, students making noise in residential halls while drinking are instructed to leave the building.
"For the colleges, it's a bit of a balancing act cause they have students who are wanting to study so if people are making a lot of noise it's disruptive for them," said Prentice.
There were options, however.
Starters Bar was purchased in 2018 by the Otago University Student's Association (OUSA) as a safe space for students to socialise.
However, the venue closed last year due to health and safety concerns. But Prentice said this resulted in large and dangerous gatherings at student flats.
"It's really concerning, as someone who has lost someone to that, it's really, really scary to think about you know first years not having anywhere to go when they get kicked out of their halls," she said.
OUSA President Melissa Lama agrees that there is a need for more student options.
"I just want to acknowledge how they're feeling, we're trying to do our best as well and we'll keep working at seeing how we can better support safe events where all students are welcome and have access to," said Lama.
"It would be nice to have a bar at the moment but I just want to let them know that it's in the pipeline- we are working towards finding a space for students cause that's really what OUSA is all about," she said.
Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins said the City Council acknowledges there's an issue.
"It has made a significant difference to the student culture, the lack of options that people have to be able to socialise in a controlled environment," said Hawkins.
"We shouldn't be surprised that people are taking the cheaper option and I think that has had consequences down the line from a harm reduction point of view."
But the Dunedin Mayor said it's not commercially viable for businesses to cater to a student market. Businesses that have tried, discovered their customers only spent roughly $5 each.
"That's not enough to keep the lights on, so having someone like the OUSA involved in helping provide that service, as a service, rather running it as a business has been really helpful," he said.
Prentice is determined to create change, joining The Sophia Charter this year along with other Otago University Alumni.
SHARE ME