the branch - feb 2016
DESCRIPTION
This is the first edition of The Branch for 2016. Manchester Student Homes’ Good Neighbours Team has had a busy and eventful winter with lots of projects and news to tell you about!TRANSCRIPT
February 2016
This is the first edition of The Branch for 2016. Manchester Student
Homes’ Good Neighbours Team has had a busy and eventful winter
with lots of projects and news to tell you about!
Manchester Student Homes (MSH) in collaboration
with The University of Manchester’s Pastoral Care
Team and Ladybarn Community Centre organised
and hosted a charity Afternoon Tea event at Woolton
Hall on 3rd February. The event was created for local
residents in care homes around Fallowfield and
Withington. Alongside the tea and cake there was
music, bingo and the all-important raffle!
The event was a great success and we received
excellent feedback from the both the residents and
volunteers! One resident stated:
‘We have had a brilliant afternoon and it has been
fantastic to have the students involved. Events like this
make a real impact and show the community that
students do care!’
We would also like to thank the student volunteers,
our MSH accredited landlord volunteers, Mark
Hibbert from the University of Manchester’s Pastoral
Care Team, Krysia Griffiths from Ladybarn
Community Centre, MSH staff and everyone who
donated gifts for the raffle!
Hello everyone my name is Milena, I am the
Manchester Metropolitan University’s Community
Cohesion Intern at MSH. I will be working on the
Halls 2 Home Campaign supporting students during
their transition from Halls of Residence to living in off
campus areas.
I would be really keen to hear from students, long
term residents and partner organisations about the
campaigns we have planned for rest of the year and
how we can work better together.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at
Afternoon Tea at Woolton Hall Hello from Milena!
Manchester Student Homes is a free, university-run housing service for students. Based in
Fallowfield, MSH runs a landlord accreditation scheme and can offer support to students in
relation to property searches, providing housing advice and contract checking. MSH also works
with students, the community and partner agencies to identify issues in off campus areas.
MSH accredited Landlords have
volunteered at a number of community
events. If you are organising an event or need
volunteers please send details of the opportunity
to Poppy Humphrey (Off Campus Student Affairs
Officer) at [email protected]
On 10th February, MSH attended the UKCISA (UK
Council for International Student Affairs) Members
Forum to showcase their
International Student
Safety Campaign.
UKCISA is a national
advisory body providing
information and guidance
to overseas students and
the event gathered members from Universities all
over the UK. It provided an opportunity to discuss
effective solutions and practical advice about issues
facing international students.
Joshua Payne, The University of Manchester
Community Cohesion Intern, delivered a
presentation about the progress of the project, and
the team were delighted to receive positive
feedback! There were also quick fire presentations
from other institutions that have received funding for
their own projects.
The forum also had the opportunity to hear from a
Student Panel, who discussed their own experiences
about living in the UK. The students gave feedback on
the ideas and initiatives that had been granted
funding, and offered thoughts on how the projects
could be developed further.
There will be further updates as our safety project
develops!
February 8th-14th 2016 was Manchester’s Hate Crime
Awareness Week.
The week focussed on raising awareness of hate
crimes and incidents, encouraging reporting and
supporting victims. Hate crimes and incidents are
targeted at a person because of hostility, prejudice or
discrimination towards that person's disability,
ethnicity, faith, belief or religion, sexual orientation,
and transgender identity. MSH was proud to be
involved in a series of events, activities and initiatives
taking place throughout the week, in partnership with
Greater Manchester Police and Council Officials.
The events ranged from
handing out information
in Sainsbury’s
Fallowfield, being
involved in a live Q&A
with GMP Officers and
running training
sessions about Hate
Crime, for Police and
University colleagues.
Poppy Humphrey, Off Campus Student Affairs
Officer, confirmed:
“Student safety is a massive part of the work we do
here at Manchester Student Homes, so we’re delighted
to be part of this vital campaign, and work with our
partners to raise these important issues in the
communities where our students live. It’s important that
we raise the profile of these issues and highlight where
support can be offered”.
For more information about Hate Crime, visit
www.stophateuk.org 0800 138 1625
UKCISA Members Forum Hate Crime Awareness Stalls
MSH worked with The University
of Manchester student volunteers in
collaboration with Manchester City Council
door knocked over 800 properties on Moseley,
Braemar and Brailsford Road. The purpose of
the exercise was to raise awareness of safety
and recycling issues when using the shared
alleyways.