The Branch - June 2018

June 2018

This is the final edition of The Branch for this academic year. To update you on all the events that have been taking place in the local community!

Owens Park Community Festival Manchester Student Homes (MSH) teamed up with the Residential Life Team at The University of Manchester (UoM) to host the ‘Owens Park Community Festival’. The day brought partners from across Manchester to Owens Park Campus to give information, help and advice to students. There were lots of games and a free BBQ with over 200 students attending the event. This is part of MSH ‘Halls 2 Home’ campaign and it provided the opportunity to ‘induct’ students moving from halls of residence into their own home in the community.

The partners that attended were Greater Manchester Police (GMP), UoM Student Support and Advice, UoM SPORT, UoM Volunteering, Manchester Nightline and local residents group BMBB.

WOLFIE also made an appearance and was a great hit with the students whilst also reminding them to be ‘Wary Of Light Fingers’.

UoM SPORT signed many students up to run the Manchester 10K and be part of the Purple Wave whilst Student Support and Advice were running an interactive shopping trolley game to highlight how students can save money. This is just an insight into some of the fun and engaging stalls that were there on the day. It was also great for students to meet long term residents from BMBB residents group that were inviting students to attend their fun day at the start of term and help out with the community garden.

Overall it was fantastic day with lots of positive feedback from students with many excited to get involved with local projects and campaigns in the future. For more information on Halls 2 Home visit www.manchesterstudenthomes.com, or visit our Twitter (@Man_Student_Hme) and Facebook (/ManchetserStudentHomes) pages.

There was a variety of stalls and games with lots of free materials handed out to students.

GMP were educating students on crime prevention whilst also giving out lots of freebies including bike markers, light timers and replica food tin safes.

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.

Give It Don’t Bin It Bag Packing 2018

'Give It Don’t Bin It' is a student move-out collection and recycling campaign.

Every year thousands of students move out and we are encouraging them to make their move count by donating unwanted items. This is a partnership campaign between MSH, The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester City Council which raises money for The British Heart Foundation and Manchester Central Foodbank.

Since 2012 Give It Don’t Bin It has raised the equivalent of £1.3 million for The British Heart Foundation which contributes towards lifesaving research. In 2017, 4000 meals were donated to Manchester Central Foodbank to help local people in food poverty.

This year, over the course of two days, student volunteers, staff, long term residents and MSH landlords put together 20,000 packs of information and donation bags for the Give It Don’t Bin It campaign. These will be delivered to University

MSH is working with The Union MMU on a NUS Behaviour Change project called Alcohol Impact.

and Private Halls both on and off campus as well as houses in Fallowfield, Withington and the City Centre to encourage students to donate their items. It was a great few days with everyone getting involved, and a massive achievement to produce so many packs!

The day included CPR training delivered by the British Heart Foundation and there is now over 30 more new people trained in a lifesaving skill! There was also the opportunity for everyone to visit The British Heart Foundation Pop Up Shop which had a variety of clothing on sale for people to grab some great bargains.

It was a busy two days and was great to see everyone working together as a team to achieve the target of making 20,000 packs. Thank you to all 70 volunteers that gave up their time, the bag packing days are vital to the success of the Give It Don’t Bin It campaign. To find out more about the campaign visit www.giveitdontbinit.co.uk.

Farewell Alice Alice our Community Cohesion Intern is sadly leaving us! She has been an amazing asset to MSH and has delivered various campaigns throughout the year. Alice will be missed by all members of staff but we wish her all the luck in the world with her new job at Thames Water.

Thank you for all your help, and good luck with your future endeavours!