The Branch March 2017

March 2017

This is the first edition of The Branch for 2017. For this issue, our Student Community Advisers , Max and Sydney have become the editors! Check out below what they have been up to over the past few months.

A Fresh Approach to the Community Forum The Community Forum has recently been redeveloped and the first meeting took place on the 2nd February 2017. There was a fantastic turn out from Manchester City Council, longterm residents, Manchester Student Homes’ accredited landlords, retailers and us - the Student Community Advisors - who were there to represent the student voice. During the meeting there were lots of discussions about positive campaigns being run by various partners, including Greater Manchester Police, Manchester City Council, and the universities. An example of this is Manchester Student Homes’ Neighbourhood Helpline and the work of the Good Neighbours Team!

There was also an agreement that further development of new and exciting projects were needed to enhance the management of off-campus issues to continually improve community cohesion.

Key issues raised in the meeting were the management of waste and recycling, student safety and noise nuisance. It was agreed that ongoing communication is necessary to all members of the local community, regarding information on bin collection days, general recycling awareness and wider social responsibilities.

Overall the group came to the understanding that a lot of positive work has already been put into ensuring ongoing community cohesion. The end of the meeting marked the start of discussions regarding the future objectives of the group. It was agreed that a more focussed effort on particular issues would produce a greater amount of success.

Hate Crime Awareness Week On the 8th February, Manchester Student Homes ran a stall at Owens Park promoting Hate Crime Awareness Week.

Under the banner ‘Equality Street’ we worked with the Community Cohesion Intern, Vinny, to see how much the students of Manchester knew about Hate Crime.

Armed with Quality Street chocolates and promotional freebies, we were able to educate and inform over 200 students about the

significance of Hate Crime Awareness. This included what to do if you find yourself in a situation where you might need to report a Hate Crime.

It was good to see that the majority of those asked knew what a Hate Crime was. However few knew that you are able to text 999 to make a report and that it is also possible to report Hate Crimes to Third Party Reporting Centres – such as Manchester Students Homes.

Manchester Student Homes is proud to be a Hate Crime 3rd Party Reporting Centre. If you or someone you know has been affected by Hate Crime come into our offices for advice and support.

Cooper Healey Manager of Manchester Student Homes

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, long-term residents and partner agencies to identify issues in off campus areas.

Recycling in Fallowfield Door knocking initiative During the week commencing 6th February, we worked alongside volunteers from the University of Manchester and Landlord volunteers to take part in a door knocking initiative. This project was created to promote recycling among students in private rented accommodation. The aim of the initiative was to see what proportion of students in particular areas recycle and how easy they find it.

During the initiative, there was a distinct focus on food recycling, as there are millions of tonnes of food waste each year. It was fantastic to speak with students and to provide them with bin caddies to dispose of their food waste responsibly. The caddies were provided by Manchester City Council and were welcomed by students in the Fallowfield area, giving optimism to the progression of recycling techniques in South Manchester. We look forward to developing exciting campaigns in conjunction with partnership agencies with the feedback collected.

Student Focus Group Alongside the current campaigns running at Manchester Students Homes (MSH), two new projects are currently being developed and will soon be introduced. In order to make sure these campaigns will be effective we asked current students their opinions in a variety of student-led focus groups.

The first project is an educational campaign revolving around student focused information. This will take the form of playing cards which will equip students with a greater awareness of the community they live in. Our aim is to incorporate various messages on a variety of issues such as housing, safety, and drug and alcohol awareness.

This idea was met with a lot of positivity from the focus group, suggesting that frequent use of the playing cards could be used as an educational tool supporting students to learn about life off campus.

Are you proud of recycling?

Manchester Student Homes is holding a varsity litter pick on 22nd March and need representatives from The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University to find out once and for all who is the greenest university.

For more information email: vincent.gillan@manchester.ac.uk

The second campaign related to New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) scratchcards. MSH has been working with students and leading academics in order to create messages for students that highlight the dangers of all NPS, such as laughing gas . The campaign will educate students on the damaging effects of NPS and signpost to support services. The idea of using scratchcards is based on best practice and advice from leading academics in the field, a student-led academic research project, and support from the Council, Police and the Home Office.