Working with the Community
The University is committed to maintaining and developing the good relations we have established with our neighbouring communities. We recognise that the concentration of a large, transient student population concentrated in particular communities in Inner North-West Leeds can be detrimental to longer term local residents. The loss of community felt in certain areas outweighs the broader positive contribution students bring to our City. We work in partnership with key stakeholders from across the region, from strategic decision making groups such as Leeds Initiative to local grassroots community groups, to affect positive change in Leeds, Yorkshire and Humberside.
The University employs a dedicated Community team to co-ordinate the University's engagement and develop bespoke programmes to address local priorities. The team provides services such as the Neighbourhood Helpline and are involved in developing projects to integrate students into their community. They also represent the University at many community and statutory meetings, discussing potential collaborations and responding to concerns raised by the local community.
Community Strategy
The University developed a comprehensive Community Strategy in 2007 and updated action plan in 2008 to deliver a broad programme of activities seeking to improve and develop transparency and communication, support community cohesion and match University resources to community need. Through these key aspirations we aim to work in partnership with the community, students and local stakeholders to foster positive and mutually beneficial relationships. » » Find out more
Neighbourhood Helpline
The University operates a Neighbourhood Helpline in partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University to support students and longer term local residents in dealing with issues in their local community.
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Social Responsibility
The University has taken part in the first year of the National Universities that Count Project which seeks to capture the responsible business practice of the organisation. The project involved the collation of data from across the Institution in the areas of workplace, marketplace, community and environment. The University achhieved a silver rating which was 16% higher than the sector average and one of only 4 universities to achieve this standard.
The University puts CSR into practice with the community and private sector to encourage our students to understand social responsibility. A volunteering based programme enables students to learn first hand about socially responsible business and take part in a community volunteering project to make a positive contribution to the City.
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Community Initiatives
Many community projects are formulated through discussions with local community groups and in direct response to issues of concern in the local community. The University launched the Exchange Project last year in partnership with Leeds University Union. Students pledge 5 hours a term to respond to a community identified need. The University also runs a small grants scheme for students to set up their own innovative ideas to improve community relations.
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Community and Housing
With the expansion of Higher Education since the 1980's the major concern of local communities has been the large numbers of students moving into specific areas of the city. As a result the University developed the first ever housing strategy and more recently a housing strategy update. The University works closely with the City Council and other key stakeholders in the development of strategies and programmes to manage student housing issues and develop strategy and policy for the benefit of students and the city.
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The University worked with the Russell Group of Universities to develop a benchmarking tool to capture the nature and extent of our community engagement.
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