Community Initiatives
The University and its students are proactive in seeking out new and innovative projects working amongst and supporting the community in which they live. More than 2,000 University students offer 65,000 hours annually taking part in dozens of volunteering projects jointly providing many benefits to the local community and providing a key service to diverse groups across the city and region.
The University is involved in a number of community initiatives developed in direct response to the needs identified by the local community and as such is a testament to our engagement with community organisations who work to address these needs. Initiatives include those which aim to improve relations between students and local residents, integrate students within the communities they are living and utilise student's knowledge and skills to benefit local people.
For further information on any of the initiatives listed below contact community@leeds.ac.uk
Student Changeover
Student changeover brings many challenges to the city. The University is actively involved with a task group formed in spring 2006 to manage this process and minimise the impact on the communities within the inner North-West wedge. The University along with key statutory organisations, local residents and landlords are tackling issues including: refuse collection, noise, fly-posting and leafleting, irresponsible drinking and nuisance promotional vehicles.
Leeds Universities Crime Reduction Partnership
The University is a key partner on the Leeds Universities Crime Reduction Partnership working to improve student's personal safety, reduce burglaries, encourage safer drinking and reduce anti-social behaviour. The partnership works collaboratively to deliver and support a number of crime reducing and safety initiatives throughout the year.
A number of initiatives are tied into the arrival of our fresher students, many of whom are newcomers to the city and have limited knowledge about crime or personal safety. Walksafe is one initiative where patrols by mounted officers on the A660 Otley Road to create a safe corridor for students travelling from the University and their homes.
A further initiative operating throughout the year is Campus Watch which was launched in January 2005 with the aim of promoting awareness of crime prevention and personal safety amongst students living in University accommodation. The initiative has been extremely useful as a tool for promoting awareness of topical issues such as burglary, vehicle crime and robbery.
The Knowledge Campaign
The Crime Reduction Partnership runs the ‘Knowledge’ campaign. It acts as a single resource for students across the whole City and incorporates crime reduction and safety initiatives based on specific issues including burglary, safer drinking and anti-social behaviour and are targeted at the time of year when these are a particular problem.
To view the Knowledge website click here
Green Streets
The Green Streets project is a student-led initiative aiming to reduce the amount of waste created during the student changeover period. Students collect waste from Halls of Residence and houses in Hyde Park and sort the waste into reusable items which are then distributed to local shelters and hostels. In 2009 changeover the volunteers diverted over 20 tonnes of reusable good from landfill servicing 7,000 households in the area. The projects has been so succesful it has secured funding from the area wellbeing fund.
Refugee Support
The refugee-support project run by the University helps refugee children in Leeds with language skills. The University's project aims to help youngsters improve their English skills with the help of University staff and student volunteer speakers of a wide range of languages, from Portuguese to Ndebele and Persian to Russian.