university of
exeter
June 2012 Issue 16
Community
Feedback
Dear Residents,
As the academic year
comes to an end I wanted
to summarise some of the
important feedback that
we’ve received from residents and other stakeholders
throughout the year. The Community Liaison team
receives feedback from stakeholders in six main ways:
•The bi-annual community survey.
•Feedback from public meetings (particularly ‘Have
Your Say’ meetings run by the Police).
•Statistics from the StreetWise helpline number,
combined with information from the University‘s
Estate Patrol.
•Regular stakeholder meetings with partner agencies.
•Twice yearly Resident Liaison Group meetings held
on campus for community representatives.
Calls to the StreetWise number and the University
Estate Patrol regarding community matters were
approximately the same as last academic year. We are
encouraged by this lack of increase in calls, particularly
as student numbers have gradually risen, but we fully
accept that concentrations of calls and ‘one-off’, large
scale problems can cause serious disruption. Feedback
from callers to the StreetWise number shows that
residents are still pleased with the response we
provide to off-campus disturbances. ‘Repeat’ visits to
disruptive households are still as low as last year.
The 2011/12 academic year has been a positive
year for volunteering projects. The most significant
was the ongoing gardening and maintenance of
Queen’s Crescent. There are more plans to continue
volunteering work in this area and we are keen to
hear from residents with more suggestions for ‘green’
volunteering opportunities for our staff and students.
We will continue to develop our Community
Engagement Plan and are very grateful for all of the
feedback we have received from residents throughout
the year.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Rory Cunningham, Community Liaison Officer
StreetWise email service:
streetwise@exeter.ac.uk
StreetWise 24 hr Answer phone:
01392 726252
Students on the Move 2012
The ‘Students on the Move’ scheme, which began in 2009, supports students
moving out of private accommodation at the end of each academic year. The
project recognises that most students usually have much more refuse, food
waste and bulky waste at the end of tenancy and that the final tenancy date
doesn’t always coincide with scheduled refuse collections.
The scheme has consisted of a range of additional refuse collections and recycling
awareness initiatives, funded by the University and supported by the Students’
Guild and City Council. The University has invested around £25,000 in end of year
refuse collections since ‘Students On The Move’ first began four years ago.
Last year saw the addition of food collections (following end of year cupboard
clearouts) - that were carried out in partnership with Exeter Food Bank. This year,
the Students’ Guild has helped to develop the project even further by tackling
accumulations of glass.
‘Glass, being heavy and tricky to transport if you are without a car or do not live close
by to a bank means that we see a lot of what could be easily recycled, being dumped
and sent to landfill. Hopefully by piloting a pick up service this year we can seek to fill
this void in glass recycling and I expect the scheme to grow in future years and become
an integral part of the students on the move initiative’
Emma Payne, Vice President Welfare and Community, Students’ Guild
We are glad to support this new aspect of the ‘Students on the Move’ scheme and
we look forward to working even more closely with the Students’ Guild on refuse
and recycling awareness throughout the coming academic year.
StreetWise funds for Prospect Park
Prospect Park Residents Association has
been awarded a StreetWise grant for the
installation of a new notice board. This
new resource will help communicate
important messages to residents living in
and passing through Prospect Park. As
the new notice board will also be relaying
information to students in the area we
were delighted to offer funding.
The new community noticeboard on Prospect Park
‘We hope to direct a lot of students living in
our Ward area to the notice board. It will be a really useful way to promote projects
like the ‘Students On The Move’ scheme as well as other general information about
refuse and recycling’.
Alex Christensen, Student Community Warden
StreetWise grants are awarded to projects that aim to improve relations between
students and non students. We have funded a range of initiatives in the past,
from gardening projects to street parties. We have even covered the cost of
printing welcome letters composed by residents’ associations for newly arrived
tenants. If you have an idea for a project, or would like further information email:
streetwise@ex.ac.uk, or call 01392 723721.
StreetWise Helpline:
for highlighting community issues direct to
the University phone: 01392 726252
or email: streetwise@exeter.ac.uk
Devon Highways:
to report any issue relating to the repair and
maintenance of most public roads – Devon Highways
can also remove illegal signage (flyposting) in
appropriate areas: 0845 1551 004
PC Ian Lugg
Is the new Neighbourhood Beat Manager (NBM) for
the Exeter University Community.
Phone: 08452 777444
Email: ian.lugg@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
Estate Patrol:
deal with matters of security and safety and provide
a 24-hour presence on-campus. Estate Patrol can be
contacted at any time: 01392 263999
or email: e.patrol@exeter.ac.uk
Exeter City Council’s
Community Patrol:
if you are bothered by noise from premises
that requires investigation phone: 01392 265147
(office hours) or 0845 3511 060 after 5pm
Police switchboard:
to report incidents of public disorder phone: 101,
or for emergencies call 999
Exeter City Council’s
Cleansing Services:
for missed bin collections, to request additional
bins or to make recycling enquiries phone:
01392 665010
Exeter City Council’s
Environmental Health team:
to report accumulations of rubbish likely to harbour or
attract vermin phone: 01392 265193
Civil Parking
Enforcement Officer:
to report parking offences phone: 01392 665901
Please note that the 2012/13 Academic
year begins one week earlier this year:
Term times 2012-13
Autumn: Mon 24 Sept – Fri 14 Dec
Spring: Mon 7 January – Fri 29 March
Summer: Mon 29 April – Fri 14 June
Barefoot Coaching in Polsloe
This year, Student Community
Warden Pip Earle took part in the
‘Barefoot Coaching’ project run by
the charity ‘People Can‘. Barefoot
is a National Lottery funded project
that aims to train volunteers in
key skills for mentoring small
organisations. Pip received
additional community training
in a variety of areas, including
fundraising, marketing and an OCN
level 2 qualification in Mentoring Skills.
The sun shone this year at Polsloe Party in the Park
Pip used her skills to support Polsloe Community Association, who were
delighted with her progress:
‘Pip quickly became an active member of Polsloe Community Association and she
understood the challenges of living in a diverse community. Pip organised the first
Polsloe carol singing event and the music for the Party in the Park in 2011 - which
were both a great success. When Pip told us that she was staying in Polsloe for
another year we were delighted and she had an even greater role in this years
Party in the Park event. It is sad to see Pip leave after two years as Student
Community Warden for Polsloe. We look forward to working with our new Student
Warden team, but we will miss her!’
Stephen Petit-Smith, Chair of the Polsloe Community Association
Care Homes Reading Project
The Exeter Care Homes Reading Project is a new initiative championed by Dr
Johanna Harris, University of Exeter lecturer in Renaissance Literature. Working
alongside the University’s English Society and the volunteering group Community
Action, the project aims to provide residents of local care homes with the opportunity
to benefit from regular sessions in which student volunteers read in both one-to-one
and group scenarios.
Currently operating across six different care homes in the local area and with 105
students, the project has already received positive feedback from residential managers.
Vanessa Langley, Activities Co-ordinator for Woodhayes (Bredoncare), commented:
“It’s great that so many students are interested and making a real difference”.
Having recently acquired full funding for the next three years through the University’s
Annual Fund, the project marks the first in a new line of volunteering opportunities
being explored by Community Action, providing students with the chance to engage
with the wider Exeter community through subject specific ventures. Look out for
further updates in the StreetWise newsletter!
Help us make less impact on the environment by receiving StreetWise via
an email link to the University Website. Please contact Rory Cunningham
directly if you would like to receive this newsletter via email:
tel. 01392 726252 or email: streetwise@exeter.ac.uk
Rory would also like to hear your ideas for future articles and features!
www.exeter.ac.uk
2012AS105
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