Community Strategy

Building a better future for students

From good to

great

Community Strategy 2011 - 2014

B uilding a better future for s tudents

Kent Union represents and provides services to the 19,000 students of the University of Kent - these are our members. From nightclubs, bars and late-night entertainment venues, to a children’s nursery, 200 societies and 50 sports clubs; from a welfare advice service that helps almost 5,000 students a year, to our JobShop, which helps hundreds of students find employment and our volunteering opportunities taken up by 2,000 students each year, we run an

incredibly diverse range of activities and services across the county of Kent and on the Continent. We’re proud of the contribution that our students make to areas in which they live, and one of our roles as the representative body of Kent students is to promote and develop this role. Whether through volunteering for local charities, engaging in local democracy or working in local businesses, our students are part of the lifeblood of the local community, and this Community Strategy outlines how we see this developing in the future. Tom Ritchie President and Chair of the Board of Trustees 2011-12

Our organisation has grown and changed enormously over the past few years. As one of the larger employers and service providers in Canterbury, we take our responsibility to the local community seriously. We also recognise our role in enabling our members to engage with, and contribute to, the local community. Our members, officers and staff are active in the community through campaigning, volunteering and lobbying. This is in our interest as a representative organisation, and in the interest of the community as we feel our people have an enormous amount to contribute. Our community strategy outlines our approach to working with the local community, setting ambitious yet achievable objectives to further our role. I hope that you agree that it demonstrates our vision to be an outward looking, dynamic organisation that is recognised as an intrinsic part of the environment in which we operate. Jim Gardner Chief Executive

Introduction from the President Introduction from the Chief Executive


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One-page summary of our Community Strategy

Local Economy

Student Engagement

Positive Impact

Safe, Secure and Healthy Environment

Citizenship

Kent Union is the champion of students in the wider community,

promoting their interests, developing partnerships

and improving community relations.


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Background Kent Union published its first Community Engagement strategy in 2009. It sought to celebrate and develop our work in the local community, to improve relationships between students and local residents and to improve our links with external organisations. Delivering this strategy has led to tangible results; including:

Links have been made with local residents’ associations, with student representation on these groups for the first time.

Introduction of the Community Reps scheme.

Campaigning activity to increase recycling on campus.

Development of the Security and Community Awareness Panel to manage relationships between our licensed trade operation, licensing authorities and the local community.

An increase in community volunteering from students.

Development of a ‘Community Day’ at our Welcome Fayre to give local charities and community organisations the chance to showcase their work and recruit volunteers.

An increase in students voting and standing in local elections.

Development of regular meetings with local politicians and student representatives.

Successful campaigns to improve bus services for students. This strategy outlines how we will develop and improve the work we do in this area – strengthening our links with local organisations, charities, public bodies and members of the local community and enhancing citizenship amongst our members.

Our approach to working with the Community We develop and nurture relationships with local charities, community groups, public bodies, and the University in order to ensure that students engage fully with the community. We take positive steps to promote the role of students in the community. We develop and publish quantitative and qualitative information which demonstrates the positive impact of our members on the community. We successfully campaign for students’ rights and for community services and we tackle unfair negative perceptions of students. We also campaign and take action to change our members’ behaviour when our impact is negative. Where possible we create avenues for students to directly engage with the community and with local groups. We recognise and reward good citizenship from our members. We are at the forefront of community engagement in the students’ union sector – we develop new and innovative avenues for students to engage constructively with the community.

Partnership

Innovative

Pro-active

Campaigning

Student-led


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Local Economy

We promote and extend the role of students within the local economy and engage with local business groups, ensuring that students and business benefit from the relationship.

Context About 40% of students work whilst they study, for an average of 14 hours a week, contributing their skills and enthusiasm to the local community. Students are also consumers of local services, providing trade and employment to Canterbury. Kent Union runs a Jobshop, which provides the opportunity for local business to advertise roles, or seek temporary workers in a targeted and cost-effective manner. We will develop this service, providing more cost-effective and skilled students to local business, and seek opportunities for students to develop longer-term relationships with local businesses to help improve graduate retention in Canterbury and the general employability of students. We will provide more opportunities for businesses to promote themselves to the student market for mutual benefit and we will engage with key business groups to raise the profile of Kent Union and students. We will send our Impact Report to local business and interest groups and showcase the role that students play in the local economy.

Our big goals By July 2014:

1. We will have doubled the amount of students working in the local area and increased the amount of direct placements through Jobshop to 1500 2. We will have developed a range of local internships in local businesses to provide expertise to the local community, improve employability prospects and

increase graduate retention in the Canterbury area 3. Our staff will be influential members of the Canterbury for Business (C4B) and City Centre Partnership (CCP) networks 4. Students will play a key role in the Canterbury in Bloom and Big Clean projects 5. We will provide avenues for local business to access the student market, as evidenced by a 100% increase in advertising sales 6. We will include statistics in our impact report which outline the positive impact of students on the local economy

Local Economy


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Student Engagement We will promote the social and cultural role that students play in the community, providing avenues for students to engage in the life of the city, and celebrating the contribution that our members make.

Context Our members play an important role in the social and cultural life of the city, but this needs to be developed further. We have been successful in recent years in developing our community volunteering initiatives, increasing the amount of student placements in local community groups and we will continue to grow this area, as well as providing support to students who wish to run their own volunteering initiatives. We will continue to encourage our sports teams and societies to work with schools, community groups and local residents to share their interests and expertise. We will develop the community membership of our radio station, CSR, ensuring that young people and school children in the area get involved with the running and direction of the station. We will measure the impact of this work and share these finding with the local community through our impact report.


1. We will increase the amount of community placements available in the Canterbury District and increase the amount of volunteering hours undertaken by 25%

2. We will encourage societies and sports teams to engage with members of the local community and reward groups that excel in this area 3. We will increase the amount of student-led volunteering groups and increase the amount of community volunteering projects delivered directly by Kent

Union by 25% 4. We will increase the amount of community members in CSR by 100% and increase the number of schools directly involved in the station 5. We will include measures of the impact of students in the community in our annual impact report

Student

Engagement


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Positive Impact We will be the champion of the role of students in community life, highlighting the contribution that students make, tackle unfair perceptions and lobby for positive change in the community.

Context We acknowledge that some members of the community face issues regarding the conduct and behaviour of students, and we will continue to take steps to tackle these issues. However, students are three times more likely to be the victims of crime or antisocial behaviour, than to be the perpetrators - yet the prevailing perception of students in the local press and from some politicians is an out-dated stereotype; that students are noisy, anti-social and do not contribute to community life. We know this is not the case and we will be proactive in making this case in the press, with local politicians, with community organisations and with local residents. We will take opportunities to showcase the contribution of students in the local community, improve the profile of Kent Union in the wider community and widely publish quantitative and qualitative data on this contribution through our annual impact report.


1. We will develop our impact report to include community impacts and distribute to relevant local organisations 2. We will continue regular meetings with local politicians and decision makers, develop an annual lobbying plan and communicate wins to our members 3. We will increase the amount of positive stories about our members in the local media year-on-year 4. We will ensure a high-profile presence of students in local events such as the Canterbury Festival 5. We will promote student involvement with local political groups and local activities and recognise and reward student achievements in this area

Positive Impact


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Safe, Secure and Healthy Environment We will ensure that our members are treated fairly, live in safe and secure surroundings and are equipped with the information they need to protect them from crime. We will also work to minimise any damaging impact on the local environment from our trading and other activities.

Context For most students, starting at University is their first experience living outside the parental home. Students can be a magnet for petty or more serious crime, can be mistreated by landlords and may not know the best way to access local services and amenities. We have previously successfully campaigned on issues in this area, including the extension of night-time bus services and the promotion of measures to prevent burglary through our ‘Lock’ campaign. We will continue to campaign in this area to raise awareness amongst students and lobby for improvement to services and amenities for students. We will also take on responsibility for the City Council’s Housing Accreditation Scheme, and make it the number one avenue for students to identify and secure high-quality off-campus accommodation from responsible landlords. We will also continue our work to reduce the impact of our night-time trade on the local community.


1. We will take on responsibility for the Housing Accreditation scheme in Canterbury and measurably improve its performance 2. We will reduce our impact on the local environment and support student initiatives to improve the local environment, evidenced by a Gold ranking in the

Sound Impact Award 3. We will develop partnerships with community groups to enable us to access fundraising for environmental initiatives 4. We will continue to work with the Police and the Community Safety Partnership to ensure that students are protected from crime on and off campus 5. We will continue our work with licensing authorities and the Police to reduce the impact of our licensed trade on the local community and continue to

achieve Gold ranking for all of our outlets in the Best Bar None scheme

Safe, Secure

and Healthy

Environment


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Citizenship We promote students’ civic role in the local community, facilitating engagement with democracy, community engagement and volunteerism.

Context Students play an important role in society, volunteering in the local community, engaging in local politics and forming a significant proportion of many local neighbourhoods. Kent Union will promote students’ role in the dynamics of the local community, improving students’ voice, by encouraging voter registration and direct involvement in local politics; by furthering engagement in neighbourhoods with a high proportion of students; by increasing our involvement with local charities; and by further developing our partnerships with the local authority and community groups through the Canterbury City Partnership.


1. We will measurably increase student engagement in local democracy and in local and national elections 2. We will develop the community representative scheme and our work with residents’ associations and publish a report on the positive impact of their work 3. We will increase the amount raised for local charities through Raise and Give and the ‘staff charity’ scheme by 50% 4. We will ensure that at least 6 of our managers are Trustees of local charities, school governors or undertake a similar role, and ensure that they are

supported through this process with time off from work and mentoring 5. We will build on the City Council’s ‘Welcome to Canterbury’ publication and develop a welcome scheme in partnership with the Council and CCP 6. We will have increased the amount of student volunteering hours to 100,000 per year

Citizenship


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Key Contacts

Kent Union Officers (2011/12)

Tom Ritchie Union President and Chair of the Board of Trustees [email protected] Colum McGuire Vice President (Welfare) [email protected] Kenny Budd Vice President (Student Activities) [email protected]

Kent Union Staff Jim Gardner Chief Executive [email protected] Kirsty Monk Director of Medway and Graduate Employability [email protected] Steph Hughes Volunteering Projects Coordinator [email protected] Caroline Demetriou Sports and Societies Supervisor [email protected] Mel Sharman Representation and Democracy Manager [email protected] Marketing Department [email protected]

Responsibility and Delivery

Strategic Theme Staff Lead Officer Lead

LOCAL ECONOMY Director of Marketing and Business Development Union President

CITIZENSHIP Representation and Democracy Manager Vice President (Student Activities)

SAFE SECURE AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT Director of Operations Vice President (Welfare)

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT Director of Medway and Graduate Employability Vice President (Student Activities)

POSITIVE IMPACT Chief Executive Union President

mailto:[email protected]








Documents

Community Strategy