February 2016

This is the first edition of The Branch for 2016. Manchester Student

Homes’ Good Neighbours Team has had a busy and eventful winter

with lots of projects and news to tell you about!

Manchester Student Homes (MSH) in collaboration

with The University of Manchester’s Pastoral Care

Team and Ladybarn Community Centre organised

and hosted a charity Afternoon Tea event at Woolton

Hall on 3rd February. The event was created for local

residents in care homes around Fallowfield and

Withington. Alongside the tea and cake there was

music, bingo and the all-important raffle!

The event was a great success and we received

excellent feedback from the both the residents and

volunteers! One resident stated:

‘We have had a brilliant afternoon and it has been

fantastic to have the students involved. Events like this

make a real impact and show the community that

students do care!’

We would also like to thank the student volunteers,

our MSH accredited landlord volunteers, Mark

Hibbert from the University of Manchester’s Pastoral

Care Team, Krysia Griffiths from Ladybarn

Community Centre, MSH staff and everyone who

donated gifts for the raffle!

Hello everyone my name is Milena, I am the

Manchester Metropolitan University’s Community

Cohesion Intern at MSH. I will be working on the

Halls 2 Home Campaign supporting students during

their transition from Halls of Residence to living in off

campus areas.

I would be really keen to hear from students, long

term residents and partner organisations about the

campaigns we have planned for rest of the year and

how we can work better together.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at

milena.mandziuk@manchester.ac.uk.

Afternoon Tea at Woolton Hall Hello from Milena!

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, the community and partner agencies to identify issues in off campus areas.

MSH accredited Landlords have

volunteered at a number of community

events. If you are organising an event or need

volunteers please send details of the opportunity

to Poppy Humphrey (Off Campus Student Affairs

Officer) at poppy.humphrey@manchester.ac.uk

On 10th February, MSH attended the UKCISA (UK

Council for International Student Affairs) Members

Forum to showcase their

International Student

Safety Campaign.

UKCISA is a national

advisory body providing

information and guidance

to overseas students and

the event gathered members from Universities all

over the UK. It provided an opportunity to discuss

effective solutions and practical advice about issues

facing international students.

Joshua Payne, The University of Manchester

Community Cohesion Intern, delivered a

presentation about the progress of the project, and

the team were delighted to receive positive

feedback! There were also quick fire presentations

from other institutions that have received funding for

their own projects.

The forum also had the opportunity to hear from a

Student Panel, who discussed their own experiences

about living in the UK. The students gave feedback on

the ideas and initiatives that had been granted

funding, and offered thoughts on how the projects

could be developed further.

There will be further updates as our safety project

develops!

February 8th-14th 2016 was Manchester’s Hate Crime

Awareness Week.

The week focussed on raising awareness of hate

crimes and incidents, encouraging reporting and

supporting victims. Hate crimes and incidents are

targeted at a person because of hostility, prejudice or

discrimination towards that person's disability,

ethnicity, faith, belief or religion, sexual orientation,

and transgender identity. MSH was proud to be

involved in a series of events, activities and initiatives

taking place throughout the week, in partnership with

Greater Manchester Police and Council Officials.

The events ranged from

handing out information

in Sainsbury’s

Fallowfield, being

involved in a live Q&A

with GMP Officers and

running training

sessions about Hate

Crime, for Police and

University colleagues.

Poppy Humphrey, Off Campus Student Affairs

Officer, confirmed:

“Student safety is a massive part of the work we do

here at Manchester Student Homes, so we’re delighted

to be part of this vital campaign, and work with our

partners to raise these important issues in the

communities where our students live. It’s important that

we raise the profile of these issues and highlight where

support can be offered”.

For more information about Hate Crime, visit

www.stophateuk.org 0800 138 1625

UKCISA Members Forum Hate Crime Awareness Stalls

MSH worked with The University

of Manchester student volunteers in

collaboration with Manchester City Council

door knocked over 800 properties on Moseley,

Braemar and Brailsford Road. The purpose of

the exercise was to raise awareness of safety

and recycling issues when using the shared

alleyways.