IMPACTREPORT

THE UNIVERSITIES AT MEDWAY:

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INTRODUCTIONThe Universities at Medway is a uniquepartnership between Canterbury ChristChurch University, the University ofGreenwich, and the University of Kent ata shared campus at Chatham Maritime.The partnership was established in 2004and in the 15 years since, it has made areal difference to the lives of peoplestudying, working, visiting and living inMedway. In its role as an educator,employer, research institution, culturaland sporting hub, and communityorganisation, the Universities atMedway has a major impact.

Since 2004, it has grown to welcomemore than 10,000 students to itscampus each year. It provides a range of academic and professional learningopportunities, with a focus oneducation, health and social care,engineering, business, journalism andthe creative industries. The Universitiesat Medway is a core part of the strategiceconomic development plans forMedway, supporting the area’s potentialas a ‘city of culture, learning andenterprise.’

The Universities at Medwaycommissioned Viewforth Consulting tocarry out a study of its economic impactduring the financial year 2015/16. Thisreport is based in part on the findings of this study and explores the positiveimpact that the Universities at Medwayhas on the social, cultural andcommunity life of the Medway area and the south-east region.

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OUR IMPACT IN NUMBERS

Economic impact:

More than

£143mcontributed to Medway’seconomy

Supporting local jobs:

More than

1,587FTE jobs in the south-east dependent on our activities and those of our students

Growing the localeconomy:

Our students spend more than

£158mwith Medway businesses and services

Investing in skills:

Estimated

£11madded to Kent and Medway’s economywhen the new EDGE Hub opens in 2020

Attracting medical talent:

Kent and Medway Medical School will attract

100aspiring doctors to train and work in Kent and Medway each year

Helping our communities:

More than

16,000hours volunteered by students runningsocieties and helping charities and thecommunity

£

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THE UNIVERSITIES AND THE ECONOMYOverall the Universities at Medway and its students contributed £143.6m to thelocal economy during the financial year 2015/16. The universities’ activities onthe Medway campus made up a substantial proportion of their incomes, at£82.5m in total. The three universities also made significant investments in2015/16, with £82.7m spent on the Medway campus in that year, including on the development of new academic facilities and a brand-new student social and study hub at the centre of the campus.

Knock-on effects

Spending by the Universities at Medway creates a

wider economic impact by delivering further

‘knock-on’ effects. The institutions purchase a

range of goods from local and regional suppliers

and those suppliers, in-turn, buy from other local

organisations, creating a ripple effect that

generates further economic benefits.

Through that ‘knock-on’ effect, the Universities at

Medway generated £107.1m of outputs for the

south-east economy in 2015/16, supporting more

than 1,587 full-time equivalent jobs in the south-

east, in addition to those available at the

Universities at Medway.

Through the educational programmes that it

offers, the excellent and world-leading research

that its academics carry out, and the investment

that it both creates and attracts, the Universities at

Medway helps to support the Medway towns’

ambitions. With its support, Medway can remain

at the forefront of innovation and enterprise,

continue to build on its reputation as one of the

strongest engineering hubs in the south-east and

become a respected and established home to the

creative industries.

The Universities at Medway actively supports

Medway’s ambition to be a leading waterfront

university city by 2035.

Staff and student spending

The Universities at Medway is home to thousands

of students and hundreds of staff who spend

money on local services and goods. This off-

campus spending supports a number of local

businesses, from restaurants and taxi services, to

retailers and leisure facilities.

The personal spending of students in Medway,

excluding what they contribute in university fees, is

equivalent to £158.2m. More than £140m of this

spend is brought into the Medway towns by

students who come from outside of the local area.

This includes spending by international students

(from EU and non-EU countries), who contributed

a total of £12.3m to UK GDP in 2015/16. Student

spending supports more than 300 jobs in the

Medway towns and a further 949 jobs in the

south-east region.

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REALISING OUR SHARED POTENTIALOne of the driving forces for thefounding of the Universities atMedway was a desire to open upHigher Education to as many peopleas possible and widen participation inuniversity studies. In addition tosupporting skills development amonglocal people, it attracts students fromother areas of the UK and fromcountries around the world to play arole in the area’s knowledge economy.

More than 10,500 Higher Education students are

based at the Medway campus. The universities

recruit 12 per cent of all students at the campus

directly from the Medway area, with a further 41

per cent from other parts of the south-east, and

13 per cent from overseas. The Universities at

Medway has successfully retained more than

1,200 students who might otherwise have left the

area to study elsewhere. In addition, more than

22,000 young people with no previous experience

of university within their family have taken part in

outreach activities run by Kent and Medway

Progression Federation (KMPF). It works with

40 schools in the area to raise attainment among

young people and is backed by Canterbury Christ

Church University and the University of Kent.

More than 859 full-time equivalent jobs are

generated by the Universities at Medway, with a

further 343 jobs generated by student spending

and activities, making a total of 1,202 jobs in

Medway dependent on the Universities at

Medway. This is equivalent to 1.7 per cent

of all jobs in Medway.

While many staff working at the campus are

academics, the universities also provide

employment in a wide range of skilled and

semi-skilled professions and occupations,

ranging from maintaining the campus estate

as gardeners or plumbers, to providing

professional services such as accounting

and marketing.

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Boosting local science and

engineering skills

Robot Wars: Inspiring young

engineersNew routes into education:University of Kent Centre forHigher and Degree LevelApprenticeships

The new Kent and Medway Engineering,

Design, Growth and Enterprise (EDGE) Hub

at Canterbury Christ Church University will

support high-value employment, growth and

investment in engineering and technology

businesses in Kent and Medway. A new facility

will open in Canterbury in 2020 and is estimated

to be worth up to £11 million a year to the local

economy. It will add 1,250 more graduates with

higher-level engineering and technology skills

into the regional labour market by 2024.

Delivered in partnership with industry, the Hub

will help to address skills shortages in Science,

Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

(STEM) subjects and will support regional

economic growth. It will build on Medway’s

existing strengths as an engineering hub.

Engineering faculty and students at the

University of Greenwich have found a novel way

to inspire young people in the region to engage

with engineering and science subjects. For the

past two years they have designed and built a

robot to join the battle to become champion of

BBC Two television series Robot Wars.

Building on the University’s world-leading

expertise in engineering and robotic technology,

the work to design and build the robots sits at

the heart of the University’s outreach campaign

to inspire more young people to consider a

career in engineering. The Faculty of Engineering

and Science engages dozens of schools in

Medway and across Kent each year, with

pupils taking part in a competition to design a

robot to compete in an annual Robot Wars Live

challenge, hosted at the Universities at Medway

campus. University engineers work with

shortlisted schools to build the robots ready

for competition each September.

Based at the Universities at Medway site,

the University of Kent’s Centre for Higher

and Degree Level Apprenticeships

launched during National Apprenticeship

Week in March 2017. The Centre leads

and co-ordinates the University’s work

with employers to deliver higher and

degree apprenticeships in a wide range of

professions including laboratory science,

construction, business management,

procurement and social work. The Centre

has supported more than 90 apprentices

over the last year, including school-leavers

who are starting their working lives, and

existing members of staff at the University

who aim to increase their skills and gain a

degree-level qualification whilst working in

their current role. The Centre is a core part

of the University’s efforts to open routes

into Higher Education to local people and

to widen participation in the university

experience.

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MAKING MEDWAY A PLACETO BE PROUD OFThe Universities at Medway is working in partnership with Medway Council and its business community to develop Medway’s place story, identifying whatmakes the Medway Towns distinctive. It fully supports the ambition to transformMedway into a vibrant waterfront university city by 2035.

The universities are ambassadors for the local

area, promoting the Medway towns to students

and visitors from across the world. Students from

outside of the region who attend the Universities

at Medway bring family and friends to the area for

day-trips or longer visits and many graduates

return to the area as alumni, contributing to the

local visitor economy.

A range of conferencing and events facilities

provided by the universities attract hundreds

of visitors to the area every year. Set in historic

locations on the campus and the adjacent

Chatham Historic Dockyard site, the conference

facilities bring representatives from a range of

sectors including academics, associations, and

leisure and special interest groups to the region.

During the summer vacation period, between

mid-June and mid-September, the universities

also offer modern accommodation for up to 750

delegates at Liberty Quays, adding extra capacity

to Medway’s peak summer accommodation offer

for visitors.

The creation of the Universities at Medway played

a vital role in regenerating the Chatham Maritime

area, preserving a key heritage site through

re-purposing many of the existing buildings,

including the old Drill Hall, in addition to revitalising

redundant buildings at the nearby Chatham

Historic Dockyard by putting them to educational

use.

Creating a cultural and creative hub

Cultural transformation set to become a reality

KMTV: Local news for local people

The development of the creative industries is

vital to the vision for Medway’s economic

growth. The Universities at Medway provides

practical support and expertise for a variety of

cultural activities in the area and has taken a

leading role in establishing Medway as a

creative hub.

All three Universities at Medway institutions

offer extensive programmes in the digital and

creative arts. These programmes bring students

and staff at the universities together with

professionals from a range of disciplines within

the creative sectors including film-makers,

artists, performers, designers and journalists to

provide real-world experiences that enhance

students’ employment prospects and

encourage them to remain in Medway after

graduating.

Academics at the three universities support a

variety of activities in Medway, including running

a series of public lectures where experts share

their knowledge with members of the public,

and taking part in the annual international Pint

of Science Festival by bringing their scientific

discoveries to the public with a series of events

hosted in Medway’s pubs. Medway’s academic

community also collaborated with Medway

Council and its partners to make the

commemorations marking the 350th anniversary

of the Battle of Medway a spectacular success.

In an expression of its commitment to grow the

creative industries and enhance Medway’s

reputation as a cultural hub, the University of

Kent and Arts Council England signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2018.

They committed to widen access and improve

the quality of arts and culture across Kent by

working together to develop more opportunities

for students, children and young people to get

involved in the arts. This work focuses on

supporting the growing creative clusters in

Medway and North Kent to ensure that the

region has the infrastructure and opportunities

necessary to develop talent and offer creative

careers.

The University was also awarded £4.3m in

funding from the Cultural Development Fund

(CDF) to develop new creative, cultural and

heritage initiatives to support the formation of

a series of creative clusters stretching from

Thanet, through Medway to the Thames

Estuary. The funding will support investment in

infrastructure, research, training and business

development within the creative industries. The

initiatives will lead to the creation of 500 jobs,

provide qualifications and skills development

for 200 people, and fund 60 apprenticeship

programmes for young people in the area.

The University is part of a unique partnership

established by the South Eastern Creative

Economy Network (SECEN) which includes

11 local authority areas,

the Greater London

Authority, Royal Docks,

seven East London

boroughs, University

of Essex, and cultural

organisations Metal and

Whitstable Biennale.The University of Kent and regional publisher

KM Media Group established the UK’s first

university-led local television station, KMTV,

in July 2017. The station broadcasts local

news, sport, business and entertainment

coverage to more than 250,000 homes

across North Kent and Medway. Content is

sourced, created and broadcast by a

dedicated KMTV news team of professional

journalists supported by University of Kent

students and KM group’s editorial team.

Through KMTV, students get access to

state-of-the-art broadcast technology,

direct experience of professional practice

alongside leading journalists, and the

chance to develop contacts with the

region’s leading media group.

The KMTV partnership was runner-up in

the Business Collaboration category at

the Guardian Higher Education Awards

and two of its journalists were recognised

for excellence at the Kent Press and

Broadcasting Awards in 2018. The project

puts Medway at the centre of local news

delivery for the region and its long-term

ambition is to make KMTV the first choice

for local news in Kent and Medway.

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RESEARCH FOR PUBLIC BENEFITThe Universities at Medway is a powerhouse for research andinnovation that attracts millions of pounds of funding to the region.World-leading research is carried out at the Medway campus, with a particular focus on the fields ofscience, engineering and medicine.

The University of Greenwich’s research activities

generated approximately £14m of income during

2016/17 and its Faculty of Engineering and

Science, based largely at Medway, received a

number of national and international research

accolades in 2017. Canterbury Christ Church

University’s Institute of Medical Sciences is a

nationally-recognised centre of excellence for

postgraduate medical education and research. It

supports ground-breaking research in the use of

stem cell technology within clinical practice.

Medway School of Pharmacy has been awarded

more than £3m of research and enterprise income

since 2004 and more than 60% of the School’s

research was rated of ‘very considerable’ impact

in the most recent Research Excellence

Framework (REF).

Whether by investigating new treatments for

cancers and autoimmune diseases, developing

new techniques to treat bone deformity using 3D

printers, or using new technologies to improve the

design of military vehicles and save the lives of

soldiers in international conflict zones, the

research carried out at the Universities at Medway

makes a difference to the lives of people in our

region, our nation and around the world.

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Carbon8 Systems: Cutting the

world’s waste through CO2 capture

The Institute of Medical Sciences: developing future leaders in

medical research

Thanks to research led by the University of

Greenwich’s Professor Colin Hills, Medway

is home to a world-leader in the

development of carbon-negative building

materials.

Carbon8 Systems is a multi-award-winning

company led by Professor Hills, in

association with research colleague Dr Paula

Carey, in a spin-out from the University of

Greenwich’s Faculty of Engineering &

Science. Formed in 2006, the company

successfully patented its innovative

Accelerated Carbon Technology (ACT),

offering a rapid and cost-effective carbon

dioxide capturing treatment for soil and

waste. It is now a world-leader in the

capture of carbon dioxide, using industrial

waste and contaminated soils to create

carbon-negative building materials.

The company is now working to develop

the technology further to help reduce global

greenhouse gas emissions and create a

global portfolio of treatment plants

combining CO2 with waste to reduce the

amount of industrial waste going to landfill.

Carbon8 Systems received the Queen’s

Award for Enterprise: Innovation in 2017

and has previously won the IChemE Green

Chemical Technology Award, the national

Shell Springboard prize and the Times

Higher Education Award for Outstanding

Contribution to Innovation and Technology.

Canterbury Christ Church University’s Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) is a centre of excellence

for postgraduate medical education and research. It brings researchers together with leading

surgeons and consultants and global companies to provide UK and overseas clinicians

opportunities to gain high-quality education and training. The Institute’s specialist surgery

programmes provide practitioners with enhanced clinical skills to help them stand out as leaders

in their field.

Since 2015, ground-breaking research in the use of stem cell technology within clinical practice

and studies in biomedical engineering has been carried out at the Institute. It features a purpose-

built lab equipped to support world-leading discoveries in stem cell culturing, bioengineering,

computing and 3D printing, as well as fully-equipped clinical simulation suites.

The IMS is home to the University’s innovative MSc in Physician Associates Studies, offering a

‘fast-track’ medical school model. The Physician Associates trained at the Institute become

skilled members of healthcare teams and are qualified to provide a wide range of

medical services alongside licensed physicians.

Academics from the Institute also work closely with the Health Education

England Kent Surrey and Sussex GP Deanery to enhance and develop education

and training and to instigate GP-led research and innovation in General Practice.

Cellular Imaging: advances inthe treatment of kidney andbladder disease

Work carried out by researchers at Medway

School of Pharmacy has led to significant

advances in the way that kidney and bladder

disease is diagnosed and treated.

Through the visualisation of cellular events

in live tissue, researchers Claire Peppiatt-

Wildman and Scott Wildman developed new

models for investigating kidney and bladder

function in states of health and disease. Their

findings have helped clinicians and

physiologists to understand responses to

drug-toxicity, and the onset and progression

of disease.

The imaging of live bladder tissue, adapted

for bedside application, has already altered

clinical practice within the NHS. And the

technology could help to develop new drugs

to treat kidney disease.

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OUR PLACE IN THE COMMUNITYThe Universities at Medway plays anactive role in the community withinthe Medway towns, engaging localschools and colleges, providingservices to support local businesses,and through volunteering projects led by its staff and students, whichbenefit local individuals andorganisations.

Raising aspirations

The Universities at Medway is part of the

Kent and Medway Collaborative Outreach

Programme (KaMCOP) and the Kent and Medway

Progression Federation (KMPF). Both projects

focus on facilitating participation in Higher

Education by young people from disadvantaged

backgrounds.

The projects’ activities include partnering

with University Technical Colleges and multi-

academy school trusts to share expertise and

offer opportunities for local young people to

experience university life. Schools from Medway

attend summit events hosted by the University

of Greenwich, medical fairs showcasing wide-

ranging careers in health and medicine hosted by

Canterbury Christ Church University, and looked-

after children events in partnership with the Virtual

School, Medway.

Schools that have benefited from activities by the

Universities at Medway include; Strood Academy,

Greenacre School, Walderslade School for Girls,

Rainham School for Girls, Robert Napier, Thomas

Aveling, John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive,

Oasis Isle of Sheppey Academy, Westlands

School and Waterfront UTC.

Brompton Academy in Gillingham is sponsored by

the University of Kent, which provides a range of

curriculum and progression activities to help

young people consider, and get the

most from, Higher Education.

Pride in Medway

In 2017 the Pride in Medway Awards were hosted

at the Universities at Medway campus. The

awards highlight individuals and groups who

make a difference to Medway. The universities

contributed to the development, promotion

and resourcing of the annual awards and have

previously presented a sponsor’s award

recognising exceptional voluntary service in

the community.

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Volunteering

Reducing inequalities in health

The Universities at Medway’s new £4m

Student Hub is a social space designed to

enhance the student experience on campus,

but also acts as a central organising point

for an army of hundreds of student

volunteers who regularly contribute in the

community.

More than 16,000 hours were recorded by

students who volunteered through GK

Unions’ schemes in 2016/17. GK Unions

is a partnership between the students’

unions of the University of Greenwich

and the University of Kent at Medway.

In addition to running sports clubs and

societies for fellow students on campus, the

volunteers work with a number of Medway

charities and community organisations.

During the last year, students helped

children at Burnt Oak Primary School

with their reading and mentored children

at Featherby Road School to help them

interact more effectively in social

environments. Volunteers worked with Kent

Wildlife Trust to manage Darland Banks, an

area of scientific interest in Gillingham,

helping to clear scrubland and overgrowth

to allow native species of flora to thrive.

Students also helped to fill Christmas

stockings with gifts for children

at Dolphin Ward, Medway Maritime Hospital.

In addition, Medway Raise and Give raised

nearly £5,000 for 18 organisations including

local charities such as Medway Autism

Group and Information Centre (MAGIC)

and Friends of Wisdom Hospice.

The Universities at Medway makes a significant contribution to the health and well-being of the

local community through its activities in the fields of health, medicine and social care. In addition

to the contribution that Medway School of Pharmacy and the Institute of Medical Sciences make

to equipping healthcare professionals in the region with the skills and knowledge to make a

difference within their specialism, the universities will deliver a new Kent and Medway Medical

School to benefit the region.

The new Medical School is a joint initiative between Canterbury Christ Church University and the

University of of Kent, and will be co-located on their Canterbury campuses. Their shared vision is

to create a beacon for first-class medical education and research. The new academic unit will

attract the most talented aspiring doctors from within the local community and beyond, offering

training and development opportunities that will help to keep that talent in Kent and Medway. It

will offer 100 undergraduate places annually to support future workforce planning in our region

and to address workforce shortages in priority areas by developing

doctors in specialities that are currently under-represented in Kent

and Medway. Its programmes will focus on addressing health

inequalities in our region by plugging the current gaps in healthcare

provision and, in the longer-term, transforming the patient experience

within our local area.

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OUR PLACE IN THE COMMUNITY

Canterbury Christ Church University leads the

development of local skills in Health and Social

Care, Education and Early Years, which are vital

to the regional and national economy. Its

programmes cover every step of a practitioner’s

career, whether new undergraduates starting their

careers in public health services, or established

clinicians looking to enhance their skills or to lead

innovative new research projects.

Undergraduate students on the University’s

Nursing, Midwifery, Speech and Language

Therapy, Operating Department Practice,

Paramedic Science and Physiotherapy courses

develop their skills within the fully-equipped health

and wellbeing simulation suites housed on the

Medway campus. The suites mimic the real-life

experience of working on a hospital ward or within

a clinical or emergency situation. Students also

have access to highly sophisticated human

simulation models to develop their hands-on skills.

Each year hundreds of undergraduate students at

the University take part in placements within Kent

and Medway hospitals as part of their training,

with many working within the local NHS Trusts

after graduating.

The University’s postgraduate and apprenticeship

programmes are also extensive, enhancing current

practitioners’ professional skills. Its MSc in Clinical

Reporting delivers internationally-recognised

research. The Foundation Nursing Associate

apprenticeship programme, designed with and for

the Medway Maritime Hospital, provides career

development opportunities that align with local

workforce needs. It provides local healthcare

practitioners with the opportunity to earn while

they learn, combining their work with studies that

develop their skills.

Developing local health, social care

and education skills

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Medway Innovation Centre:

boosting business growth

A sporting chance

The University of Greenwich partners with

Medway Council to run Innovation Centre

Medway, supporting knowledge-based

start-up companies, innovative early-stage

businesses and technology entrepreneurs

to progress into mature, established

organisations driving the economic growth

of the area.

As a delivery partner for the Enterprise

Europe Network, which provides a free

service to help businesses to find

international partners, source new

technologies and receive EU funding, the

University plays a key role in supporting

the growth of organisations based at the

centre. It provides practical advice to

companies on issues including intellectual

property, international expansion, and EU

law and standards. Further, it’s role within

the centre helps to provide companies with

access to academic expertise within their

industry sector to help nurture new

business ideas.

Led by the University of Greenwich’s Head

of Innovation Services, Medway Innovation

Centre is the only centre in the South East

to hold a Business and Innovation Centre

(BIC) Quality Mark. The collaboration

between the University of Greenwich and

Medway Council that drives the centre

partnership helps to advance

Medway’s ambition to be

a beacon for innovation

and enterprise.

The University of Kent’s School of Sport

and Exercise Sciences at Medway offers

professional sport and exercise-testing,

psychology, respiratory and nutritional

consultations, rehabilitation services and sports

therapy to the public. The School’s experts have

worked with a host of local sports clubs

including Medway Dragons RFC, Medway Park

Crusaders Basketball Club and both amateur

and elite individual sportspeople.

Medway Council’s multi-sport, state-of-the-art

Medway Park sports facilities were also

developed with the help of funding from the

universities. The Park opened in 2011 and is a

regional centre of sporting excellence that was a

training site for a dozen Olympic teams prior to

the London 2012 Olympics. Its extensive range

of sports halls, dance studios, track and field

facilities, swimming pool and judo centre are

open to members of the public as well as elite

athletes.

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