Studying at The Univesity of Manchester provides access to learn all the essential skills and knowledge to succeed in a professional career  such as law, healthcare and engineering. However, there are some things that simply can’t be taught in a classroom.

Through our committment to social responsibility we encourage our students to take their learning beyond the lecture theatres and into the community to enable them to fully understand and help tackle real-world problems by undertaking what is known as ‘service learning’.

Working in collaboration with community groups, organisations, and schools to expand their skills and knowledge, service learning enables students to provide necessary and relevant services to local people, benefitting both the local community and the students.

Tackling inequalities

Sometimes, getting legal advice is a necessity. Getting sound legal advice that is affordable, however, can present more of a challenge for some people.

Believing that legal advice should be accessible to everyone, our Justice Hub provide a free service to local people.

Allowing students from across the School of Social Science to work together with one joint purpose of serving the community, the Justice Hub offers a range of free legal advice and guidance on a variety of issues.

Speaking about the work of the Justice Hub, law lecturer and Justice Hub lead Philip Drake said: “The Justice Hub is an umbrella term for all of the different free legal advice projects coordinated together. Our flagship project is the Legal Advice Centre, which is also embedded into our curriculum.

“This year we’ve already got 328 students signed up, so the demand is huge from the students and the local community. Last year, we had nearly 1,500 enquiries, all wanting legal help and assistance. Under guidance from our staff and professional lawyers who have volunteered their time, the Justice Hub is student-led, allowing the future solicitors and legal advisors to experience the inequalities within law firsthand and strive to make a difference.”

Phil continued: “We build reflective practice into the work. It’s more than building legal skills; it’s about reflecting on the fairness of the law, how it’s detrimentally impacting the most disadvantaged and often the most marginalised, and why it’s like that. The experience of witnessing a client breaking down in front of you crying in a meeting, is something that cannot be taught in a classroom. It’s amazing seeing the transformation of students from where they started to where they end up. Wherever they go or whatever they do, we want them to take a social conscience with them.”

The Manchester Innocence Project, which is one of the Justice Hub’s projects, aims to help the wrongfully convicted and to promote positive change in the justice system.

Recently, the Project won the Greater Manchester Pro Bono Award for ‘Best Group of Students’. The University was also shortlisted for ‘Best Educational Institution’.

Working within the Justice Hub, undergraduate social anthropology student, Honey Fisher, said: “Being a Justice Hub intern has been an incredible opportunity to acquire practical experience and key skills needed for a career in law.

“Through attending client interviews, we were able to see how individuals in the local community experience a wide variety of legal problems and understand how services like those the Justice Hub provide are vital in reducing the legal aid gap.”

Bridging the gap

Most people take for granted access to good dentistry and reliable health information. However, for many, accessing these everyday services can be difficult.

Our dental students provide free treatment at the University’s Emergency Dental Clinic to around 2,000 patients per year. This enables students to develop their skills whilst meeting the needs of local communities to help combat dental health inequalities, a recognised major issue in the north-west.

Aiming to help bridge the gap in dental inequalities, the students also provide dental care for refugees and other minority groups. With dental health inequality also causing issues in children, the University’s dentistry students are also part of a charity-run scheme that involves going into local schools and teaching them the importance of oral hygiene.

Increasingly, our students have the opportunity to engage directly with industries for mutual benefit – The University’s Fashion, Business and Technology School has formed links with leading fashion industry partners.

Working on ‘industry-live projects’, students act as consultants responding to authentic work briefs that link to the strategic requirements of the industry. More than 200 students meet and engage with the partners over key points during the semester.

Dr Julian Skyrme, Executive Director of Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement at the University, said: “The work of our law students is one among a number of examples of service learning we’ve developed at The University of Manchester. For example, our dental students provide oral health checks to people experiencing homelessness, drama students are working with offenders in criminal justice settings, and management students are providing consultancy advice for non-profit organisations. We are currently thinking about what sort of university we need to be over the next decade, and we want to see all our students contributing something positive to society as part of their learning.”

• Find out more about the Justice Hub.
• Find out more about service learning at the University’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health.