The Young Foundation and the National Civic Impact Accelerator have recently published a report on Meaningful Engagement between students and local communities, which features a case study on work by Manchester Student Homes. 

In Manchester there is a large student population, across several universities. This can be a dominant presence both in the areas immediately next to our campuses, but also in the neighbourhoods where students live. In these neighbourhoods, long-term residents and students rarely interact and when they do it can sometimes be for a negative reason – a noise complaint or an issue with waste management. 

Manchester Student Homes, the universities’ housing and community support service, as part of its objectives looks for ways to develop positive relationships between students and long-term residents in these neighbourhoods. Last year, at the suggestion of two long-term residents, they organised a curry night in Ladybarn, an area of south Manchester where lots of student live. The aim was to bring together students and non-students over a meal to break down barriers between the two groups and foster positive relationships. 

The idea was picked out by The Young Foundation as one of their case studies for their work with the National Civic Impact Accelerator to create a report showcasing meaningful engagement between students and local communities. This report was launched at last month’s CiviCon, where Caitlin Hill, University of Manchester alumna and former Student Neighbourhood Ambassador for Manchester Student Homes, joined a panel discussion on ‘Civic Futures: the future of civic university engagement’ exploring this work. 

This academic year, the work to develop community cohesion in our local neighbourhoods has developed further, with the introduction of a ‘Hello Neighbour’ campaign (taking inspiration from the University of Reading) where students and long-term residents were encouraged to introduce themselves to their new neighbours using a postcard that was delivered door-to-door by Student Neighbourhood Ambassadors. This campaign was followed by two neighbourhood meals – the return of the curry night in Ladybarn and the addition of a pizza night in Withington. The team are now looking for more opportunities to bring students and their neighbours together.