Community rep scheme praised
23 June 2010
LJMU in report tackling 'town and gown' tensions
The University’s ground-breaking Community Rep Scheme, which aims to bring together student and non-student residents to improve their neighbourhoods, has been cited in a national report. The ‘Living Together, Working Together’ report, devised by the NUS, Universities UK and GuildHE, highlights successful university initiatives that address the so-called 'town and gown' divide.
Led by the LSU (Liverpool Students’ Union) and the Liverpool Guild of Students, the Community Rep Scheme encourages students to get involved in, look after and feel proud of their local community.
Since its launch in 2009, up to 23 community reps have been active in four areas of Liverpool: Smithdown, Kensington, Aigburth and Marybone. Their work has been very positively received by residents associations, councillors, and local MPs and led to the development of the Leave Liverpool Tidy campaign targeting students moving out over the summer.
One student commented that the scheme “is great, as we get to know the community we're living in''. A local resident from Smithdown, South Liverpool was also impressed, saying that the scheme showed that students “care about where they live and want to get to know people within their community. Step in the right direction''.
Darren McCabe, Vice President Community at LSU adds:
“Our reps have visited over 1,500 properties this year and dealt with issues raised by residents ranging from requests for recycling bins to the use of a disabled parking space and reporting fly tipping to resolving noise complaints. Our Leave Liverpool Tidy scheme has been a great success too. We collected well over 50 bin bags of unwanted stuff this year and opened four free ‘shops’, giving away items such as clothes, bags of teddy bears, duvets, and household appliances including sky boxes, deep fat fryers and sewing machines.”
The report, 'Living Together, Working Together', is the first joint publication produced by NUS, Universities UK (UUK) and GuildHE and was published during the inaugural 'Universities Week'.
