Author Archives: Allie Burnett

Kent Law School Mooters reach Grand Final

During the previous academic year, students from Kent Law School (KLS) accomplished remarkable successes in mooting and mock trial competitions. Several teams advanced to the semi-finals in various national mooting competitions in 22/23, with the most significant accomplishment being the team’s advancement to the National Finals of the prestigious OUP/ICCA Moot. This competition, which has been running for decades, is highly competitive, with over 60 universities vying for a spot in the grand finals.

In a first for KLS, our team of mooters earned a place in the Grand Finals of the OUP/ICCA Moot, an outstanding accomplishment.

Darren Weir, Director of Lawyering Skills said, ‘For many years KLS has entered the competition and has reached the semi-final stage more than once, which is an amazing achievement. But, to see our team get through to the Grand Final held at Middle Temple was fantastic. A huge well done to Raph and Victoria for breaking records and getting us to the final’.

Raphael Hardy said:

‘It was a wonderful experience to moot against some of the best teams in the country on such a wide range of legal issues. The competition is tough, your submissions need to be on point and that is why the moot is regarded as one of the most prestigious in the country. It is a good challenge for those looking to improve on the existing skills they have built up at Kent’.

Victoria Bradshaw said:

‘It was an incredible experience and one I will remember into my career at the Bar. It is a chance to practise your advocacy skills against some of the best mooting teams in the UK. The renown competition tested our legal and oral argument skills like no other. Getting through each round was a testament to our commitment, hard-work and team work. We couldn’t have reached the finals without the help of our wonderful mentor Darren Weir, who is a valuable asset to Kent Law School. It was extremely challenging but very rewarding – an opportunity one should not pass!’

What is mooting?

Mooting is a popular activity among law students and legal professionals. It is essentially a simulated court proceeding where participants argue hypothetical legal cases. Moot courts give law students a chance to develop their argumentative and public speaking skills, as well as their knowledge of legal research and writing.

Mooting is just one of the lawyering skills offered at Kent Law School and is part of our outstanding co-curricular Lawyering Skills Programme. Owing to KLS’ growing reputation for practical lawyering skills, KLS has teamed up with Thomson Reuters Case Center to host the National Law Student Triathlon for the third successive year.

Your Uni Your Say festive giveaway on 1 Dec

Come along to Nexus in Templeman Library on 1 Dec from 11:00- 14:00 for free festive treats including mince pies, fruit cake and Maltesers reindeers!

All you have to do is write a Christmas wish for what you’d like to see at Kent next year and pop it in the jar. Your wishes (or feedback) will then be shared with Mica – the Head of Student Experience at Kent. Your feedback is important to us so we know what we are doing well and how we can improve. To see all the changes the Uni and Kent Union have made in 2023 in response to student feedback, visit the Your Uni Your Say webpages.

Learn more about the event.

Cookies and Conversation on 7 Dec

Join us in the Library Café on 7 Dec, 15:00-17:00, for an opportunity to influence the services that matter to you, with particular focus on Library and IT services and how you search for information, resources, and books.

Your insights will help us create even better and more responsive services tailored to your needs.

Plus, enjoy some free yummy cookies and hot drinks as we enter into this holiday season together! We also have a few £10 Amazon Vouchers to give away!

Find out more on the events calendar.

See you there!

Find out more about how the University is listening to students. Have your say, make your voice heard and help us shape our services!

Global Entrepreneurship Week: Celebrating our student entrepreneurs

What drives entrepreneurs and their ambitions, and the realities of starting a business were under the spotlight in ASPIRE as part of events marking Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2023 (13-17 November).

Students and graduate entrepreneurs came together to mark the worldwide event which had the theme ‘Entrepreneurs Thrive Here’ and promoting Inclusive Entrepreneurship, encapsulated by the GEW UK 2023 strapline: ‘Access All.’

On Wednesday 15 November, ASPIRE-supported students and graduate business owners took part in a dynamic panel discussion sharing their experiences.

The panel included Kent Business School graduates, Toufan Bracke and Rens Van Steenes, founders of Pomme de Frere, a street food business offering authentic Belgian frites.

They were joined by Munya Mwaijumba, a Journalism student and founder of the online beauty platform – Glimmer – which is connecting independent hairdressers with customers – and Ike Dhave, a KBS student and founder of the streetwear brand – Playhard.

ASPIRE Project Officer, Artur Slowinski, hosted the event, guiding entrepreneurs to share their stories and insights with the audience of fellow students. They delved into topics such as developing sustainable business ideas and turning them into reality.

Toufan emphasised the importance of entrepreneurial mindset, sharing how their venture was born out solving a gap in the market for evening food in St Andrews. He said: “There is nothing more rewarding than the feeling when we charged our first customer one pound”.

Munya advised aspiring entrepreneurs to start working on a business venture as early as possible, adding: “there is always something to do when you’re an entrepreneur, start as early as possible as you don’t have much on”.

Ike highlighted the importance of strong social media presence, explaining: “We launched our business without even having a physical product, thanks to the successful social media campaign”.

Following the panel discussion, ASPIRE hosted the weekly Business Start-Up Journey workshop. The ASPIRE’s programme is designed to grow and develop entrepreneurial skills. The journey ends with an exciting pitching competition on 20 March 2024. Discover more about the Business Start-Up journey.

Right to Food Uni: how to get involved

Everyone has the right to healthy, affordable and sustainable food. It should be a universal right irrespective of who you are and what your circumstances are.

The University of Kent has committed to being a Right to Food University – the first in the world. It is a commitment to bring everything the University does – its research, teaching, our students and staff, catering and everything else we do – to support the Right to Food and to make a real difference, on our campus, in our communities, across our region, the UK and internationally.

How to get involved:
Students are central to this work and we would like to invite all students who might be interested in the Right to Food to come along to the following:

Gleaning event on Thursday 23 November at 17:00 in Woodys
Get hands on with Kent’s Right to Food initiative by joining the Kent Gleaning collective. As well as reducing food waste and helping distribute fresh produce to those in need, you’ll get some fresh air, meet new people and earn employability points through volunteering. Come along to this event to hear more about gleaning in general and how you can become a volunteer with the Kent Gleaning Collective!
Right to food info event on Tuesday 28 November in Templeman (TS1) at 16:00
Hear about the initiative, find out how you can get involved and a free meal and drink in the Gulbenkian afterwards. To book your place email s.bloor@kent.ac.uk

Learn more about the Right to Food initiative.

Not long left to enter! 10 chances to win £1,000

Register with the Santander Scholarships programme by 20 November for chance to win £1,000!

10 Kent students will win £1,000 for simply registering online with Santander’s Scholarship programme. Through the programme you can:

Apply for scholarships and grants
Gain work experience
Learn the skills graduate employers want

Water Supply Issues: Resolved

Updated at 9:45 on Monday 13 November 2023

The water supply issues at Canterbury campus are now fully resolved.

Thanks for your patience while the issues were fixed.

Talk Money Week 2023

This week (6-10 November) is Talk Money Week. The aim is to encourage you to be more open about your finances with family and friends, as well as getting advice from experts if needed.

Blackbullion

We’re partnered with Blackbullion, a resource for students to improve their finances. Blackbullion has courses you can join and articles including how to build an emergency fund and top 10 money tips.

Help with budgeting

Your student maintenance loan only stretches so far and doesn’t always cover all the essentials. So, it’s important to make sure you’ll have enough money to see you through to your next instalment. Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert guru, has lots of advice and templates to help, check out here how to create a student budget.

As always, if you are experiencing financial hardship and budgeting just doesn’t cut it, please get in touch for financial support and advice.

Don’t get caught out

University students can be a target for criminals. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is:

Money mules – recruiters may try to befriend you and ask you to transfer money between accounts for them, giving you a small cut for doing so. You may think you are doing someone a favour, but you could be transferring criminal money. If you get caught, you could get a criminal record. Find out more about money mules.
Online scams – Protect yourself from online scams with these tips from Dr Jason Nurse of our award-winning Institute of Cyber Security Research Group.
Be suspicious of unsolicited emails, texts or calls asking for personal information.
Be cautious of messages that try enticing you into take some action (e.g. clicking a link or transferring some money).
Be careful with what personal information you share online, using data from previous breaches fraudsters trick people into thinking it’s genuine.
Use unique and strong passwords across online accounts – use a reputable password manager app to keep them secure.
Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible and keep the software updated.

Additional resources and support around your finances

Storm Ciaran: advice for students

With adverse weather expected over the next 24 hours, we want to let you know that our Canterbury and Medway campuses will be open as normal.

Given potential travel disruption, it may be that some activity is moved online due to staff unavailability – your Division will be in touch if there are any changes. Check your emails or get in touch before travelling if you want to make sure. Similarly, if you can’t make it to campus please let your Division know.

Please take care when coming in and check the latest travel advice before you make the trip. Useful sites include:

If anything changes, we will update you first on our Instagram stories.

Free film screening of Mr Jones on 23 Nov to commemorate Holodomor

Canterbury for Ukraine (C4U) is running a series of events to mark Holodomor – or ‘the Great Famine’ – the Russian induced famine which killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s.

As the current conflict continues, the commemoration takes on special importance as Ukraine continues to defy Russian aggression and affirm its commitment to peace and freedom.

The events at the end of November will include the showing of a landmark film, Mr Jones, which tells the story of Gareth Jones, a Welsh journalist, who travels to Ukraine in 1933 and uncovers the truth behind the famine in Ukraine.

The award-winning 2019 film, starring Edward Norton, Vanessa Kirby and Peter Sarsgaard, will be shown at the Gulbenkian on Thursday 23 November at 19:00. It has also been announced that students will be able to attend the screening free of charge thanks to a donation from Canterbury for Ukraine. To book your free student ticket, go to the Gulbenkian website. The ticket will show as £6 but once in the basket it will appear as £0 for students.

The commemoration will culminate in an inter-denominational service at All Saints Church, Military Road at 19:00 on Saturday 25 November. The service will bring together faith leaders, religious groups and many others from Canterbury and beyond to commemorate Holodomor but also to show solidarity with the more than 400 hundred Ukrainians who have settled in the area following the Russian invasion escalated in February 2022.

More than 6 million people have been forced to leave their homes as Russian forces have attacked major cities across Ukraine, including Berdyansk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, and the capital Kyiv. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights verified 9,614 civilian deaths to September 2023, but the number of civilian casualties in the occupied territory is as yet unknown.

Canterbury for Ukraine was set up in March 2022 to welcome and support the growing number of Ukrainian families being displaced to Canterbury and the surrounding areas.

Run and supported by local volunteers, supporters and businesses from both the UK and Ukraine, C4U has grown rapidly to provide a wide range of high-quality and much-needed services including a Welcome Hub, a Youth Hub, English language classes, a club for older age Ukrainians “Young Hearts”, the Canterbury for Ukraine Facebook group, a Choir, as well as awareness raising, public engagement and social events.

The Holodomor commemoration activities are a part of C4U’s continuing work to promote Ukrainian culture, language, history and heritage.

For further information please go to the Canterbury for Ukraine (C4U) website.