Category Archives: Student opportunities

Job opportunity: Safer Streets Canterbury project

The Canterbury Community Safety Partnership is looking to hire Student Partners to support the project deliver of Safer Streets 4. This is a paid role.

The partnership has been awarded funding from the Home Office to identify ways to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls and conduct research on how we can make Canterbury safer for its residents, including students. This funding is supporting the development of research, training, safety resources, a central website and safety packs for patrons of Night Time Economy (pubs, clubs and bars) in the city, alongside other exciting projects.

This role is an opportunity for you to be an active participant in change for Canterbury, making it a safer place to live and study. As a member of the project team , you will be required to (but not limited to):

Conduct research, including research design, data collection and analysis.
Organise and facilitate focus groups/semi-structured interviews.
Liaise with key partners, including attending meetings.
Provide advice and gather information in a coordinated manner from students and the wider Canterbury community that will aid the project’s progression and provide
important strategic insights.
Contribute to developing and delivering training packages that focus on awareness
Contribute to the development of key resources and the production of safety packs.

Interested in applying? Find out more and apply for the role.

Find out more about the Safer Streets Canterbury project.

1,000 chances to win £100

If you’re looking for some extra funds ahead of the winter break, the Santander Universities £100k Winter Giveaway is here for you. They’re giving away 1000 lots of £100 to any UK university students- even if you don’t bank with them!

Winners can spend the £100 grants at the Santander Aspire webstore on a variety of items; Pick up some supermarket vouchers and get ready for that holiday feast or use the funds towards a new laptop and get a head start on your revision.

Apply before 30 November at 23:00 for your chance to win!

Apply now >

#100kWinterGiveaway #NeverStopLearning

‘Twin your Toilet’ on campus for World Toilet Day!

To celebrate World Toilet Day, the Sustainability Team and Estates Department are coming together to raise awareness of the global issues around access to clean water and sanitation and to save money and reduce wastage of this precious resource.

Spotting leaks and faults

We have over 3000 toilets and urinals across our Canterbury and Medway campuses and each one can use upwards of 100l of water per day. With that many toilets, It is impossible for our maintenance teams to check them all so we rely on staff and students reporting faults such as continuously flushing. Often, especially in office areas, people tend to assume that someone else has reported it so faults are often left unreported for weeks or even months. If left unfixed, each of these can waste 100s of cubic meters of water a year costing upwards of £2000!

Report a fault and ‘Twin your Toilet’

To encourage more people to report faults, the Estates department has pledged to sponsor a toilet through the ‘Twin your Toilet’ scheme for the first 10 toilets to be reported. If you report a faulty toilet you can even nominate your favourite toilet to be twinned! Find out more about water saving, including how to spot a faulty flush.

To report a fault in a university building please contact Estates customer services on (01227 8) 16666. To report a fault in on-site student accommodation please use the Home at halls app.

Did you know: The University has Changing Places Hygiene Room located at the Templeman Library. Changing Places facilities are located around the country and are designed for people who need additional space, equipment, time and for people who cannot use standard accessible toilets and changing facilities

What is the Twin your Toilet scheme?

The Twin your Toilet scheme helps fund projects across the world supporting communities to build safe and clean toilets as well as providing access to clean water. 3.6 billion people globally are still living with inadequate access to clean water and sanitation which leads to poor health outcomes, groundwater pollution and decreased opportunities, particularly for women and girls who can be forced to drop out of education due to no access to safe toilets.

The University of Kent is a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goal Education Accord and this work forms part of our response to Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation.

This World Toilet Day, let’s make the invisible visible.

Events at Medway: Give it a Go and Medway Move

There are plenty of opportunities to meet new people and try new experiences and sports at Medway campus.

Give It A Go events

Give It A Go events are fun, varied events that are either free or at a student-friendly price. They are open to all Medway students.

Give It A Go events this month include Go Karting, Cocktail Making, Bubble Football and Pamper Sessions! Check out Give It A Go events.

Medway Move events

Medway Move is a bespoke social sports programme that provides a range of activities that you can just turn up and play for free! No prior experience is needed, and the programme is available to staff and students. Discover Medway Move events.

Some Medway Move events coming up in November are a Kickboxing taster session, Social Badminton, Zumba and Strong Nation. Why not try something new?

Other events to get involved with

Plus you can check out all the events run by The Hub, as well as the student events calendar for events at Canterbury, Medway and online.

Cost of living student survey

As part of our ongoing priority to support students during the cost of living crisis, Kent Union and the University of Kent, in partnership with The Food Foundation, have joined forces to present you with the Cost of Living survey.

This survey aims to understand how the cost of living crisis has impacted you and figure out how we can best support you during your time at Kent. The information gathered will help us to identify the most vulnerable groups of students and the aspects of university life you are most struggling with so we can provide you with tailored support. The results will inform the actions we need to put in place towards achieving the University of Kent’s civic mission to promote food justice, tackle food insecurity and become the world’s first Right to Food University.

Taking part in this survey gives you the opportunity to enter our randomised prize draw which will take place once the survey closes. The prizes up for grabs include:

6 x £30 Co-op gift cards
1 x Meal for two at Woodys
15 x £20 Kent One card credits
1 x Kent hoodie from Kent Clothing
1 x Free entry package for the prize winner and friends for a Venue event
25 x voucher for free tea & coffee in the Library Café.

During these difficult times, it is important that your voice is heard, so we encourage you to fill out the Cost of Living survey and share it with your friends too.

Fill out the survey now.

For further information on how Kent Union and the University of Kent are supporting you during the cost of living crisis, check out the Cost of Living Support webpage.

10 chances to win £1,000! Deadline 20 Nov

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 the Santander Scholarship programme. Register now.

Through the programme you can:

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

becas-santander.com #SantanderUniUK

Canterbury Safer Streets logo competition

Make your logo design the symbol of Canterbury’s Safer Streets initiatives from the recent government grant.

About Safer Streets

The Canterbury Safety Partnership has been successful in securing government Safer Streets 4 funding to dedicate towards safety and perception of safety in Canterbury. This grant supports the development of training, safety resources, a central website and safety packs for patrons of Night Time Economy (pubs, clubs and bars) in the city, alongside other exciting projects.

Under this umbrella the project will look at information regarding consent and harassment, drinks spiking, alcohol awareness, getting home safe, respect and inclusion, and reporting methods for students and members of the public. There will also be new initiatives and resources tackling Violence Against Women and Girls.

Canterbury has a huge student community, and the we want students to define the vision of this project. We require a logo to brand and connect project materials produced under the Safer Streets grant, which clearly promotes safety in Canterbury. This logo needs to be bold and eye-catching and represent the values and goals of this project.

Brief and deadline for submissions

Read our project brief for more information on how to get involved and make your submission! There will be a prize for the winning logo entry and honourable mentions.

The deadline for the competition is Monday 21 November 2022 23:59.

University Community Choir autumn dates

Try something new and feel connection, create community and lift your spirits… We are delighted to invite you to join the University Community Choir, meeting weekly on Canterbury campus.

Singing in a Choir has many benefits, it’s informal, social, and helps you focus on something different as part of a group. Most importantly it’s fun!

It’s free to join, and there are no auditions, and you don’t need to be able to read music. Come along to meet others, or bring a friend.

Upcoming dates for Autumn Term

9 November 2022 13.00-14.00 (Grimond LT3)
16 November 2022 13.00-14.00 (Colyer-Fergusson)
23 November 2022 13.00-14.00 (Grimond LT3)
30 November 2022 13.00-14.00 (Colyer-Fergusson)
7 December 2022 13.00-14.00 (Grimond LT3)
14 December 2022 13.00-14.00 (Colyer-Fergusson)

Spread the word to anyone else (staff or student) who might enjoy this opportunity. If you have any questions, please email Mita Mondal, Email: mm595@kent.ac.uk

WorldFest Bitesize Fund for cultural events and celebrations

We’ve set up the Worldfest Bitesize Fund so you can apply for a financial award of up to £250 to help run a multicultural event.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis but must be submitted at least four weeks prior to the date of the event.

Examples of past events and celebrations we have supported include Diwali, Chinese New Year, Thanksgiving, Kent African Summit, Newroz, Holi, African Evening Gala, Discover Islam, Japanese Cultural Festival, Asian Fusion and a Thai Festival.

Open to all Kent Societies and students.

Find out more about how to apply for the WorldFest Bitesize Fund.

Register your interest in campus accommodation for next year!

Are you and your friends thinking about where to live next year? Take the hassle out of house hunting and worrying about deposits or rising bill payments by returning to live with us again next year either on our Canterbury campus or in Pier Quays, Medway.

You can register your interest now and gain access to our application pages 24 hours early when they open in mid-January 2023!

Any returning student can apply and we’re guaranteeing over a thousand rooms for our Canterbury and Medway returning students for 2023/24. Other benefits include:

Living with your friends – tell us in your applications and as look as you meet our guidelines we’ll house you together.
Pay no bills – all utilities are included (gas, water, electricity, heating and Wi-Fi) meaning there’s no unexpected bills or price hikes. Plus, you get to keep your sport membership for free for another year.
No deposit needed to secure your room – pay nothing until September 2023 for Canterbury campus accommodation and only an advanced rent payment for Pier Quays.
Quick and easy – to register your interest and you can submit for yourself or on behalf of a group You’ll then be ahead of the game when applications go live in January with your early access.

For Canterbury accommodation you can apply for any area except Turing College (which is reserved for new students). In Medway we also have phase 2 rooms available in Pier Quays which returning student applications are given priority for.

Find out everything you need to know on our returning student accommodation page or register your interest now.