Remember to take an acceptable form of photo ID with you when you head to your polling station on Thursday to vote in the local elections.

Polling stations will be open from 7:00-22:00 on Thursday 4 May. Find your polling station.

If you are not sure if you are registered to vote in Canterbury, you can contact Canterbury City Council on 01227 862007 or email electoral.services@canterbury.gov.uk. Or for Medway Council, call 01634 333 333 or email electoralservices@medway.gov.uk.

Canterbury ​​​​​​​

• The Big Lunch Picnic in the tents outside the Registry and Gulbenkian (Canterbury campus) on Friday 5 May, from 12:30-14:30 
  Get together with your colleagues and bring your lunch to this Coronation picnic where we will be handing out free cake to celebrate. At the event you will also be able to buy our £4 packed-lunch deal.
• Lawn games being provided by Kent Sport during the Big Lunch Picnic. Bring out your competitive spirit while enjoying some lawn games!
• Coronation cupcake and hot drink for £3, from 2-5 May
  ​​​​Throughout the week you can get a Coronation cupcake and hot drink for just £3 from Gulbenkian Café, Dolche Vita and Sibson Café.
• Coronation packed-lunch offer for just £4, from 2-5 May
  You can also buy a packed lunch including a sandwich, drink and crisps for just £4 throughout the week from BagIt in Rutherford College, Gulbenkian Café, Dolche Vita and Sibson Café.
• British themed £3 meal in Rutherford Dining Hall from 2-5 May, 12:00 – 14:00
  The £3 meal deal menu in Rutherford Dining Hall (Canterbury) will feature a British themed dish for the week. 

Medway

• The Big Lunch Picnic on the Rochester Lawn (Medway campus) on Wednesday 3 May, from 13:00 – 14:00
  Get together with your colleagues and bring your lunch to our Coronation picnic where we will be giving out free cupcakes. There will also be the chance to win a large Coronation cake.
• Coronation deal at Medway on Wednesday 3 May
  The food truck on the Medway campus, Rich Aroma 21, will be offering a medium hot drink and a sausage roll or samosa for £5. ​​​​​​​

We hope to see you at the celebrations!

We are deeply saddened to hear about the fighting in Sudan. Our thoughts are with all our students, staff, alumni, and anyone who is affected by this conflict.

We are in the process of contacting our students and staff from Sudan and are taking immediate steps to support these individuals. The UK Government advice for anyone concerned about relatives or friends should call the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) on 020 7008 5000.

Support for students:  

• 24/7 support from Spectrum Life. If you or a friend need emergency support, Spectrum Life can offer online, text and telephone support from qualified counsellors and mental health professionals. Call 0800 0318227 and press option 1, or Text/WhatsApp ‘Hi’ to: +44(0)7418 360780
• Free 24/7 support from peers and trained professionals with Togetherall.
• If you’re feeling distressed and would like to talk to Student Support and Wellbeing staff, if you’re based in Canterbury, please call 01227 823158 or email KentSSW@kent.ac.uk; and if you’re based in Medway, please call 01634 888474, or email MedwaySSW@kent.ac.uk.
• Our Student Services team have written a blog which gives some practical advice on how to look after your wellbeing and where to go for support if you need it.

Support for staff:  

• Our Employee Assistance Programme offers free support and counselling to staff.
• Our Mental Health Support for staff hosts a wide range of support for when you’re struggling, such as helpful resources and advice and information on how to get in touch with our Mental Health Allies.

We’re taking part in No Mow May this year. This means central lawns that would normally be cut are going to be left to grow throughout May. Each year we leave the grasslands surrounding our campuses but this time we are including the central lawns. 

No Mow May is Plantlife’s annual campaign calling on gardeners and landowners to leave the mowers in the shed and allow flowers to grow. May is a crucial month for flowering plants allowing them to get established and provide nectar for pollinators and other invertebrates. Just 8 dandelion flowers are enough to produce the nectar sugar needed by a bumblebee each day. 

Over the month central campus will start to look very different and the Conservation Society will be carrying out surveys to see what changes are taking place. We will be putting signs across campus that will point out where lawns are being left for nature and No Mow May. A big thank you to the Graphic Design students that created the No Mow May signs you will see on campus, and to the Conservation Society who will be surveying our wilder lawns.     

This project forms part of the University’s Biodiversity Strategy and is being led on by the Landscape and Grounds team and the Sustainability Team. We hope that we can learn a lot about the difference it makes to our invertebrates, birds and small mammals on campus. We also want to hear how this project impacts on the human community on campus. We would love to hear your feedback through the feedback form we have set up on our website, where you can also share any wildlife spots of your own. 

If you have any questions please contact sustainability@kent.ac.uk, and please feel free to share any photos you take throughout the month of our wilder lawns. 

Earth Day is on the 22 April and marks a day of collective action and global awareness on the importance of protecting our planet. At the Kent, we take our responsibility towards tackling climate change seriously and are committed to a sustainable future for generations to come. Here’s what’s been going on at Kent in the past year, and some ways you can get involved in sustainability initiatives.

Our progress

Kent has made a lot of progress towards sustainability in the past year. From reducing carbon emissions to promoting biodiversity and sustainable food systems, we have achieved significant milestones in various areas. Here are some of the highlights from the past year:

• Kent improved by 12 places in the People and Planet University League table to achieve 29th place overall.
• We remained on track with our Net Zero by 2040 reduction target and have undertaken audits across University buildings to identify further opportunities.
• Planted 300 fruit and nut trees for the Diamond Anniversary Orchard project, celebrating the arrival of the Class of 2025.
• We were awarded a Silver Award in the Wilder Kent Awards for 2022 for taking positive action to restore green spaces and help people to reconnect with nature.
• Our WARP-IT furniture reuse scheme has passed £1million in savings since starting. Last year we reused 153,919kg of furniture equivalent to 113 tonnes CO2.

Get involved – taking action towards a sustainable future

There are lots of ways for students and staff to get involved in our sustainability initiatives.

Kent Community Oasis Garden

The Kent Community Oasis Garden is an extraordinary collaboration between the University and East Kent Mind, supporting sustainability and good mental health. This year, the garden has expanded its growing space, seen a large rise in its number of volunteers, and been used as a living lab site for the School of Architecture. Get involved by coming along to one of the open gardening sessions on Wednesdays and Fridays, 11:00-14:00

Register for Climate Cafe Training

A Climate Café is a safe space to chat with others who are feeling anxious, sad, or frustrated about climate change. As part of our commitment to a sustainable future, we are offering free training on how to facilitate Climate Cafe discussion groups. This is a great opportunity to take a proactive stance towards climate anxiety, meet like-minded individuals, and develop your communication skills.

The training will take place in June. Register your interest by emailing sustainability@kent.ac.uk.

BioBlitz 2023

Join Kent’s BioBlitz on 20 May 2023, to record as many living species as possible on the Canterbury campus. The event is open to everyone, regardless of experience. Participants can take part in numerous sessions throughout the day, collaborating with local conservation and wildlife organizations. Find out more about the BioBlitz and how you can get involved.

Gleaning collective introductory meeting

Kent and Produced in Kent have established a ‘gleaning’ group in Kent to collect surplus produce from local farms and distribute it to charities, community groups, and food banks in the Canterbury area. If you are interested in finding out more, you can attend an information session on Tuesday 25 April at Woody’s on Canterbury campus to learn more about becoming a volunteer with the Canterbury Gleaning Collective.

Let’s continue to work towards a sustainable future, and make every day Earth Day.

From Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education & Student Experience 

The UCU’s national marking and assessment boycott begins today (20 April). It is disappointing that this action is going ahead, however we have plans in place to make sure this does not get in the way of you finishing the year as normal. As always, we will do everything we can to limit the impact this has on your studies.

What does a marking and assessment boycott mean?

Academic colleagues who are taking part in the action may not mark coursework or exams while the dispute is taking place. However, it is important to stress that not all staff are UCU members and not all UCU members take part in industrial action.

While staff do not have to let us know if they are taking industrial action, we know the impact at Kent will vary greatly across areas. It is important you continue submitting assignments as usual and sit your exams in the Summer Term. We will do all we can to make sure your marks are turned around in appropriate timeframes.

Ensuring you can progress or finish your studies 

I understand that this is a worrying time, but I want to reassure you that we have specific measures in place to make sure you can progress or finish your studies on time. Graduation ceremonies will also go ahead as planned.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email industrialaction@kent.ac.uk. You can also see further information and support on the industrial action website.