Community
A UWE Bristol experience that’s everything they want it to be
We believe in doing everything we can to help students successfully transition into – and through – UWE Bristol. To help them get everything they want from their university experience. Our Student Life framework supports all students in their individual journey. It helps them to build connections with their peers and the wider UWE Bristol community.
So far, more than 4,000 students have engaged with over 235 Student Life activities and events. We’ve expanded the framework too. Working with our Student Communications team, we’ve implemented a new communications strategy complete with a very useful Student Life Instagram page, which quickly gained over 2,500 new followers.
Student Life is also working to develop students’ resourcefulness – by using Fika mental fitness. We initially rolled out Fika to support Midwifery students who were going into professional placements in January 2023. Since then, following very positive feedback, we’ve plans in place to roll out Fika to all our Nursing students in academic year 2023–24.
For student life, it's the student voice that matters most. It's front and centre of everything. We've held workshops focused on better connecting peer-to-peer student support initiatives, sharing good practice, ensuring good functional systems, and incorporating the student voice.
We're identifying the information we need to deliver our vision, and that's why we're developing a Student Community Dashboard to explore how we can best use all available data to build and inform practice.
Feel Good done better
The Feel Good programme is a campaign focusing on healthy behaviours at UWE Bristol. We believe in empowering everyone to make healthy choices. We run events throughout the year to help students and staff relax, try something new, get active and eat well.
Following last year’s programme evaluation, we’ve implemented changes to help us engage more students and staff more effectively. This year, our understanding of the need for conversation led to more thoughtful discussions, particularly around belongingness and the cost of living.
We’ve also focused on digital engagement to highlight and encourage attendance at Feel Good events.
In January, we saw our highest engagement to date, with:
66,060
total video views across all platforms
1,698
video engagements (reactions, comments, shares and saves)
103,820
accounts reached across all platforms
54,427
video views of Instagram Reels
Healthy Headspace
As part of our Feel Good programme, and to boost our offering to all our staff, we partnered with Headspace, a mental health support app. We asked staff to form teams and sign up to gain access to the app to participate in the healthy university-wide competition – with a prize for the winning team. The UWE Bristol team with the highest engagement in Headspace won a year’s free subscription.
Not only did 21 teams take part but, through regular feedback sessions, we found that the challenge benefitted participants’ mental health and mindfulness. It also highlighted the impact – and benefit – of running a mindfulness challenge during high stress periods.
Through qualitative feedback sessions, we saw that taking part in the challenge led to individual and team benefits. Because the challenge was app-based, it gave teams real flexibility. They could use it when it worked for them and when they’d get most benefit from it, e.g. periods of high stress or team meetings.
The Headspace challenge also gave teams a positive reason to come together, creating new relationships and deepening existing ones. Practicing meditation as a team improved feelings of trust and solidarity.
The Headspace challenge also gave teams a positive reason to come together, creating new relationships and deepening existing ones. Practicing meditation as a team improved feelings of trust and solidarity.
Signposting support
Our Staff Health and Wellbeing Hub is an online resource which points people to all the support that’s available to them.
We have a review group in place that’s working with key stakeholders to make sure that the hub is relevant, accurate and up to date. Their initial recommendations, which we’re now actioning, are for us to work with the People Directorate to further establish how staff might become more familiar with the hub.
Signposting support
Our Staff Health and Wellbeing Hub is an online resource which points people to all the support that’s available to them.
We have a review group in place that’s working with key stakeholders to make sure that the hub is relevant, accurate and up to date. Their initial recommendations, which we’re now actioning, are for us to work with the People Directorate to further establish how staff might become more familiar with the hub.
Talking health promotion
We continue to talk about and promote relevant health and wellbeing national days and campaigns. We always share resources that we believe to be useful and beneficial to staff and students.
For International Stress Awareness Week, we shared links in the weekly news to our healthy working environment policies. We also shared tips from colleagues on managing stress, plus a free trial of MOVE.
We also encourage staff to share their own tips and thoughts, and to know that they can talk to their managers – or other team members – about anything. Conversation is so important for our wellbeing, so let’s keep talking!
Talking health promotion
We continue to talk about and promote relevant health and wellbeing national days and campaigns. We always share resources that we believe to be useful and beneficial to staff and students.
For International Stress Awareness Week, we shared links in the weekly news to our healthy working environment policies. We also shared tips from colleagues on managing stress, plus a free trial of MOVE.
We also encourage staff to share their own tips and thoughts, and to know that they can talk to their managers – or other team members – about anything. Conversation is so important for our wellbeing, so let’s keep talking!
Period Poverty programme
Period poverty is a global problem. Today, millions of women and girls cannot afford basic menstrual care. The UWE Bristol Students’ Union is committed to addressing period poverty – by providing free, organic, plastic-free menstrual products in all their toilets. The SU partners with UWE Bristol to provide free products across toilets at all our campus sites.
The SU also ran an important behaviour change campaign to promote sustainable period products to our UWE Bristol community. Students and staff could sign up to a free trial of a sustainable period product of their choice (period pants, menstrual cup, reusable pads, reusable tampon applicator).
318 students and 25 staff members took part in the sustainable period product trial. A take-up increase of 209% compared to last academic year.
318 students and 25 staff members took part in the sustainable period product trial. A take-up increase of 209% compared to last academic year.
The aim was to spread awareness of more sustainable period products. It gave students and staff a cost-free opportunity to try a new product.