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Student Community Representatives

Student Community Reps - Big Tidy UpIt has been a successful term for the Student Community Representatives who have been appointed to bring Warwick students in south Leamington together with non-student residents.

With generous funding from the Town Council of Leamington Spa Community Fund and Warwick District Council’s Small Grants Scheme, this student-led scheme aims to highlight a range of issues including noise, recycling and rubbish collection, as well as the general importance of students being a good community neighbour.

The Student Community Reps scheme, with 5 volunteers spread over the South Leamington area, is run by Warwick Students' Union.

They aim:

  • to create pride in the local neighbourhood and improve the local environment
  • to strengthen the relationship between Warwick students and the wider non-student community by acting as a two-way conduit for communication
  • to work with many different groups (the Students’ Union, resident groups, the police, other students, etc.) to best support students in the area with relevant advice

Student Community Reps - Big Tidy UpThe reps have made efforts to gather feedback from the local community including the creation of a survey to identify what students consider to be problems when they live in South Leamington.

On a sunny Sunday morning in March 2010, Eagle Recreation Ground was the venue for a big tidy up. This green space has always been a key facility for the residents in South Leamington, so the representatives wanted to tidy the play area for the benefit of the local community as spring and summer approaches.

This pilot scheme intended to finish at the end of the undergraduate term two but the community reps are voluntarily extending their time with the project and have a number of plans for the coming months including:

  • A day of local charity bucket-collecting which has been organised for Saturday 8th May in Royal Priors Shopping Centre, Leamington Spa.
  • Plans to paint the outer wall of the Sydni Centre in South Leamington.
  • Working with Warwick District Council and Warwickshire County Council to help the process of clearing out rubbish at the end of the academic year.

The scheme has demonstrated the desire of Warwick University’s students to be good community neighbours in Leamington Spa and presentations about the scheme has been positively received by local councillors, external bodies as well as the wider population of Leamington Spa.