14 September 2009, 09/200
Students and residents pledge to become good
neighbours
Be a good neighbour is the message from partners as they welcome
new students to West Lancashire during Freshers Week.
Starting university can be a daunting experience for many
people, so the West Lancashire Community Safety Partnership - a
group of agencies working together to tackle crime, disorder and
the fear of crime including West Lancashire Borough Council,
Lancashire County Council, Fire and Rescue, the Police and the
Primary Care Trust - is building on its already excellent work to
support students and help them integrate into life here in the
borough.
A number of new initiatives have been planned to make the start
to the new term a safe one and complement the schemes that are
already in place to increase community confidence.
There is a perception by some residents that Freshers Week
(starting 20 September) can cause problems because of the volume of
new students coming to the town. So an action plan has been drawn
up by partners in order to balance the needs of residents and
students and manage Freshers Week proactively. This action plan
will continue throughout the year.
The overall aim is to reduce anti social behaviour and alcohol
related crime, reassure the community and increase their confidence
and improve overall communications.
New for this year is a ‘Meet and Greet’ event with local
residents and student residents in the Station Road and Burscough
Street area of Ormskirk on Sunday 27 September. The idea behind it
is to allow local residents and students to get to know one another
because they will be neighbours and it is hoped that they will feel
more tolerant of each others needs. It’s the first time it has been
trialed and if it is successful another similar event could be
planned for Christmas.
Streetwise, a partnership publication welcoming new students,
has also been launched and gives lots of useful information and
advice from safety messages, setting out what behaviour is expected
of them and practical advice such as bin collection dates.
The first-ever family fun day will also take place on Saturday
26 September where students can bring children or their families
along to let them see where they study.
Other highlights include:
-
Re-launching the Bottom of the Glass, Bottom of the Glass
campaign to promote safety for female students, who will be given
personal attack alarms and handy credit card size leaflets
containing useful advice
-
Giving out drink-spiking stoppers and promoting responsible
drinking
-
Property marking drop-in sessions for students to get their
valuables security marked
-
Freshers Fair on Thursday 24 September
-
Fire safety awareness and free home fire safety checks
Cllr Paul Greenall, Portfolio Holder for Community Services,
said: "Effective partnership working already exists between Edge
Hill and key agencies including the Council, police, health and
fire service and we want to build on these relations to make
Freshers Week a welcoming experience for both students and the
local community. There are lots of exciting initiatives planned to
encourage good neighbour relations, reduce anti social behaviour
and promote safety, and to support the integration of students into
our community."
Edge Hill Students Union has also put together a programme of
events for Freshers Week to encourage students to meet new people,
learn new skills and ensure that the experience of coming to Uni is
as stress-free as possible. They will also be ensuring that there
will be very little late night disturbances for residents and that
students get home from nights out safely.
Christine Coleman, Director of Student Services at Edge Hill
University and a member of West Lancashire Community Safety
Partnership said: "These developments build on the established
working relationships within our local community and should help
new student members of our community adjust to life here. All too
often people forget that students are frequently the victims of
crime themselves and we particularly welcome the initiatives to
help them stay safe and become more integrated into their immediate
neighbourhood."
For more information about Freshers Week, please visit
Edge
Hill's website
(external link). To find out more about the work of the West
Lancashire Community Safety Partnership, visit our Community
Safety pages.
Related information