Three Universities in Kent Join Forces to Help Local Community Thanks to £3 million Cash Boost
Canterbury Christ Church University, the University of Greenwich and the University of Kent, who already work together as the Universities at Medway, are joining forces to address the regeneration needs of Swale in Kent, thanks to a £3 million match funding award from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
This initiative, called the South East Coastal Communities Project, will see all three institutions work in collaboration with the regeneration agency, Swale Forward and other local partners.
The project will particularly focus on health and well-being in the area and will utilise the expertise of specially created university teams which comprise of academics from all three institutions with specialisms in a range of fields including: health care; social science; the economy; the voluntary sector; and social services. The teams will primarily work with community groups in Swale to develop their ability to apply for more funding to further regenerate the area and give more opportunities to the people of Swale.
Swale Forward Programme Manager, Ross Gill, said: "It's essential that regeneration in Swale meets the needs of local communities. The South East Coastal Communities project will help to make a real difference locally and we look forward to working with the universities to add value to regeneration investment in Swale over the coming years.”
Professor David Eastwood, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), said: “The South East Coastal Communities project will enable higher education institutions in the region to support the development and sustainability of voluntary, charitable and social enterprise organisations around the South East coastal rim. I am delighted that HEFCE has been able to support this innovative bid."
Notes To Editors
For further information please contact:
Claire Robinson, Media Relations Officer, Canterbury Christ Church University, 01227 782391;
Posie Bogan, Head of Public Relations, University of Kent, 01227 764000;
Nick Davison, Press Officer, University of Greenwich, 0208 3318092.
Swale Forward
Swale Forward is an organisation that is dedicated to boosting the economy, infrastructure and provision of community facilities in Swale.
South East Coastal Communities Project
The South East Coastal Communities Project in Kent is part of a larger scheme that sees nine universities team up to address the regeneration needs of socially deprived areas in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire – a UK first in higher education.
The £6 million project, called the South East Coastal Communities Project, has been launched thanks to a £3 million match funding award from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
The project will see universities from all three counties team up to form a commitment to their local communities by offering a wealth of academic expertise and financial support to a range of groups in order to boost educational aspirations; community well being; employment opportunities; and economic, social and cultural development. The slogan for the project is: ‘healthy people, healthy environment, healthy economy.’
The project will be run by the universities of Brighton, Canterbury Christ Church University; Chichester; Greenwich; Kent; Portsmouth; Southampton; Southampton Solent; and Sussex. It will give organisations from the voluntary, charitable and social sectors in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, the opportunity to bid for funding and support.
Canterbury Christ Church University
Canterbury Christ Church University is the largest centre of higher education in Kent for public services – notably teacher training, policing and health and social care. The University is also a significant provider of programmes in a wide range of academic areas within its Faculties of Arts and Humanities and Business and Sciences.
From a small independent College of less than five hundred students – all training to be school teachers – in the 1960s, we have grown to be a fully fledged university with almost 14,500 students and 1,100 staff members with campuses in Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Broadstairs, Chatham and Folkestone. Our teaching and learning facility for health, education and policing students at Chatham is part of the Universities At Medway Project in partnership with the Universities of Greenwich and Kent with Mid-Kent College.
Inspired by the University’s Church of England Foundation and the aspirations of its students and staff, our mission is to pursue excellence in academic and professional higher education thereby enriching both individuals and society.
University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich has offered higher education in Kent for more than a century, since the creation of Dartford College in 1895. Today it has nearly 3,000 students at the University of Greenwich at Medway, in Chatham Maritime, as well as a training and conference centre at King’s Hill, near West Malling. Students also study for University of Greenwich courses in its network of partner colleges in the county, which includes: Hadlow College, K College, North West Kent College, Canterbury College, Bexley College, Bromley College and Orpington College, as well as by distance learning.
Altogether nearly 24,000 students are enrolled on a wide range of courses including: science, engineering, natural resources, business, education and training, pharmacy, computing and mathematical sciences, architecture and construction, health and social care, and humanities. The University also has extensive involvement with the local community and business sector, offering research and consultancy services, and through its student volunteering and mentoring schemes.
University of Kent
The University of Kent is one of the UK’s most dynamic universities. The first institution within the county to be granted a University charter, it now has over 16,000 students studying at Canterbury, Medway and Tonbridge and is a
major educational, economic and cultural force throughout Kent.
In the 2007 National Student Survey, the University was ranked not just top in the region for course satisfaction, it was among the top ten nationwide.
It also has a strong international presence and, according to the 2007 Sunday Times University Guide, it ‘can claim to be Britain’s only international university’ as a result of recent developments including the University’s expanding Brussels campus and its ‘involvement as one of five partners (and the only non-French one) in the bilingual University of the Transmanche’.
The Guide ranked Kent 42 out of 123 participating higher education institutions in the UK, an increase of four places from the 2006 printed edition.
More than 80% of research staff work in departments which contain research of national or international levels of excellence and the University’s commitment to its research activities was recognised by the shortlisting of one of its academics for Young Researcher of the Year in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) Awards.
The University’s Law Clinic was also shortlisted in the Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community category. Last year, Kent was one of only five UK universities shortlisted for the THES Institution of the Year award.
Greenwich academic contact for the South East Coastal Communities Project:
Dr Stuart Ashenden, Director of Academic Planning, Medway 01634 883824 or S.Ashenden@greenwich.ac.uk