Success for University Centre community activities

The University Centre at Leeds City College is offering a number of fun activities in community hubs across the city, in conjunction with the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP).

Locals in Beeston, Middleton, Chapeltown and Harehills can benefit from a range of free pursuits for young people including slime making, media makeup, screen printing, a virtual reality experience and much more.

The activities rotate once a month at Dewsbury Road Community Hub, St George’s Centre, the Compton Centre and the Reginald Centre. Jo Tyssen at Leeds City College’s University Centre, said: “The purpose of these activities is to raise aspirations, offer educational advice and guidance, and myth bust.

“Through fun workshops in science and robotics for example, we can open up conversations about education and the opportunities available to both young people and parents who may not have considered higher education before.

The activities are facilitated by staff and student ambassadors from the university’s creative arts, computing, care, fashion theatrical media hair and makeup, and science departments and will continue to run for the rest of the year.

Jo added: “So far, there have been 34 activities facilitated, where we’ve engaged with 635 individuals between May 2018 and December 2019.

“I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been involved in putting on these events, particularly the Creative Arts team, who have been integral to the initiative.”

In addition to the pop-up events, the University Centre ran Dewsbury Road Hub’s Jo Cox’s Big Get Together and The Reginald Centre’s Winter Festival, where the community got involved in printing 150 tote bags.

The events and activities have been well received, with 50% of those who participated reporting a positive shift in attitude towards higher education.