The University of Exeter aims to be a sustainable institution and has many campaigns and
initiatives in place to support this. This week is Go Green Week (23 – 27 February) and there are a number of events taking place including a volunteering session taking place today (Wednesday 25 February) at the Community Garden as part of Exeter Student Volunteers Good Deeds Day. Any volunteers willing to help need to meet at 2:45pm in the Forum. If you are visiting the Forum on Friday 27 February between 10:00am-4:00pm then you will be able to see a showcase of Students’ Green Unit student-led projects and will be able to participate in a range of interactive games and activities. For more information please visit the Sustainability website.
Not only is it Go Green Week but 23 February – 8 March 2015 is also Fairtrade Fortnight. The university takes part in this campaign each year and this year is no exception, keep your eyes peeled for discounts on Fairtrade products across our range of cafes and shops. If you are living within catered halls, you will notice some promotions for the Fairtrade products which are currently in use within your dining hall and desserts made from Fairtrade ingredients will be available at certain evening dinners across the fortnight. There are also a number of events taking place in the city centre run by Exeter City Council including a Fairtrade tasting market in Bedford Square on Saturday 28 February between 10am-2pm.
Thursday 7 May 2015 is voting day for the General Election where all registered voters within the UK are able to cast their vote on who they want representing them as their MP within the Houses of Parliament. Have you registered to vote yet? If you are unsure what to do as a student, take a look at the ‘about my vote‘ website for further information. You need to have registered to vote by Monday 20 April 2015.
We have received reports recently of students smoking within their residences and we would like to reiterate that this is not acceptable and is a breach of your accommodation contract. Please refer to our Smoking Policy for further information on where you can and cannot smoke. If you notice someone smoking in an area that they shouldn’t be, please report this to your residence manager as soon as possible. Make sure you check out our video providing you with hints and tips on staying safe in your accommodation.
To follow on from this, students who are currently living within our accommodation need to be extra vigilent of fire safety between 7am today (Wednesday 25 February) until 7am Thursday 26 February due to the Fire Brigades Industrial Action. Please see our fire safety flyer for further information.
As I mentioned in last week’s blog, we are able to able to offer some self-catered rooms for the full Easter period (28 March – 26 April 2015). If you are interested in Easter vacation accommodation please contact us or come to one of our drop-in sessions in The Forum (via SID) between 11:00am-3:00pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
It is only February but already we have received enquiries about accommodation for the summer vacation. Details about accommodation availability can be accessed on our website during the first week of the third term. Please come back to us then if you are interested.
As I sign off from this week’s blog, I looked out of my window as it just started to snow, so I would therefore like to remind you all to stay safe in this chilly weather. Make sure you all wrap up warm and read the advice on how to snow safety from the RoSPA website to prevent any trips or slips.
Accommodation Catherine