Student Life in Bournemouth

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Student Life in Bournemouth

 

Bournemouth University is the number one post 1992 University in the UK and attracts thousands of new students to the county every year- stretched across halls of residents in Bournemouth and Poole and in private housing around the city; the students bring an annual influx of residents to the community.

 

This year just over 17,000 students began a years teaching at the institute including those on masters programmes but Bournemouth is no exception to general connotations and often students are included in a negative stereotype with young people, that associates students with nothing but drinking, crime and anti-social behaviour.

 

Those who do live in private housing are often subject to noise complaints from neighbours, and often flats in halls of residence will include the illustrious traffic cone or shopping trolley. But are Bournemouth’s students like this or do they enrich the community of this sunny beachside resort?

 

Well with every student that arrives on the Dorset coast comes one more potential worker, ready to fill in hours of part-time work that are usually designated for younger employees. Many find their maintenance loans are no longer enough to sustain their lifestyle away from home. And the majority of degrees require students to undertake a placement as part of the course- further adding to the local economy, and bringing new skills and perspectives to the industry.

 

The University prides itself on being modern and contemporary, and its students are moulded to fit this ethos. The students themselves are pro-active enough to fight the aforementioned negative perceptions of student life, with Bournemouth having its own volunteer arm- RAG. RAG stands for Raising and Giving, and is the fundraising arm of the student union at Bournemouth.

 

The organisation takes charge of fundraising events in and around the University and last year raised over £20,000 for various charities. They wish to ‘enable students to fundraise in a safe, supportive and open environment’, and RAG President Nicholas Boisset says their work does contribute to fighting against negative press. “There are about 10% of students that give the rest a bad name, and we are all tarred with the same brush,” Nicholas said. He went on: “The fundraising RAG carries out is welcomed warmly by the public, more input in RAG raises awareness for students’ good will.” Nicholas also pointed out the core volunteers of RAG had more than doubled and is a sign that students are battling to give more to their communities.

 

The dangers students face were aptly summarised in a recent edition of the Bournemouth Daily Echo where two juxtaposing stories featured on the same page. ‘Council deals with Studentification’, a story about students being given a bad name, was on the left hand side of the page- opposite a story and photo about RAG joining the poppy appeal in Bournemouth Square.

 

In the Studentification story Counsellor Smith of Bournemouth Council said: “We are aware of the very positive contribution that most students make to the town. However on the odd occasion when we do receive complaints about students these are usually in relation to noise nuisance, rubbish and bin collections including late night parties.” It is this that makes it harder for the majority of students to be taken seriously by members of the community, and often treat them with a great deal of suspicion. Add to this the declining numbers of graduates finding employment in the current economic climate and it is a hard time for Bournemouth’s students. Figures to be revealed over the coming weeks will show a drop in the percentage of students finding work after their studies, dropping for the third year in a row.

 

Jackie Gush is head of the graduate employment service at the University and said: “We are in line with national average percentages and as this is the first year to deal with the credit crunch we expected a similar drop from last year.”

Before they think of leaving though they must first complete their studies and despite the generally negative media attention, students do have work to do and the social side of student life can sometimes be exaggerated.

 

In fact, however it may be seen by residents, the nightlife around Bournemouth is fairly reliant on students attendance, and as well as keeping money in those businesses going, a good nightlife is something positive for the city and can often be seen on any tourism list of things to do alongside visiting the beach and shops.

So the younger residents of Dorset brought to the south west by the University life Bournemouth can offer are, and continue to be, a plus for the region, and in return the area continues to give them something back

By Mark Allaway

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