social and cultural

Our higher education institutions lie at the heart of the social and cultural wealth of the East Midlands. Whether it be providing a venue for live concerts, sharing sports facilities, rescuing local theatres threatened with closure, playing a key role in the regeneration of a city or supplying skilled volunteers for a wealth of community projects, our universities substantially enrich their localities. A sample of what our universities offer to their local communities is given below.

• De Montfort University hosts Cultural eXchanges: an annual arts and culture festival that was launched in 2000 and is run by students on the Arts Management Degree courses. It offers over 50 events - most of which are free and open to the public - and attracts around 4,000 participants each year.
• The Derby Playhouse closed in 2007 despite significant protest from across the region. The University of Derby teamed up with Derby Live and invested heavily in bringing the new Derby Theatre to life. The Derby Theatre is a useful resource for the University, but more importantly it gives support to local amateur theatre and provides a venue for local theatre-goers to see touring professionals.
• The University of Leicester's Richard Attenborough Centre is a local focal point for arts and education, without barriers to access. The centre offers opportunities for participation in the arts to people of all abilities, with a varied programme of events and courses running throughout the year.
• The University of Lincoln has invested more than £100m in its Brayford Pool campus. It has taken the lead in the regeneration of the wharfside area of Lincoln with award-winning projects such as the Great Central Warehouse Library and the Engine Shed Student Centre which attracts high calibre live acts to the area.
• Loughborough University Student's Union Rag is the most successful student fundraising organisation in the country, having raised around £975,000 in 2008/09 for local and national charities.
• The University of Northampton's Centre for Community Volunteering won the prestigious 'Team of the Year' award at the 2008 Higher Education Volunteering Awards. Both staff and students participate in a huge number of community projects across Northamptonshire.
• The University of Nottingham gives public access to many of its world-class facilities including libraries, sports centres and the Lakeside Arts Centre.
• Nottingham Trent University is leading the way with its environmental practices. Home of the EcoCampus scheme, the University's estate is being transformed into a beacon of sustainability for staff, students and the local community. Initiatives include building one of the largest green roofs in the country and promotion of the Unilink bus service between campuses, which is available to all commuters and has carried one million passengers in its first three years of operation.
• The work of Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln in the fied of heritage spreads much further than the boundaries of historic Lincoln, with the administration of the Sandford Award in partnership with the Heritage Education Trust, and the Heritage and History Society Consortium providing a hub for knowledge transfer activity in this subject area.
• The Open University is the UK's only university that specialises solely in distance learning. It provides higher education to those for whom a traditional full-time degree course is not possible or appropriate. The opportunity to fit personal development activities around work and home commitments has a beneficial impact on the social and cultural health of our nation and beyond.