Latest news from Loughborough University

22 Sep 2015

Welcome to new and returning Loughborough University students

Loughborough University together with Leicestershire Police and Charnwood Borough Council are joining forces to welcome new and returning students to Loughborough.

The agencies are working together to deliver three key messages:

  • Look after yourself
  • Look after your stuff
  • Think of the neighbours

Members of the University beat team together with University security staff will be delivering talks at all the Halls of Residence. They will also give crime prevention advice, particularly in relation to cycle theft and burglary, at the Students’ Union Bazaar. In addition, more than 4000 student safety cards have been put in student bedrooms.

The activities are part of Operation Umbel, a multi-agency operation which has two elements to it – deterrent and prevention. The campaign runs in five phases across the academic year, the first of which is the freshers period.

PC 4618 Charlotte Dickens, Dedicated Neighbourhood Officer for the Loughborough University police team said: "For many young people this will be the first time they will be away from home for an extended period of time and thinking about crime prevention is not always at the front of their mind. By taking a few simple steps students can help prevent themselves becoming a victim of crime and as a result ensure they will have a happy time both living and studying in the town.

"Loughborough is a safe place to study so we hope Operation Umbel, and all the work we are doing both on and off campus with our partners, will lead to further reductions in crime and ensure that students and local residents live as happily as possible side by side. We’ll be reminding students to respect residents who live in the town especially if they are coming home late at night and we’ll be pointing out that the town centre is an alcohol free zone."

Cllr Jonathan Morgan, Chairman of Charnwood Community Safety Partnership, said: "It’s good to see organisations working together to make sure students in Loughborough are welcomed - we all need to play our roles in the community, students included, and I am sure the measures in place will benefit everyone."

Stuart Christie, Head of Security at Loughborough University said: "At the start of term the emphasis is on welcoming students but introducing simple crime prevention and personal safety ideas. We want them to be part of the partnership that is keeping campus and the wider Loughborough area to be a safe place to live and study."

Notes for editors

Article reference number: September News

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was named University of the Year in the What Uni Student Choice Awards 2015.Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. It was 2nd in the 2015 THE Student Experience Survey and was named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. Loughborough University London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.