Kieran Oliver

Moving from somewhere you’ve lived all your life to an independent lifestyle at university can be daunting, but living in campus accommodation has allowed me to make friends for life and connect everyone in the hall and beyond. Being part of a hall and the individual hall culture makes you feel included and part of a family. This environment means everyone make friends and shares great experiences together while living in halls.

I looked at the different halls of residence on social media and on the accommodation website before choosing Loughborough. One thing I noticed compared to other universities was how important and massive hall culture is at the university. The word that came to mind was ‘family’. This made my decision it a lot easier. When I came to an Open Day and listened to the lecturers and students, as well as taking in the fantastic campus environment, my decision to study here was solidified.

You can feel the family environment of halls right from move in day. There were lots of helpers and staff to support you and explain the whole process of moving to university and what would happen in the coming weeks. It felt like a huge celebration, and the hall committee and warden team who put on events and run the hall experience were so welcoming, which made it a lot easier to settle in, participate in hall events and meet other people. Any worries I had quickly dissolved, and my flatmates were all great.

All the residents know the Hall Warden team and consider them part of the hall family. Any issues in hall or concerns have been dealt with swiftly and professionally to foster the safe and caring nature of our hall.

The cleaning and security teams have done an excellent job at keeping the facilities on hall safe and clean and with each block having their own cleaner, they become part of your flats little family, and they always do a thorough job. The disability support team has also been extremely helpful this year when working with our committee to make sure hall events and facilities were accessible for those with disabilities.

In relation to the social aspects of university, there are so many different events and activities that go on whether that be from halls or the student union and being on campus means that you are close to all these events. My favourite memories are definitely from my own welcome week where I met lots of different people and enjoyed all the events that the hall and university had to offer. I also really enjoy the annual hall balls which are a great opportunity to get dressed up and celebrate the end of term with music and drinks surrounded by friends.

I worked on the Elvyn Richards committee as hall chair. We organised welcome week which is the new students first experience of university and the feedback we received about these events was extremely positive. It’s great to know that those who joined us this year had a great start to their university life. This year we implemented legacy traditions for Elvyn Richards to recognise and celebrate its history and set new traditions (like the Elvyn memorial rugby match fundraising event) to make hall identity and that community spirit even better.

It was great for our hall to win most improved hall of the year, myself and others in the committee being shortlisted for hall awards. These awards acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our hall committee who want to make a difference for their hall community. For me, the best part of being on committee was the opportunity to give back to the hall community and make the changes that the hall residents wanted, to make their experience in halls even better. I loved working with such a hardworking team of students.