A range of accommodation to suit every student is available from fully furnished one-bed apartments, to spacious studios and cluster flats that are ideal for groups of friends.
All Mears Student Life accommodation buildings are located close to campus or faculty buildings with good choices of amenities and easy access to public transport. Mears Student Life not only supports students in finding suitable accommodation for their exciting venture ahead of them but also supports them in all aspects ahead of them at University.
Here at Mears we are proud of our Student Life team. Making the decision to go to university is one of the most important decisions of a young adult’s life. Mears understands the importance of providing support and are committed to helping students achieve their potential and enjoy their time through University life. The team at Mears Student Life are there to support students to feel confident and supported and able to achieve their potential.
Student Life support students through various types of mental and physical wellbeing. This can include flat disputes, relationship break ups, bereavement, or more other areas of mental wellbeing.
The team in Student Life sees itself as a family away from home. They are always there to listen, guide, intervene when required and offer as much support as possible. Communication is very important, through keeping in regular contact and providing details of support hubs available (of which there are many as the uni’s are fully equipped). The welfare of the student is paramount. Mears Student Life supports students when they start and leave University, helping them to settle in and it start to feel like home, even if they forget the little items they need.
One way Student Life support the students on a practical level is through their partnership with a company called Unicycle. Unicycle work together with Student Life through very busy check out / check in periods.
Who are Unicycle?
“Uni-Cycle is a non-profit project which has been working with the University of Salford since 2014 to divert usable waste produced by students in the final stages of moving out of halls and has successfully diverted over 35 tonnes of useable waste in that time.
The items collected are then processed off site at our warehouse in Eccles and resold on campus to the new intake of students in September at low rates, promoting reuse within the student environment. Some items including selected bedding, towels, toiletries and food are donated to local shelters and non-profit organisations supporting those looking to be rehoused or homeless.”
During key student ‘move out’ times when apartments are cleaned and refurbished and made ready for the next year students, Mears Student Life found that many household items and small pieces of furniture are left behind and could be re-used. Also, another busy time is when students are moving into accommodation, supported by their parents, but realise they have forgotten certain essential items.
Student Life have created a strong partnership with Unicycle, they have developed a trustworthy relationship. Student Life have created donation stations around the building during checking out time, urging students to donate all their unwanted items, such as pots, pans, kettles, toasters, any item would be considered and hardly any item turned away. Any non-perishable food items are collected and donated to a local food bank. Unicycle regularly collect these items from the collections stations and what they do next is amazing they arrange for electrical items to be pat tested, re-packaged etc and stored. Unicycle would also accompany the Student Life housekeepers (following a full flat checking out) into the flat and remove any reusable items towards donation.
Student Life and Unicycle run a pop-up shop from the common room on site and this is advertised to all before arrival and upon arrival it is shared with the students (and family) when checking in. Mears Student Life have 346 tenants whom the majority will arrive to check in over the course of 1 weekend and throughout September.
The pop-up shop remains on site throughout September and offers a wide range of products which have all been recycled and are as good as new but sold at the fraction of the cost of the shops. This is very attractive to the students as it is cost effective, eco-friendly, and very convenient.
Mears Student Life do not profit financially from this partnership, but they find the partnership invaluable in helping the community, providing a service to the students and demonstrating a real commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.
