Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Businesses and charities are teaming up with students at the University of Nottingham to address some of the key social challenges facing the city.
The Social Impact Game is an award-winning project that has led to big changes such as preventing hate crime, increasing mental health support and reducing waste. Students collaborate with advisors and partners from local organisations to turn a business or social problem into a project. The project then enables the teams to make a real difference to the lives of people in Nottingham.
The university wants to encourage more local businesses and charitable organisations to get involved this year.
Now, more than ever, young people are looking for ways to help others and to create more equal, sustainable communities. The Social Impact Game harnesses this wave of activism by supporting the professional development of our students and enabling them to make a real difference to Nottingham.
Wayne goes on to say: "We can’t do this without the vital support of volunteer advisors and business partners. In exchange for their guidance and project ideas, volunteers will receive first-class training from a team of social impact experts, as well as experiencing real tangible benefits to their own professional development and organisational output.”
Last year, Darren Eaton from the Morgan Sindall Group worked with a group of students to boost mental health support for construction workers. In 2020, a report by the Chartered Institute of Building found that 70 percent of respondents had experienced depression and 87 percent had suffered anxiety. Darren worked with the students to develop a toolbox aimed at supporting mental health on site.
Through our project with Morgan Sindall, we were able to improve access to mental health support by 45 percent and increase awareness of mental health charity, MenUnite. We also provided Morgan Sindall with a six-step process to help them roll this out to staff on other sites.
Previous projects also included a campaign with the Nottingham Women’s Centre to tackle violence against women. The team created and delivered their own training workshop aimed at improving men’s understanding of the issue and encouraging men to report it. The workshop and training material are still used within the community today.
Volunteer applications for this year’s project close on Sunday 18th September. Further information about the University of Nottingham Social Impact Game, including how to get involved, can be found here.
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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