26 June 2023

Welsh universities bring significant economic benefits to the whole of Wales – generating over £5 billion per year for the economy and one in 20 jobs across the country. However, they also have a significant impact on a local scale, working hands-on to meet the specific needs of the communities they serve.

Convened by the Universities Wales Civic Mission Network, today’s event showcases the work Welsh universities are doing to help alleviate poverty of different kinds – from tackling health inequalities and food poverty, to working with disadvantaged groups to improve access to culture and the arts.

Two years on from the launch of the Civic Mission Framework for Wales in 2021, the event demonstrates how civic mission activity has continued to develop across Wales over the past two years, with universities collaborating with partners to deliver against the goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act.  

Chair of the Universities Wales Civic Mission Network, Lynnette Thomas, said:

“Our universities have an important role to play in communities across Wales, beyond their traditional remit of learning, teaching and research.

“Poverty is an increasingly urgent challenge facing the people and places of Wales. By working in partnership with communities, businesses and other agencies, universities are having a significant impact in this area, finding innovative solutions to challenges and making a tangible difference to people’s lives right across the country.

“Today’s event shows what can be achieved through collaboration and creative thinking, and I look forward to seeing what more we can achieve when we work together.”

Jeremy Miles MS, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, said:

“While there is always more to do, I am proud that Wales’s higher education sector is leading the way with our Civic Mission Framework.

“Universities and higher education institutions have a critical role to play in addressing poverty, as they have unique resources and capabilities that can make a significant impact. It’s excellent to see the sector’s commitment to this.

“The Commission for Tertiary Education and Research will encourage institutions to reach beyond the campus and ensure this good practice continues, develops and grow in importance over time.”

One of the projects showcased at today's event sees the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) engaging with communities who have historically experienced poverty of access to cultural provision. The College supports access to cultural activity, while tackling poverty, through the Tempo Time Credit network, which exchanges volunteering time for Time Credits to spend on tickets for shows.

One group to benefit from this civic collaboration is Windrush Elders Cymru – many of whom would find the physical cost of tickets a barrier – who have used Time Credits to access a range of performances including opera, drama and classical music.

Speaking about the project, the group said

“Since coming to RWCMD we have had the wonderful ability to earn Tempo Time Credits through volunteering our time to support our group, The RCC Windrush Cymru Elders. This has opened up the possibility to use credits as reward payments for different things such theatre shows or going to leisure centres. At RWCMD we have seen Abel Selaocoe the jazz cello player twice. We thought both performances were astounding and loved every minute - being able to attend these performances and to be included with Abel’s audience participation was so lovely.”

Civic mission case studies

  • Aberystwyth University – Legal clinics
    The Department of Law & Criminology at Aberystwyth University operates two legal clinics providing access to free legal advice to more than 300 individuals every year, many of whom could not afford private lawyers’ fees. The Department’s Family Legal Clinic was set up following a reduction in Legal Aid provision locally and has been offering free legal support to people in Ceredigion since 2016. It sees an average of ten clients every month with additional support, including completing legal paperwork, provided by third-year or postgraduate students under the supervision of a qualified solicitor. The Veterans Legal Link has been providing free online legal advice, casework and assistance to veterans and their families since 2015. The number of individuals using the service annually has risen to 200 in 2022-23. Most people using the service are either unemployed or in receipt of benefits or pension; many are homeless and the majority fall under the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s definition of poverty.
     
  • Bangor University – Centre for Evidence Based Early Intervention
    The Bangor University Centre for Evidence Based Early Intervention (CEBEI) seeks to improve the lives of children through promoting positive parenting and reducing harmful and abusive parenting. Its primary focus is with socially disadvantaged families, evaluating both home-grown and other programmes with frontline service providers in education, health and social care and voluntary sector.
     
  • Cardiff University – Passport to the City: Cardiff Children’s University
    Children and young people across Cardiff are benefitting from a wealth of learning experiences, resources and opportunities through a partnership between Cardiff Council and Cardiff University, Passport to the City: Cardiff Children’s University. The project aims to encourage and develop a love of learning by providing pupils with access to activities including art and music, science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), as well as cultural experiences and sporting activities, each contributing towards a ‘Passport to Learning’. The scheme brings together a range of city-wide partners to invest in raising the aspirations of leaners, whilst developing pathways to make these aspirations a reality. A recent graduation ceremony held at Cardiff University saw more than 100 children rewarded for their achievements, including young people from St Mary the Virgin Church in Wales Primary in Butetown and Windsor Clive Primary in Ely.
     
  • Cardiff Metropolitan University – Open Campus
    Cardiff Met Open Campus is a collaborative way of working that delivers sport, physical activity, outdoor play, and health & wellbeing opportunities within the Cardiff City region and beyond. Open Campus sees university staff and students work collaboratively with the community to produce opportunities for mutual gain providing authentic learning experiences through sport, to further develop Cardiff as a world-leading Capital City of sport, physical activity and health. What makes Open Campus unique and sector-leading is the alignment of the project with the University curriculum. This enables Cardiff Met to provide a range of free and paid for opportunities to partners both on and off campus, that are linked to students' degree outcomes and academic research.
     
  • Open University in Wales – Wales REACH
    Wales REACH is a heritage and creative arts project supporting people in five areas of Wales to explore connections with the histories of their local areas.  Working with local partners including community leaders, housing associations and Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, the Open University in Wales have developed a project that enables participants to learn creatively about the histories that have shaped their communities. Communities involved in the project include:
    • People living in Butetown in Cardiff, one the UK’s oldest multicultural communities
    • The Sandfields area of Port Talbot, a town that has been at the heart of Wales’s industrial history
    • Several semi-rural areas across Pembrokeshire
    • People with a learning disability living in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan
    • Areas of Gwynedd with links to quarrying and slate mining
       
  • Swansea University - Centre for Heritage Research and Training
    Members of Swansea University’s Centre for Heritage Research and Training (CHART) are helping to develop heritage-led regeneration, drawing on South Wales’s unique position as a major preserve of the heritage of the Industrial Revolution. Working with local authorities, friends groups, homeless charities and schools the university is  supporting work grounded in the principles and practice of community placemaking.
     
  • University of South Wales – Linc Cymru Strategic Partnership
    The University of South Wales and Linc Cymru have agreed a strategic partnership that aims to make a positive difference to society and the lives of people across the region. Fostering key links in applied research, student placements, and curriculum development, the partnership with the Department of Psychology demonstrates USW’s commitment to provide challenge-based learning and teaching experiences and to build external partnerships to improve wellbeing in the community.  Under the terms of the MoU, both parties will commit to supporting the work of Psychology students and collaborative research projects. They are already working towards the following collaborations:
    • Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS) have funded two research projects
    • Co-creation of the new MSc Psychology Conversion course (online delivery)
    • USW undergraduate students are working on live briefs evaluating a Linc Cymru and Children in Wales project
    • USW is providing music therapy within Linc’s Extra Care scheme.
       
  • University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) – Blaen y Maes Drop-in Centre
    UWTSD is working in partnership with Blaen y Maes Drop-in Centre in Swansea to provide opportunities for the local community to engage in family and adult learning activities. Funded and supported by UWTSD’s Widening Access department and its commitment to the Reaching Wider Partnership, the project has engaged with over 60 families and 200 community members to date. Activities aimed towards removing barriers that would otherwise stop participant engagement have included sessions focused on well-being, nature, arts, numeracy and literacy, creating and building confidence, as well as opportunities to be part of the wider UWTSD community network through local and national events such as the Swansea Christmas Parade and Refugee week.
     
  • Wrexham University – North Wales 2025 Movement
    The 2025 Movement is a collective of over 600 people and organisations working together to end avoidable health and social inequalities across North Wales. As a place-based partnership using a systems leadership approach, Wrexham University’s civic mission has played a key enabling role in developing and facilitating 2025 learning and networks to share good practice and innovation around some of the key challenges facing partners in tackling health and social inequalities such as food and fuel poverty. The project has already seen hundreds of people helped in communities in Gwynedd, Ynys Mon, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.