Category: blog post

5 reasons to lock your door at uni

Posted on April 11, 2019 by - blog post

Brought to you by Endsleigh Insurance

When you’re rushing around campus handing in assignments and trying to get to lectures on time, it can be easy to let the simple stuff, like locking the door to your room and house, slip through the cracks.

“It’ll never happen to me”, you think to yourself as you head out for a quick seminar leaving your door unlocked. But according to research* by Endsleigh, 46% of students (or someone close to them), have experienced theft from their home, making it all the more important to take extra steps to make sure you, and your belongings, are safe.

But besides protecting your belongings, here are five other reasons why it might be a good idea to lock your door while you’re away at University!

*Endsleigh Lifestyle Survey 2017-18

1.    You’d lock your front door at home…

… so why do it any different at uni? It can be devastating (and expensive) to have your home or your car broken into, so treat your uni room exactly how you would your parents’ house. It’s also a good habit to get into for when you move out of student accommodation and live alone for the first time, as at that point you may not even have your flat mates there to remind you to lock up as you leave.

2.    To avoid pranks

Everyone’s seen the multitude of photos online showing what can happen when your room is left unlocked at uni. From rooms filled with cups of water to walls plastered with post-its, if you don’t want to be the subject of any number of uni pranks then it’s probably a good idea to lock your door when you leave…

3.    Some space to breathe

Sometimes university life can be pretty hectic and you may feel like you never get a moment’s peace. Going to your room for a couple of hours and locking the door to deter visitors may give you some much needed alone time.

4.    Keeping track of your keys

We’ve all been there – when you’re in a rush to get to your lecture but your keys are suddenly nowhere to be found (and you can’t remember the last time you used them, either). If you’re constantly using your keys as you come and go, then chances are you’ll know exactly where they are at all times.

5.    Peace of mind

The simplest way to ensure that all your valuables are safe and secure is to lock them in your room whenever you go out. The beauty of halls is that there’s an unspoken ‘open door’ policy, but even if you completely trust your flat mates it’s best to keep your door locked just in case someone you don’t know does manage to get in. For everything that could go wrong, it’s really worth that quick turn of the key to put your mind (and your wallet) at ease.

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Introducing Community Living

Posted on March 15, 2019 by - blog post

group of people smiling in front of community living hub

We are super excited to be writing our first blog post – creating content for communityliving.org.uk is something we’ve wanted to do since the Community Living hub launched in April 2018 – so quite a long time! It’s taken us some time to find our feet but we’re better than ever and looking forward to what the future holds.

Before we look to the future, it’s probably a good idea to look at the past and the present. If you haven’t heard of Community Living before, allow us to introduce ourselves!

We are committed to making Selly Oak a better place to live and work. It’s no small task but we’re committed and determined to serve the residents of this area. Community cohesion is our passion – helping students and local residents alike be happy in their neighbourhood is what gets us up in the morning. Not only are we helping to support local business and residents who have lived in Selly Oak all their lives, but we are also here to support students in their new homes (many of whom are renting for the first time).

Community Living is working closely with the Guild of Students to organise year-round events and campaigns to prepare University of Birmingham students for renting in their second, third, and fourth years. We host networking and mingling events for local business owners. We are holding creative meet-ups across Selly Oak for students and local residents alike to unwind. We hold drop ins Monday to Friday at our Community Living hub for free contract reviewing and community advice, and we’ll always make time to help with any housing or community issue, big or small. And if we can’t directly help, we have a wide network across the University and the city so can put you in touch with someone who can.

We want Community Living to be at the heart of the local community for all residents of Selly Oak. We’re excited to have this wonderful space, and we’re looking forward to joining with the local community in serving the area, figuring out how we can live, work and thrive together.


Claire Bent, Community Engagement Manager, Accommodation Services

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Claire!

If you want to find out more about Community Living and how we might be able to help each other, please get in touch – we would love to hear from you!