Interactive map shows how students are helping communities across Leicester

Helping others and supporting communities to thrive are a core part of being a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) student.

DMU’s mission to serve the public good has seen students take part in hundreds of projects from teaching coding skills to primary school children, providing a friendly ear to patients with cancer, and cleaning up the city’s eyesores.

#DMUlocal works in partnership with community groups, residents’ associations, Leicester City Council and organisations including Leicester Prison on projects that have made a real difference to the lives of thousands of people in and around the city.

Now an interactive map has been created to show where our students have been working in the last academic year running from October 2016 to May this year.



Mark Charlton, Head of Public Engagement at DMU, said: “This map is a great illustration of the work which our students do day in and day out to help the communities of Leicester.
“There are new projects happening all the time through #DMUlocal and having an electronic map that we can update is really handy.
“It enables people to see what projects are happening near them which they might want to get involved in. We have an exciting year ahead working on estates across the city and we’ll update the map as that evolves.”

Among the highlights of the past academic year are:

•    Teaching free IT classes in Braunstone and science subjects in Highfields library
•    Organising a packed Bollywood film night in Belgrave
•    Running arts classes for the over-60s in Leicester’s West End
•    Working with the NHS to raise awareness of bowel cancer at the Haymarket Shopping Centre, which led to 50 people being referred to their GP
•    Supporting conservation action days to protect Leicester’s wildlife
•    Helping primary school children learn about maths through a fun competition using stocks and shares

More than 30 students were trained to promote bowel cancer screening to older people at the Haymarket Shopping Centre, working alongside the NHS.

Volunteer Lauren Raynor, a third year Pharmacy student at DMU, said: “Cancer awareness is so important. Even if this project makes a difference to just one person it will have all been worth it.”

All public good projects are run as part of #DMUlocal which aims to make a significant contribution to the social and economic development of Leicester and to bring positive change across the city. It provides support across the three key areas of education, health and regeneration.

With around 2,500 students, more than 150 DMU staff and countless community members working alongside Leicester City Council and other organisations, #DMUlocal offers a wide range of exciting projects that meet the needs of communities and that have a transformative impact.