Social Justice across the University
Our staff and students work towards social justice with external partners in a multitude of different ways. Initiatives include:
- student volunteering and employment placements
- community organising through our longstanding partnership with Citizens UK
- community outreach in sport
- initiatives to widen participation on our degrees
- exploration of our imperial histories and recent activism on campus
Our long term partnerships are mutually beneficial to our activities as a University and to progressing social justice locally and internationally.
A global network of memory initiatives
We share a long-term partnership with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC). The ICSC is a network of museums, memorials and historic sites. They have over 300 member sites around the world, all of which strive for a better future for all by remembering atrocities of the past.
As part of the partnership, our can students intern virtually or in-person with ICSC member sites around the world. Ruby interned with the São Paulo State Immigration Museum in Brazil and said “this internship opened up a whole new world for me. It’s extremely moving to work with social justice and feel like you’re making a difference”.
The partnership has sponsored an academic workshop series and facilitated joint research and publications. In October, the University collaborated with the Anti-Apartheid Legacy Centre of Memory and Learning, an ICSC member site. Together, we hosted the exhibition “All Shall be Afforded Dignity” on the Newcastle campus, commemorating 30 years since the first democratic elections in South Africa. The exhibition showcased the artwork of South African artist Norman Kaplan and explored themes of apartheid, racism and protest.
Community organising with Citizens UK
We are a founding and strategic partner of Tyne and Wear Citizens, the local chapter of Citizens UK. Alongside members from education, charity, faith and trade union organisations, we’re working together to make change on the issues that matter. The work includes:
-
campaigning for racial equity
-
addressing the cost of living crisis
-
improving housing in our region
-
working with the UK Government to create national impact
We use community organising methods to develop leaders, strengthen civil society and win change. Community organising recognises that everyday people have the ability to shape the world around them. Through organising together, we put power back into people’s hands. We bring people together across their differences, to find common ground and get a seat at the table with decision makers.
We build positive working relationships between communities, elected power-holders and businesses. We make sure everyone is heard and no one is left out.
Many of our staff and students are active participants across Tyne and Wear Citizens and Citizens UK campaigns for social justice; learning about, teaching and engaging in community organising with peers.
Exploring the historical legacies of our campus
Newcastle’s history is embedded in the city and University, particularly the Armstrong Building. The Campus Legacies project was developed between the Centre for Heritage and the Black History Month Steering Group. This was in response to the discovery of a receipt evidencing a donation of £500 made by King Leopold II of Belgium for the new building in 1889. This donation was part of a fund-raising campaign to build Armstrong College, at the time part of the University of Durham. It now forms the Armstrong Building, Newcastle University.
King Leopold II of Belgium led a regime that was responsible for the seizure of land in Central Africa and the creation of the Congo Free State in 1885. Between 1885 and 1908 the Congo Free State operated as a corporate state, privately controlled by King Leopold II through a non-governmental organization, the International African Association. The state included the entire area of the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. Under Leopold II's administration, the state became a moral and racist humanitarian disaster.
Campus Legacies seeks to research, understand and reconcile the University's colonial heritages. We aim to more accurately understand and present the links to the past as well as the ongoing presence and impact of these pasts on our campuses. We've carried out three workshops involving University stakeholders and external experts who specialise in decolonial anti-racist work.
Going forward, we are looking to work with communities both within the University and across Newcastle and the North East. We want to get feedback on our recommendations, and to help us think about how we might start to address the injustices of the past, incorporating this aspect of our heritage into the social justice work that we do at Newcastle University.
Supporting communities through sport
Newcastle University Sport has built a strong presence in the community since 2023, with a range of ongoing projects. We focus on knowledge exchange and the strengths of our student workforce. We aim to add value in our local community, while providing opportunities for our students to gain experience and employability skills.
We're proud to work with a series of local partners to support our delivery and streamline our routes into different areas of the community.
One of our key partners is StreetGames, a national doorstep sport charity with a regional focus in Newcastle. In 2023-24, we launched a project which supports the government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme, for young people on free school meals during school holidays. Our work supports young people aged 14-17 who are often harder to engage with during these times and might be seeking more stimulating activities. Together with support from different parts of the University, we deliver a week of activities in Spring and Summer with sessions ranging from nutrition in the kitchens, injury and the brain, finance and budgeting, athlete testing, coaching, practical sport sessions and much more. These sessions are led by our students with support from academics.
The feedback we have received has been extremely positive, from the young people through to the group leaders and parents. The project exposes young people to content and environments that they might not have had access to in the past, while also aiming to inspire them in a range of different fields for the future.
Advancing racial justice in access to postgraduate study
Newcastle University has been a key partner in the ProNE project (Postgraduate Research Opportunities North East), a 4-year project funded by the Office for Students (2022-2026) involving five Universities in north-east England. The project responded to growing national evidence of disparities in access and participation in PGR degrees for Home students from racially minoritised backgrounds.
At Newcastle, we have worked with our PGRs, academic and professional services staff to make changes in the following areas:
- transforming our PGR admissions system, to ensure procedures are fair, transparent and supportive for all students
- running a mentoring initiative to ensure support for students from diverse backgrounds coming into PhD study
- conducting research on gaps in mental health support, resulting in a Toolkit designed to benefit all PGR students
- running training in anti-racism that is compulsory for all PhD supervisors
- developing bespoke open days, conferences and events to support the development of our PGRs and their supervisors
Professor Rachel Pain, Dean of Social Justice and Newcastle Lead for the project, said, “This package of work at Newcastle, undertaken alongside our PGR students and a range of colleagues in all Faculties, is resulting in some sector-leading changes at our University. Provision for postgraduate research students has sometimes lagged behind best practice for taught students, but with this funding we are addressing this gap, with the aim of benefiting our current and future PGRs.”
Contributing to Social Justice through student placements
Newcastle University’s Careers Service identify opportunities for our students and graduates to gain insights and experience during their time with us. Social Justice themed placements and internships always attract high levels of interest from our student community, allowing them to work with our wider community and contribute vital work to their cause.
Just one example is provided by internships with Changing Lives, a nationwide charity that provides support to those facing major challenges in life. Abby Christie, Senior Fundraising Manager for Changing Lives explains how our students make a difference:
“Changing Lives has worked closely with NCL Internships over the last couple of years. We have been lucky to have some talented students who have brought with them a wealth of enthusiasm, energy and fresh ideas to support our work to improve lives for thousands of people facing homelessness, domestic violence, long-term unemployment and those in recovery. The interns were extremely professional and produced work to a high quality while giving us a different angle and viewpoint. It has helped us to achieve our goals and implement projects that will change lives, for the better.”
In 2024 we celebrated the achievements of our students in the workplace which saw our ‘Student Worker of the Year’ award go to a placement year student with Citizen’s Advice Gateshead, who not only added value through advice delivery, campaigning and developing a more inclusive office environment, but also to research and campaigns work that contributed to reversing local spending cuts on homeless support provision.
Many other organisations benefit through connecting with our student community, from getting involved with our curricula, to being a panellist at career insights events, to hosting volunteers, interns, or placement year students.