Social Justice Through Education
Through our taught curriculum, our students have opportunities to work directly with the public and with partner organisations to address social inequalities. Students gain valuable knowledge from practical experience with our external partners, while learning to apply their skills in real world settings.
Collectively, their work positively impacts our communities and contributes to justice-based work.
Bringing Law to life: engaging our community
The Law School currently has over 100 students involved in a community or pro-bono project. Our students work on various projects enabling them to bring the law to life and apply their knowledge and skills. This underpins the University's core values - social justice and equity.
Our research and campaigns work
We have students engaged with Tyne and Wear Citizens working on campaigns, including cost of living and racial justice. We also have students volunteering with Citizens Advice Newcastle and Citizens Advice Gateshead.
Our advice work
We have students engaged in:
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internships with Legacare
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live client work with SEQUENTUS
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volunteering as advisors with Citizens Advice Newcastle and Citizens Advice Gateshead
Our students also support solicitors and barristers volunteering for the ELIPS scheme. All our students are supervised by qualified lawyers and advisors within each organisation.
Our public legal education work
We have students engaged as Street Law Ambassadors in our Street Law Project. The students deliver sessions on legal rights to young people and vulnerable groups. We also have School Tasking Volunteers who introduce primary school children to Law in a fun, interactive way.
We have brought all this working within our Community Project and Pro-Bono Hub and developed a Steering Group made up of all our students and partners.
Faye McNulty, Street Law Ambassador, said: “the experience has taught me the importance of engaging in meaningful work. It reaffirmed that providing advice on the law can empower people to give them the confidence to access their rights.”
Community engagement to take dental care to those in need
In April 2024, staff and students from the School of Dental Sciences, Population and Health Sciences Institute and Newcastle Dental Hospital worked with Newcastle Foodbank to deliver a mobile dental unit run by a charity called Dentaid.
We had been building a relationship with the foodbank, exploring existing healthcare services that visit the foodbank. We uncovered a real need for dental care in this population where there are many barriers to accessing this care. It is also an opportunity for our students to experience delivering care outside the dental hospital. Supported by Newcastle Hospital Charities, a mobile dental unit was driven north by Dentaid.
Free dental treatment for foodbank users living in Benwell and Byker was provided over the week, as well as a dental check and application of a preventative treatment for tooth decay for local children. We also had support from the Healthier Together team from Great North Children’s Hospital. Over 50 staff and students worked in the foodbank that week. As part of the project, the Northeast and North Cumbria Child Health and Wellbeing Network supported researchers to examine barriers to accessing care, levels of child tooth decay in the area and feasibility of bringing a mobile Dentaid unit to a community partnership.
We were overwhelmed by the response to the bus by our clients which proved to us just how desperate they were to end their suffering and dental pain. The sincere gratitude of all those who attended was palpable and at times tears of joy were shed…We all now need to find a way to continue to change and improve lives for the better.
-Carole Rowland, Pathways, Welfare and Volunteer manager at Newcastle Foodbank
Working with the dedicated team at the foodbank was a profound experience. Witnessing the resilience of families and the impact of dental inequality first hand was both humbling and enlightening. It was my first encounter with the stark reality many face in accessing basic dental care.
-Moiz Bhatti, Stage 4 Dental Student
Teaching and tackling health inequalities
The School of Pharmacy works with partners to establish a community-based, drop-in health check program. The program is delivered by undergraduate student pharmacists, medics and nurses. It provides a real-world clinical environment for students to practice and apply their knowledge.
The project offers health ‘MOTs’ to individuals who cannot easily access formal health screening programs through primary care.
The health MOT includes an assessment of:
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blood pressure
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blood cholesterol
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glucose levels
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body mass index
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lifestyle behaviours and habits, e.g., exercise, smoking.
Clinic users are provided with their readings and advice, health information and signposting to services.
Between Sept 2023 and March 2024, over 1600 health MOTs were provided by approximately 250 students across a range of sites. Sites were selected based on health inequalities and level of deprivation. These included community centres, main shopping centres, health hubs, and a community health bus.
Evaluations have demonstrated the clinic's effectiveness in providing a public health service. They reveal positive impacts on user experience, knowledge, and motivation for healthier lifestyle choices. Users of the service have gone on to:
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access lifestyle services
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access weight management and smoking cessation programs
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had contact with a prescriber to receive medical intervention
Students value the learning experience and participating in this multidisciplinary civic initiative.
