Meet the Neighbours is a community project involving the University of Lincoln and WERA (West End Residents Association), which involves our Student Life team asking the residents of the West End community what makes the area such a great place to live and what advice they can give to students coming to live locally.
Back in September 2017, I was asked to help present and create videos about the community in Lincoln, I had no idea that it would be such an involving but ultimately rewarding and fantastic experience to be a part of. It was great to be able to talk to such a diverse range of people and find out how passionate they all are about living in the West End.
If you haven’t watched the series before or fancy re-watching them, here’s a sample:
The playlist for all the videos is also posted below!
When I first started working on the project, I was unaware of the strong sense of community that the area has; being a student who had only lived in Lincoln for a a year, I hadn’t got involved in events like the West End Lights, an annual event with residents opening up their doors and windows to display art, games and share food and company in the cold wintery December chill.
The project also gave me the opportunity of talking with the MP for Lincoln, Karen Lee. It was a great privilege to talk to a figurehead at the heart of change and development for Lincoln.
Now, I don’t personally live in the West End (yet!) but I have dozens of friends who do and I have constantly found myself around that area but I now feel as though I have been properly welcomed into the community through Meet The Neighbours.
In April of this year, I and other members of the student video team went to the University SU Awards after being nominated for this very project.
The project was Highly Commended and it was humbling to know that it was so well-regarded by the University community; it only encourages us to push the videos we make to be more involving and engaged with the rest of the city – we have some really cool and new ideas for the next coming year, and we are continuously looking for more people to come forward with interesting stories about life in the West End; if you have any do get in touch!
From the heavily name-dropped Eleanor’s Pizza Night to the open green expanse that is West Common, the West End has such a distinctive and welcoming feel to the area that is perfect for students and locals alike, and hearing that more students are getting involved with the community or simply hearing how people respond to the videos is super exciting to me and hopefully has a positive impact on the future of the area and the rest of the city.
Thank you to anyone who has watched, shared, liked or commented on any or all of the videos so far, and a massive thanks to the residents who have been involved so far – without their help, none of this would be possible.
Here’s to the next series!
Check out the Meet the Neighbours series below:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2mjVuKdok5F2amKRLqdLeUxRAvHwQz0o
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