The Community Warden scheme in Bath, funded by B&NES and coordinated by the Student Community Partnership (SCP), has been in place for just over a year now. Tom, our warden, can be found out in the community helping students adjust to living off-campus by providing a variety of support and information, primarily around waste and recycling. Tom is also available to handle any issues that come up for residents living in areas with a large proportion of students. Tom is hoping that now as COVID restrictions are easing, he can organise lots of fun events to help bring students and the wider community together!
Here is a glimpse into a ‘day in the life’ of a Community Warden:
A day for a Community Warden can be very varied – but there are certain topics that tend to come up more often! One constant is that I will spend a large portion of my time walking around the streets of Bath and being immersed within the student-dense areas.
BINS! This is the most common issue that arises with students living in the community. It is understandably a difficult learning curve as the way waste and recycling is handled across the UK can vary greatly – many students who I speak to often mention how confusing this can be. Add this to an often hectic lifestyle, and consistency can be difficult to maintain. However, there are a few things that can be done to ensure overflowing waste and trips to the recycling centre are less frequent!
- Firstly, take a look at the collection days for your street, and consider making a calendar.
- Secondly, make sure that you have the correct bins and containers (and what goes in them!) – order more here if you need them.
- Finally (and hopefully this one is only needed for emergencies!), if you happen to miss a collection or produce lots of waste from a party, then you need to take your excess waste to the recycling centre.
There may be a point in the day where I am focusing on a certain street that has a mixture of students and long-term residents. We encourage students to introduce themselves to neighbours and vice-versa at the start of the academic year, which helps to create a good atmosphere in the community. Both of these demographics have a varying lifestyle and thus tend to go to sleep at different hours – so, mutual respect is needed here as and when noise can become an issue.
I also run monthly litter picks helping to keep the city clean, where students and members of the community are both welcome. Here are the team after our (very rainy!) February pick:
These are examples of the sorts of things that come up in the daily life as a Community Warden, but we are open to listening to any queries that arise. You can contact us via our email – community-liaison@bath.ac.uk or call us on 07814285710. I will be happy to help.
Tom
More information about the SCP and the Community Warden scheme can be found on our website.