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Wellbeing – our employees and students
We’re giving employees and students the support they need to grow and succeed. To do their best work, discover their passions and be their best selves.
Wellbeing – our employees and students
Everyone is unique. Everyone is important. And everyone belongs in a community where they’re safe, respected and included. At Unite, we strive to make that happen whether you stay with us or work with us.
We’re giving employees and students the support they need to grow and succeed. To do their best work, discover their passions and be their best selves.
People & culture
NEW
Our 24/7 Student Wellbeing Helpline
We’ve partnered with Health Assured to offer our residents access to a confidential student wellbeing helpline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It follows our 2023 Applicant Index, revealing support students need.
Students are able to ask for an interpreter on the call, available in over 240 languages and the service can be used to support a friend or ask for advice to help a friend.
The offering is part of our ‘Support to Stay’ framework, which aims to provide students with a supportive living environment to fulfil their potential.
Rebecca Hayhurst, Head of Student Support, said: “𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐬. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐇𝐒 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬.”
Karan Khanna, Chief Customer Officer at Unite Students, said: “𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬’ 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝟐𝟒/𝟕 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬.”
What we know about this years cohort of residents
of applicants said financial issues affect their mental health
of all applicants said they were anxious they wouldn't fit in
of applicants have been absent from school because of mental health
Support to stay – our new framework to support students
Support to Stay is a consistent approach designed to work in collaboration with a university’s support model. It supports timely, appropriate interventions when a student’s health or wellbeing causes concern as illustrated in the framework which is focused on a gradual escalation of concern and risk in the three levels.
Resident ambassadors – for an authentic ResLife experience
In 2021, we relaunched our Resident Ambassador programme for students to earn the Real Living Wage, develop leadership skills and shape the community within their building – with experience they can put on their CV when they leave university.
In 2021, we relaunched our Resident Ambassador programme for students to earn above the Real Living Wage, develop leadership skills and shape the community within their building – with experience they can put on their CV when they leave university.
Our Student Experience Team Leaders are responsible for supporting and mentoring our Resident Ambassadors. To support a thriving events calendar across our portfolio, we aim to recruit one Ambassador per property.
In 2021 we launched our employee Culture Matters forum
The Culture Matters forum provides two-way communication between the leadership team and the wider business. It’s where employees and the business share opinions and ideas, support decision-making and take action to contribute to the success of the business.
The Culture Matters forum provides two-way communication between the leadership team and the wider business. It’s where employees and the business share opinions and ideas, support decision-making and take action to contribute to the success of the business.
Leadership attendees including Ilaria del Beato, our Designated Non-Executive Director for Workforce Engagement, attends the forum meetings which take place quarterly. This forum also underpins a number of employee networks already established across the business including People of Colour Unite, Unite LGBTQ+, and Unite Women.
A commitment to doing what’s right is part of who we are
Positive Impact
We work hard to reduce our environmental impact, support the wellbeing of our student customers, and promote access to higher education through the Unite Foundation. Our Sustainability Strategy builds on this by incorporating challenging and ambitious targets.
This is our 8th year running Positive Impact alongside the NUS, our bespoke version of the United Nations award-winning programme ‘Green Impact’ to support sustainable behaviour change. Unite Students is the only purpose-built student accommodation provider to sign up to the programme and we have established this to maximise engagement across all areas of our sustainability remit, building on the original environment focus of the scheme.
Find out more
Opportunities for people to develop and grow
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
