A NEW short film produced highlights the impact of and progress made by Cumbria’s university over the last 12 months.

As the year draws to a close, University of Cumbria vice chancellor Professor Julie Mennell takes a look back on 2019 in the end-of-year message.

A significant milestone in the life of the young university came when the Privy Council granted Research Degree Awarding Powers, culminating with the awarding last month of the first Honorary Doctorate to its first Chancellor, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable, Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York.

The video also demonstrates how research, expertise and activities of the university and its academics continue to be recognised nationally.

In 2019, they include: the university’s director of research, Dr Diane Cox, being elected Chair of Council of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists; a prestigious Churchill Fellowship – one of only 150 awarded in the UK – for Ambleside campus director and uplands expert Professor Lois Mansfield, who carried out a fact-finding visit to Japan to see what the UK could learn ahead of Brexit; a visit by England’s Chief Nursing Officer Ruth May ahead of the university’s launch of its new Institute of Health last month and the Department of Health’s announcement last week that new grants will be available for students on nursing and some allied health profession courses from September 2020; ‘About Being’, a weekly dance group for stroke survivors in Carlisle, identified among Universities UK’s 100 ‘MadeAtUni’ nation’s lifesavers.

Achieving a good Ofsted rating for its apprenticeship provision in 2019, the university has continued to develop its study programmes, building upon its locations, region and to help upskill and reskill workers and students to meet employers’ needs.

Areas include tourism and visitor economy, policing, paramedic practice and English literature in the Lake District.

The reflection also includes other highlights such as securing £2m from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support species reintroduction in the Morecambe Bay area, and increasing recognition for pioneering research into male victims of domestic violence.

Key events have included the hosting of the Northern Lights education conference; a visit by Prince Charles to the university’s Ambleside campus, organised in conjunction with the Foundation for Common Land; and ‘Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Future’, a successful two-day event in October showcasing how the university is having enriching the lives of young people across Cumbria.

University of Cumbria has also announced its ambition, as part of the Borderlands Growth Deal, to establish a new city centre campus in Carlisle.

The achievements come as a key deadline for 2020 applications to university – January 15 – approaches. Professor Mennell said: “As 2019 draws to a close, it provides a timely opportunity to reflect on our progress and our impact – and importantly to thank you all for your continued hard work and support.”

Watch the film on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCIOv5AqW1Y&t=46s.

Swallows and Amazons comes to life

Next month, two lecturers plan to use the unlikely topic of literary classic, Swallows and Amazons, to discuss the changing role of adventure in society.

Swallows and Amazons was first published in 1930, and was at the forefront of new approaches to youth development and education. Its imaginary landscape reflects the British Empire of the 19th century and celebrates a quintessential English view of the world.

As such, it prefigures the emergence of the leisure landscapes of the national parks later in the century. The idea of adventure is also rooted in old stories from the empire radically reimagined by young people led by girls taking part in self-reliant adventures.

Their story evolves from fantasy into a dilemma that engages them in the real adult world reflecting the role of adventure education as preparation for adult life.

Lecturers Chris Loynes and Jamie McPhie will explore the ideas in dialogue supported by material from the book and elsewhere.

This lecture is taking place on Monday, January 6 and is one of a series of monthly free talks on literary and artistic topics, taking place Mondays at 6.30pm, at the Percival Lecturer Theatre on the university’s Ambleside Campus. Places are free. To reserve one, visit the university’s website.