Taking on the theme of ‘Where I Live’ for this years National Student Money Week, the University of Hertfordshire facilitated such a fantastic range of activities that we decided to feature the team’s hard work as part of our monthly community showcase.
Activity summary
The team at UH used the materials provided in our Money House box, as well as their own materials, to set up ‘pop-up’ stalls across campus.
They ran a week long competition that encouraged students to share their best tips when it comes managing living expenses whilst at uni. This was incentivised through a prize draw for an Amazon Fire Tablet provided in the Blackbullion Money House Box. All students had to do, was share their best #WhereILive tip for a chance to win.
The week was rounded off by a ‘Ready to Rent?’ interactive workshop.
Promotional strategy
Like all campaigns, the planned events and workshops can only be as good as the marketing efforts behind them. The UH team had a strong promotional plan in place. Information about the events where shared across the university’s official social media accounts, internal communications, as well as digital screens on campus.
Flyers and posters provided in the Money House Box were used to amplify the message. Multiple announcements about the NSMW were made on campus, and event information was added to staff’s email signatures.
They also brought in the support of the UH Students Union and various other teams from within Student Services to help run sessions and signpost students towards the events that were on offer.
To attract students to take part in the events, the UH team partnered with Affinity Water, who gave away useful water saving freebies to their students! They have also fully utilised Blackbullion’s Money House Box, which armed them with a huge range of prizes and resources to give away, as well as a giant photo-board.
Results
The UH team reported that the stalls were busy all week and the ‘Ready to Rent?’ workshop was well attended. In fact, the students described it as a ‘real eye-opener’ and one particular student stating ‘I’m glad I came to the workshop before I signed my contract!’.
They are now also oversubscribed for their next workshop on budgeting and have even had to create a waiting list because demand has been so high! Needless to say, they are adding in more dates to accommodate this demand. They have also reported that the Money House Box was a real time-saver for their team, and made preparations for the NSMW to be more efficient and less stressful in the future.
Top tips given by students taking part in the competition:
1. Buy supermarket own brands and try different supermarkets e.g. Aldi/Lidl.
2. Take before and after photos of your rental property.
3. Prepare your meals in advance and save money by not buying food on the go.
4. Check your bank balance regularly e.g. downloading online banking app.
5. Take out cash and put your card away so you don’t spend more than you’ve taken out!
6. Find a cool landlord!
7. Get to know your houses departing tenants, so you can fully understand what you’re getting into.
8. Make a weekly budget based on your income.
9. Make sure that you know about the Tenancy Deposit Scheme!
10. Put some of your student loan aside, as emergency money so then when you are broke, you have money already saved!
