As we come to the end of what has been a most extraordinary year, the whole nation is looking to 2021 with hope.

The start of the roll-out of Covid vaccines has brought with it a light at the end of a very dark tunnel, just in time to lift our spirits for the festive period.

At the University of Worcester, we share in that hope and we are committed to playing our part to help our local community, and the nation as a whole, to prosper in the New Year.

Since its beginnings as an Emergency Teacher Training College, the university has been grounded in the city. Our staff and students are very much a part of the community. Our graduates permeate every corner, from the nurses in our hospitals and the teachers in our schools to the sports coaches on our playing fields and the scientists in our laboratories. The university trains the professionals our Country needs going forwards.

Earlier this month, the university unveiled plans to transform the former Worcester News building on Hylton Road into a state-of-the-art teaching facility for health students. Now more than ever the nation needs more health professionals – more nurses, midwives, and paramedics; more physiotherapists, occupational therapists and mental health specialists. The new facility will also provide the space for the university to begin educating doctors.

The university’s planned Three Counties Medical School will help to provide a practical solution to the significant difficulties in recruiting and retaining doctors in the region.

Next year, the university will mark 75 years since being founded in 1946 after the Second World War with a mission to ‘win the peace through education’. That ethos runs as strong today as it did back then, as the university continues to provide an outstanding education and to stand strong for peace, justice, and equality. Just last month, the university won the inaugural Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

John Bateman OBE, chair of governors, said: “We believe that a university education both transforms the lives of individual students and the society in which we live, and our goal is to be engaged more productively than ever in the city, nation and world around us.” 

Throughout this difficult year, the university has sought out ways to provide help and support, whether through sending all of its health equipment to the local hospital, offering accommodation to health professionals, or by rallying volunteers to join the national effort. The university is also offering re-skilling opportunities for the many people abruptly displaced from their industries by the pandemic, with a number of courses offering the chance to start early in the New Year.

We have worked hard to ensure the university has remained a coronavirus coldspot and an educational hotspot - Covid-19 infections at the University of Worcester have been very significantly fewer than the national average and positively minimal compared to many other universities - and while we are never complacent, we are confident that by working together we can continue this excellent work in the New Year.

We must all continue to play our part over the coming weeks and months, not only in following all the national guidance, but by helping each other wherever we can.

We wish everyone a peaceful, safe and healthy Christmas and join with you all in hoping for a most positive and joyful New Year.

If you are interested in finding out about opportunities to study at the university in the New Year, including Nursing and teaching, visit www.worcester.ac.uk/new-year-start

The University of Worcester is supporting the Worcester News’ Love Local Business campaign to encourage people to spend their money locally this Christmas.

Headline sponsors are Visit Worcester, Worcester City Council and Worcester BID. Other supporting partners include Crowngate Shopping Centre. To get involved, contact Dale Godliman on 01905 742372 or dale.godliman@localiq.co.uk.