Starting university can feel like an overwhelming prospect and a lot of students wonder what support they can expect whilst they are here. As somebody who has worked in student support for a long time, I can completely understand this.  

Although you might see and hear the names of support teams such as Student Support, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Disability Services and Money Advice, you might not immediately know what that means for you as a student, or how you can access support when you need it. Hopefully, you’ll be reassured to know that there’s plenty of information available on each of these services, whether you find that through Leeds Trinity University’s ‘MyLTU’ app, a welcome talk or through dropping by an Information Point. Our new Student Wellbeing Portal also gives a great overview of what our services do and includes video introductions from staff members to help you get to know the team. 

I’m the Student Support Manager at Leeds Trinity and I can say that everyone in my team is genuinely interested in helping students, we all want you to have a brilliant experience and feel we have a responsibility to play our part in making that happen. Whether the issue is academic, pastoral or accommodation related, you can book an in-person or Teams appointment to speak with the team, or if you’re more comfortable emailing or texting us, you have those options too. It could be that you want to reach out about a specific problem, or maybe you’re feeling homesick, or just want to have a chat with someone. Whatever it is, we’re here to help.   

We have Duty Managers that work overnight, as well as in the evenings. Generally, you’re able to speak to somebody between the hours of 9.00am to 5.00am to make it easier for you to receive the support you need no matter the time of day. We know the issues students face continue outside of teaching hours, and we want to reflect that in the service we offer.  

There’s no such thing as a silly question and the Student Support team will always endeavor to help, or if we feel like another team could better resolve your query, we’ll let you know and can even put you in touch with them. For instance, if you are experiencing financial hardship and want advice, the Money Advice team might be the best team to speak to. If you are experiencing issues with your mental health, we might recommend you refer yourself to the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing team. Whilst different teams have different areas of expertise, we all collaborate to provide a joined-up approach to supporting our students. 

It’s not unusual for students to need or want support during their student journey, so my advice would be to come and speak to us early if you have any worries or concerns at all – or even just to say hello. We all enjoy speaking to students and it’s particularly rewarding if we can help to resolve a problem. We look forward to seeing the returning and new students who are starting their Leeds Trinity journeys in September, and hope you have a wonderful time while you’re with us. 

Vanessa Napolitano is the Student Support Manager at Leeds Trinity University.