Jesmond residents are trying to help students integrate into the local community and build “the sense of belonging” by volunteering at the local food market.

Kathleen Cunningham, chair of Jesmond Residents Association said: “Fines [only] aren’t enough. We need to educate people, make them feel the ownership [of Jesmond], make them feel part of the community and create the sense of belonging.”

Jesmond has had its issues with anti-social behaviour over the years, despite universities issuing fines and additional police patrols for years.

Northumbria Police statistics show anti-social behaviour has been top of the crime list in Jesmond and Heaton for the the last three years. In August 2021 alone, there were 141 cases of anti-social behaviour reported in the area.

Jesmond Residents Association (JRA) has been actively reporting these kind of incidents to the police and universities over its 57 years of existence.

Some of the most common rowdy behaviours reported by the JRA are noisy partying and drunkenness that leads to vandalising. The JRA claims at its worst concrete was thrown into the window of a resident’s home.

Annoyed residents can ring police, but the JRA say residents are often exasperated by the speed of police response. Instead residents can contact Newcastle City Council’s Noise Team who handle this kind of complaint.

Newcastle University cautions students alleged to take part in anti-social behaviour, gives a written warning accompanied with a £30 fine for those whose incidents involve the police or council, with a final written warning for students who repeatedly reoffend.

Cunningham said the idea to invite student volunteers to Jesmond Food Market is to make them a valuable part of the community.

Students will help to run the food stalls and plan out the market strategy hand-in-hand with the locals. Cunningham hopes these students will later become role models for their friends and start to treasure their neighbourhood.

“Not all the students in Jesmond are involved in anti-social behaviour, and I feel that everyone is getting tarred with the same brush. We want to do something positive, we want to create positive role models, we want to make change in the community,” said Cunningham.

Jesmond Food Market appears on Armstrong Bridge over Jesmond Dene once every two weeks on Saturday morning.

The market started again in March 2021 following the coronavirus lockdown.

Chris Jewitt, the market manager, is excited by the idea of students volunteering to build a stronger community. “The market itself intends to be a community food market, so it is not only a place where people come and buy food, but to get the community running it.

“There is difference between students being passersby [rather] than someone who uses the market as place to come and engage with it and develop it.”

Students living in Jesmond might not have the same excitement. They seem to agree that volunteering will bring good to the community, but their busy study schedule makes students reluctant to sacrifice leisure time and to wake up early and volunteer on Saturday morning. 

“For me, personally? I’m unlikely [to volunteer]. It is a big night out, after a long week. On Saturday I just want to relax, but I understand the idea to get deeper connection with where you are living in, so you won’t vandalise it,” said Ella Williams, a student who have been living for two years in Jesmond. 

Freya Watts, a Newcastle University student, is reluctant to volunteer since she is leaving Jesmond next year. “Most students will want a deeper connection with Jesmond if they are going to live here longer, but most students only live here for one or two years. If I am bit older and thinking I want to live in this community for 10 years, I would be more interested to be part of it.”