In the News: 5-12 April

A University of Northampton project which sees babies go into classrooms was on the television last week – and if you missed it, you can watch it here.

The Roots of Empathy programme, which is supported by the University, sees primary school children have lessons with a baby, their parent and an instructor.

Evidence suggests the visits help to teach children emotional awareness and develop empathy skills.

BBC Look East also featured the project. Colleagues may recognise the mum in the piece – it’s the University press office’s very own Holly Russell, with baby Isabelle.

The news was followed up by The Daily Telegraph, which published the story in Saturday’s edition.

The Daily Mail and Metro shared the story of two NHS nurses who have decided to raffle their Northampton home, with the aim to raise over £1million for dementia care.  The generous couple are raffling off their £600,000 four-bedroom property for just £5 a ticket – part of the proceeds will go to the UnityDEM centre, which is co-run by the University of Northampton.

Senior Law Lecturer, Dr Simon Sneddon, has written a piece for Lawyer Monthly, in which he speculates whether Brexit will pave the way for a boom in organised crime.

All Things Business carried the story about our MBA graduate, Richard Gill. Richard founded a drone security service and is hoping University staff and students will help him win a prestigious award.

United Amayi, a Malawi-based charity founded by University of Northampton student Emma Leering, has now opened its second school on its quest to empower Malawian women, as reported by the Northamptonshire Chamber.

The charity, ran by the third year International Development student, provides conversational English training and work experience to vulnerable women in Malawi.

Margaret Bates, Professor of Sustainable Wastes Management at University of Northampton joined Tommy Boyd on his talkRADIO show to discuss the impacts of plastic bag disposal. This followed the news that plastic bag litter in the ocean is reported to have fallen since the 5p charges were introduced in 2015.

Lecturer in Law, Ebenezer Laryea was interviewed by BBC Radio Northampton about a University of Northampton (from 2.03.31) student-led fundraising initiative. The ‘Street Law Project’ is collecting used and unwanted books and other school materials, to send to underprivileged children at a primary school in Ghana.