Campus Stars: Simon Villano

August 12th, 2020

The Campus Stars campaign has been launched to showcase the colleagues still working on campus during the lockdown and highlight the crucial work they do.

Simon Villano is a Maintenance Electrician in the Maintenance team and has been working at the University for two years. Simon works on University Park and Sutton Bonington campuses, occasionally covering Jubilee Campus too.

Simon’s role involves various technical tasks, including technical maintenance in student accommodation such as fixing existing light fittings or lighting circuits, attending power outages to perform fault-finding and replacing broken equipment such as socket-outlets.

During the pandemic, the Maintenance team has been split into two groups working alternative weeks to enable social distancing. During the week off campus, team members remain on call in case they are needed on campus. During his time on campus, Simon has continued his usual work whilst also carrying out planned preventative maintenance such as weekly fire alarm tests, generator checks and water flushing.

Recently, Simon has also been involved in preparing the main campus buildings for reopening by placing signs in accordance with health and safety instructions. Simon not only works to ensure that students that remain on campus can continue to have working building services, but also ensures that all buildings remain functional and ready to be reopened. During the past few months, the Estates Maintenance Manager and other colleagues have continued supporting each other either in person on campus or via email and phone communication.

Although Simon has found lockdown difficult, he has enjoyed relaxing at home, reading books and watching films. He recently read George Orwell’s 1984 and enjoyed watching The Joker. He has also spent this time studying for an HNC in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and the time at home has given him the opportunity to complete the course.

Simon enjoys the inclusive environment at the University of Nottingham and the good work-life balance. He has been happy contributing to the ongoing University maintenance over the past couple of months and supporting the students remaining in University accommodation.

Simon’s message to the University community is that although these have been difficult times, we will all emerge from this stronger. He would also like to thank the Estates Maintenance team including the electricians, plumbers, fitters, joiners and painters for continuing to work through the pandemic and doing a great job!

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Campus Stars: Juliana Brown

August 12th, 2020

The Campus Stars campaign has been launched to showcase the colleagues still working on campus during the lockdown and highlight the crucial work they do.

Juliana is a Senior Building Attendant in Life Science, Pharmacy and Psychology and has worked at the University for 12 years.

Juliana supervises the cleaning team within the building, whilst also carrying out building security, reporting maintenance issues, testing fire alarms and acting as a point of contact for visitors, staff and students.

Since lockdown, Juliana has assisted with cleaning at Cripps Health Centre in the mornings to ensure the building is fully operational if needed to support the NHS during the pandemic. This is in addition to continuing to work in her usual role which currently involves assisting contractors in Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Psychology building whilst they carry out building survey and upgrade the fire alarm system. Juliana has found it difficult to adjust to the reduced number of staff on campus and the emptiness of the corridors that are usually bustling with staff and students.

During her time off, Juliana has enjoyed video calls with her family and friends. She has also enjoyed watching TikTok videos created by her grandchildren.

Juliana’s favourite thing about working for the University of Nottingham is the hustle and bustle of university life. She looks forward to seeing the University that way again following lockdown.

Juliana’s message to the University community is to stay strong and that this will soon pass.

Tags: Campus Stars, coronavirus, COVID-19, lockdown
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Campus Stars: Grounds Team

August 12th, 2020

The Campus Stars campaign has been launched to showcase the colleagues still working on campus during the lockdown and highlight the crucial work they do.

A small number of Grounds Team staff have been working alongside the Grounds Management Team in a limited capacity during the pandemic. They have been covering all campuses and have been continuing management of the grounds and sports areas. This has involved managing waste and bin collection, maintaining ornamental areas of grassland, watering memorial trees, laying new turf at Lakeside and additional bin emptying and litter collection due to increased numbers of members of the public visiting the campuses. The team have also carried out sports pitch care and maintenance, reactive maintenance requests from the Helpdesk, road sweeping, urgent tree work and other matters relating to campus health and safety.

During lockdown, dedicated staff selected areas that would benefit from relaxed mowing to encourage a wide array of wild plant species to become established. The main entrances were prioritised for maintenance, along with the University Gardens and grass areas in halls of residence. Due to the pandemic, the award-winning bedding schemes around campus were put on hold and a decision was made to cancel all pre-arranged plant orders. In addition to this, the team had started growing plants before lockdown for the bedding schemes. Rather than these going to waste, they were used alongside stock normally held for graduation to put out a display at North entrance. As an unusual selection of plants were used, the design was very different to the usual colourful display. The design process proved challenging due to the limited quantities of stock and range of colour. Despite the challenges, the final work was impressive and the large amounts of green foliage and wide range of leaf textures received fantastic feedback from the public.

In June, the BBC visited Cripps Health Centre to cover the COVID-19 vaccine trials. This was arranged at short notice, and so at short notice the Grounds staff tidied up the area, cut the grass and maintained the borders in preparation for the filming that took place around the building and gardens.

The Grounds team have worked well together and remained adaptable in their approach, despite experiencing a strange and difficult work environment. They are now working hard to meet the challenges ahead and ensure that campus is ready for returning staff and students. The landscape may look a little different, but they hope everyone can still enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

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Campus Stars: Domestic Services, Derby School of Medicine

August 12th, 2020

The Campus Stars campaign has been launched to showcase the colleagues still working on campus during the lockdown and highlight the crucial work they do.

Domestic Services at Derby School of Medicine have been working daily throughout the coronavirus crisis. Eight members of the team have continued to travel to work during lockdown.

Building Attendant, Jane Lord, has worked alone through the day shifts and has been on hand to provide access for contractors who have been carrying out urgent repairs. Jane also carries out weekly alarm checks and receives deliveries and has found it much quieter without staff and students.

During the evenings, Senior Building Attendant Gerry Marsden has worked with a cleaning team comprising of Natasha Wheatley, Clare Schofield, Renata Reduchowsksa, Pat McColl, Afif Yusof and Malgorzata Salamanowicz. The team say that the Medical School is very quiet without the students and with only 27 authorised colleagues there.

Lockdown has provided a great opportunity for deep cleaning without disturbing staff and students. One or two cobwebs have disappeared from the near impossible heights to reach, with the help of some long poles and improvisation. Weekly Water Flushing has been one of the new tasks being carried out, as the many taps and toilets in the Med School aren’t being regularly used.

Social distancing at work has been crucial of course, so the cleaning team have been working in different areas of the building to limit any close contact. They have also focused on cleaning frequently touched areas of the building with disinfectant such as handrails, door handles, taps, toilets and anything else regularly used. Student study rooms have also had a thorough clean and are ready for the students to return.

Although the team have made the most of getting a lot of work done without many interruptions, they can’t wait to see everyone return and Derby School of Medicine busy with staff and students again.

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Campus Stars: Cripps Health Centre

August 12th, 2020

The Campus Stars campaign has been launched to showcase the colleagues still working on campus during the lockdown and highlight the crucial work they do.

During the pandemic, some buildings have been temporarily closed and so do not require the same level of cleaning. Most cleaning staff at Cripps Health Centre are isolating, so cleaners and other members of staff from various locations across campus have therefore volunteered to transfer to Cripps Health Centre as temporary replacements. They join permanent Cripps Health Centre cleaners Amy Wilson and Anna Sabota who have worked daily throughout the lockdown period.

The Cripps Health Centre during lockdown has included the following members of staff:

• Loizos Kalopsidiotis, Cleaning Supervisor
• Pat Wearmouth, Cleaning Supervisor
• Juliana Brown, Senior Building Attendant
• Glennis Leake, Cleaner
• Pat McKeever, Cleaner
• Cecilia Owusu, Cleaner
• Deborah Brennan, Cleaner
• Julie Lamb, Cleaner
• Pamela Bradford, Cleaner
• Ruth Duber, Cleaner
• Patrick Ayodele, Cleaner
• Anna Sabota, Cleaner
• Amy Wilson, Cleaner

Working patterns have been adjusted to maintain social distancing, with some members of staff working mornings and others working evenings. Loizos and Pat and Juliana are keeping in touch with staff on a weekly basis to keep them informed of the ongoing situation and University updates. They have encouraged them to get in touch directly or via the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) if they need more help or support. Team spirits are kept high with ice cream breaks during the good weather and by celebrating team birthdays at the end of a shift.

Loizos has been spending free time cooking and eating healthily whilst also listening to music, weight training and completing online courses for career development. Loizos’ message to the University community is she hopes everyone is keeping safe and taking care of themselves and their families. In times like these, take the opportunity to reflect on our lives and appreciate each other. Keep physically and mentally healthy and active and challenge ourselves to get better as individuals and learn new things and skills and expand our horizons.

Julie has been enjoying spending time during lockdown in the garden and going on walks. She has also enjoyed eating curry, which is her favourite meal!

Pat McKeever has been enjoying spending time in her back garden and baking in her kitchen. She has worked at the University for more than 30 years and enjoys her role.

Pat Wearmouth has been relaxing at home, spending time with her daughter, and taking care of her dog and goldfish. Her message to the University community is she hopes everyone is safe and keeping well and hopefully we can return to normality soon. Pat has enjoyed coming in to work during lockdown and enjoys spending time with her colleagues.

Anna Sabota has enjoyed spending time with family during her spare time. Her favourite meals are salads and she enjoys eating healthily. Her favourite music is ABBA and she has also enjoyed reading books by David Mitchell. Her message to the University community is that these are difficult times and she hopes that everyone returns to work healthy and happy. Anna enjoys working for the University and finds everyone friendly and the atmosphere positive. She has enjoyed coming in to work during lockdown as it has kept her active and engaged.

Patrick Ayodele has been enjoying watching films, documentaries about Africa and reading. His message to the University community is that he hopes everyone is keeping well and hopefully things will return to normal soon. Patrick likes his job and enjoys working with the public. Customer service is important to Patrick and he has really enjoyed helping, interacting, and connecting with people.

Cecilia has enjoyed spending time at home during lockdown and has been cooking, watching African films and watching documentaries. Her favourite meal is fried rice and chicken with vegetables. Cecilia’s hopes everyone is safe and taking care of themselves and their families.

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Campus Stars: Animal Research

August 12th, 2020

The Campus Stars campaign has been launched to showcase the colleagues still working on campus during the lockdown and highlight the crucial work they do.

The Animal Research team, based at the Medical School and Sutton Bonington Campus, ensure the welfare and care of research animals.

During the pandemic, the team have ensured that essential animal research has continued including research focused on COVID-19. This has required a technical presence to be in place every day, including weekends and bank holidays.

To comply with new restrictions, the team have increased their use of PPE, including full air-flow helmets. They have also split into smaller groups working separate shifts to minimise the risk of cross-infection and increase the ability to work flexibly to cover all sites. Colleagues have quickly learned to utilise Microsoft Teams for video conferencing, enabling communication with each other and with the administrative team who are working from home. Those on site have undertaken research protocols in addition to the usual workload on behalf of research colleagues who could not attend site and Technicians have ensured that valuable colonies of genetically modified mice and zebra fish have been maintained. This varied workload has also meant that the team has been required to work longer hours at times, including through the night to successfully complete a 24-hour study.

The team are thankful for the messages of support received from the University, including the Vice-Chancellor. They also receive newsletters from the Institute of Animal Technology, sharing experiences of animal technicians across the UK.

The best thing about working at the University of Nottingham is the fantastic team effort. One of the newest members of the team says: “I have had amazing support from my colleagues and without their help and support during COVID-19 I would have struggled to keep up with my workload.”

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