Students and staff from University College Birmingham have been using their skills to support the local community as part of a special summer programme of events. 

Representatives from the University's Department of Creative Services and Birmingham College of Food have been taking part in a range of community engagement activities – from cooking to nail care and face painting – with more being planned across other departments throughout the summer break. 

The first event saw students on our Beauty Therapy Level 2 course pay a visit to Birmingham Children's Hospital last month, where they provided staff members from the hospital's oncology wards with a range of treatments, including hand massages, nail tidy and nourishing nail treatments. 

Sinead McAndrew, Palliative Care and Bereavement Family Liaison Coordinator at the hospital, said: "I cannot thank the team enough for their time. 

"All of the staff absolutely loved it and were so grateful for their help. Our staff felt so cared for and I've had so much positive feedback from our ward managers. 

"Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. The team did something truly wonderful for people who don't often get the chance for downtime and care for themselves." 

This was followed by two days at Queen Alexandra College (QAC), a specialist college in Harborne for people with disabilities, where the team attended a Jubilee celebration day and a summer fun day. 

Supervised by final year Specialist Hair and Media Make-up BA (Hons) student Caprice Whitehead, the team provided face painting and nail art at the Jubilee event, working with QAC students with various support requirements. 

"The organisers were happy with how the event went," said Caprice. "They spoke highly of our students throughout the day." 

They also provided nail treatments, make-up and face-painting for students, families and the general public at the summer fun day, helping to raise funds for QAC in the process. 

Sarah Caldwell, Fundraising and Grants Manager at QAC, said: "The team have been really great – they are stars! 

"I observed them with our QAC students, chatting with them and taking their time to make our students feel comfortable and engaged. 

"It was evident from talking to the University College Birmingham team that they had also gained a lot from the experience and had enjoyed being part of the events." 

The Creative Services students taking part in the summer programme were interviewed for their paid roles, secured through links between the organisations involved and Hired, University College Birmingham's careers, employability and placements team.