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What's open during BU's winter break

Talbot Campus as viewed from an upper floor of Poole House

Over the winter break we close down most of our campus to reduce our environmental impact and ensure our buildings are secure. For those areas we’re closing, we will shut down at  5pm on Tuesday 21 December and re-open at 8am on Tuesday 4 January 2022. This applies to all areas other than those listed below. 

If you do use any BU facilities over the holidays and experience or notice any issues with buildings or facilities, please inform the member of staff in Poole House or Bournemouth Gateway Building receptions who can let our Estates team know. If you are involved in, or witness an emergency on campus, call 01202 962222. 

Please also check our Covid FAQs page for more useful information. 

If you're staying local and want to find out about the events and activities which are taking place, check out our 'staying in Bournemouth for the winter break' webpage.

Facilities open during the holidays are: 

Open Access Centre

The Open Access Centre and reception area in Poole House (Talbot Campus) will be open 24/7 throughout the holiday.  You can book space in the usual way through the myPC booking system. 

Off Campus access to computers 

Over the festive period, you will still be able to connect to a BU computer to access the software and applications you need using the VMware Horizon, Leostream (through NoMachine), or VPN services for your work or studies. 

Libraries 

The Sir Michael Cobham Library on Talbot Campus will be closed from 5pm on Tuesday 21 December and will reopen at 8am on Tuesday 4 January. The Weston Library, on the ground floor of the new Bournemouth Gateway Building on Lansdowne Campus, will be open 24/7 throughout the vacation period.   

Library staff will be operating an online chat service for students who need support until 5pm on Thursday 23 December. The library out-of-hours service (01202 965959) is then available to answer basic library queries throughout the vacation. Our online chat service will reopen at 9am on Tuesday 4 January – see our opening times webpage for the latest updates.   

There’s also a wealth of subject-specific information on our library guides on Brightspace with links to online library resources and course reading lists, as well as more general library information on our webpages.  

IT services 

There will be no live chat service on the IT Services Portal from 4:45pm on Friday 17 December, and any self-service tickets logged on the portal will be looked at once the university reopens on Tuesday 4 January. However, the IT Service Desk phone lines remain open over the festive closure period (call 01202 965515 or freephone 0808 196 2332). From 5pm on Friday 24 December to 8am on 4 January, you will be transferred to the Out of Hours team to help with basic IT issues, who will escalate any major issues to on-call staff at BU to action as necessary, so please continue to report any issues you come across.

Faith & Reflection

Muslim prayer facilities will continue to be available on Talbot Campus during the holiday closure period in P221 and P226, which are located in Poole House. Please report to reception on arrival and show your ID card. We have placed a sanitising station outside the rooms for you to use and a visitor book to log your visit. 

Further information regarding Faith and Reflection activities over the Campus closure period can be found on the BU website.

AskBU 

AskBU will be open until 5pm on Tuesday 21 December, the service will then be closed for the winter break and will reopen on 9am on Tuesday 4 January 2022. During this time you can access AskBU's online FAQs. 

Student Wellbeing 

Student Wellbeing will be closed from 5pm on Friday 17 December and will reopen on Monday 10 January. However, if you need wellbeing support, there is a range of resources which will continue to be available throughout the closure period, with more information available on the Student Wellbeing pages of the BU website. 

If you need wellbeing support over the winter break, we would encourage you to contact the following organisations: Shelter on 0344 515 2000 for housing support, the Samaritans on 116 123 for personal support, the NHS Connection 24/7 mental health advice and guidance line on 0800 652 0190, the NHS 111, or The Retreat at Hahnemann House, Bournemouth town centre. 

Please also see the online resources section below. 

In an emergency on campus, BU’s Welfare Duty Officers are on call and can be contacted by calling 01202 962222. 

Medical Centre 

The on-campus medical centre will close on Friday 17 December. If you need medical advice you can:

  • Speak to a local pharmacy for minor illnesses 
  • Call NHS 111 
  • Call Talbot Medical Centre in Wallisdown, 63 Kinson Road, BH10 4BX on 01202 636400 
  • Download the NHS App
  • If it is an emergency please call 999
  • For emergency contraception please contact The Junction on 0300 303 1948.

Residential Services/LettingsBU and ResLifeBU 

Residential Services and LettingsBU will be closed from 5pm on Tuesday 21 December and will reopen 9am on Tuesday 4 January 2022. The teams will not be responding to emails or telephone calls during this time.  

  • If you are living in BU's halls of residence, you will have a site-based member of staff available 24/7 for all enquiries over the period. Please call or go to the hall's main reception desk for assistance.
  • If you are living in St Johns, Unilet, Student Village or a university-managed LettingsBU property, you should continue to use your usual out of hours support. If you are unsure, please call 01202 965001 for assistance. 
  • If you are living in any other private student accommodation, you should have been given contact details to call by your landlord, agent or halls provider. If you are yet to receive these, please contact your accommodation provider directly. 

If you are staying in one of BU's student halls, the Student Village or a Unilet property over Christmas and New Year, the ResLifeBU team has activities lined up for you and has set up a dedicated Facebook group to let you know what you can get involved with.  

For emergency situations, please call the main BU emergency number 01202 962222. 

SportBU

SportBU will be closed from Tuesday 21 December at 5pm (last entry 4.30pm) for the winter break and will reopen at 7.15am on Tuesday 4 January.

SportBU’s Wellbeing Hub will be regularly updated and available to all over the break.

University Music  

All music facilities will be unavailable from Wednesday 22 December until Tuesday 4 January. We will respond to enquiries via musicadmin@bournemouth.ac.uk when the university re-opens in January.  

Future Students Enquiries  

The phone lines for the Future Students Enquiry Team will be closed for Christmas from Wednesday 22 December at 5pm. However, the team are available to answer your questions via email and Live Chat on Thursday 23 December between 9am and 12am. Contact information can be found on the BU website.   

We will be open between Christmas and New Year on Wednesday 29, Thursday 30 and Friday 31 December between 10am and 2pm.

Christmas vacation bus services

A reduced vacation bus service will operate during the university closure period. Please check www.unibuses.co.uk/vacation-service-dates for details.  

Bus services operated by both Morebus and Yellowbuses will continue to run over the christmas period, if you need to travel to either campus. Please visit their webpages for more detailed timetable information.

Online resources 

While the university services are closed over the Christmas period, you may find the following external services helpful if you need immediate support:  

Returning to BU

As we prepare for re-opening the campus on Tuesday 4 January 2022, we will notify you if there is a weather warning for ice and snow. We will endeavour to open the campuses for business as usual, however, if weather and travel conditions are severe, updates will be posted on Twitter, Facebook, the university website, Brightspace and by email to your university accounts. You can also call BU’s Information Line – 01202 968999 – which will provide regular recorded updates in the event of adverse weather. Please be aware that the campuses will remain open unless otherwise notified.   

Any return to campus will be subject to Government advice at the time, and any local or national restrictions that may be in place for the management of Covid-19. We will communicate with all staff and students about these restrictions and their impact on the BU community as soon as we are able – please continue to check the BU website, and your online timetable for additional information.