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 4pm on Friday 22 December and re-open at 8am on Tuesday 2 January 2024. 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 cost of living support page for resources both on and off campus.
Check the alternative opening hours for facilities over the break:
AskBU
AskBU will be open until 3.30pm, on Friday 22 December, the service will then be closed for the winter break and will reopen on 9am on Tuesday 2 January. During this time, you can access AskBU's online FAQs.
CareersBU
The CareersBU team will be available in The Sir Michael Cobham Library (ground floor) on Talbot Campus, Monday - Friday, 9am - 12pm and 1pm - 4pm until Thursday 21 December. From Tuesday 2 January the team will be in their new location, The Careers Zone, in The Hub, Poole House. The Opportunity Hub at the Bournemouth Gateway Building, Lansdowne Campus, will be closed from Monday 4 December and will re-open in the new year. Over the winter break you can access the online resources on MyCareerHub 24/7.
Faith & Reflection
The Faith & Reflection Centre will be closed from Friday 22 December and re-open on Tuesday 2 January.
If you’re staying in Bournemouth during the break, please take a look at our website to see what local events and activities are happening in the community.
Should you require support around accessing a Muslim prayer space over this period please email Sister Tama Merdaci; [email protected].
Future Students Enquiries
The Future Students Enquiry Team service will be closed for the winter break from 3:30pm on Friday 22 December and will reopen at 9am on Tuesday 2 January.
IT Services
There will be no live chat service on the IT Services Portal from 4:45pm on Friday 22 December, and any self-service tickets logged on the portal will be looked at once the university reopens on Tuesday 2 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 22 December to 8am on Tuesday 2 January, you will be transferred to the Out of Hours team who will help with basic IT issues. Any major issues will be escalated by the Out of Hours team to BU on-call staff to action, so please continue to report any issues you come across.
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 or VPN services for your work or studies.
Libraries
The Weston Library on Lansdowne Campus and the ground floor of The Sir Michael Cobham Library on Talbot Campus will be open 24/7 throughout the winter break. There won’t be any library staff on site from 4pm on Friday 22 December until 9am on Tuesday 2 January, but self-service will be available.
Please be aware that you’ll need your student or staff ID card to get into both libraries.
Library staff will be operating their online chat service until 4pm on Friday 22 December and it will reopen at 9am on Tuesday 2 January. The library out-of-hours service (01202 965959) is available 24/7 throughout the break to answer basic library queries.
Medical Centre
The on-campus medical centre will close at 5pm on Friday 15 December and will reopen on Monday 8 January at 8.45am. If you need medical advice, you can:
- Speak to a local pharmacy for minor illnesses
- Call Talbot Medical Centre in Wallisdown, 63 Kinson Road, BH10 4BX on 01202 636400 or use the online service klinik.co.uk
- Call NHS 111 or download the NHS App
- If it is an emergency please call 999
- For emergency contraception please contact Sexual Health Dorset on 0300 303 1948.
Residential Services
Residential Services and LettingsBU will be closed from 1pm on Friday 22 December and will reopen at 9am on Tuesday 2 January. The teams will not be responding to emails or telephone calls during this time.
- If you are a first-year student living in one of BU's halls of residence, you will have a site-based member of staff available 24/7 for all enquiries over the period. Your accommodation team should have sent you out who to contact over the Christmas and New Year period but you can also 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 of residence 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 of residence, 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 LinkTree 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 Friday 22 December at 4pm (last entry 3.30pm) for the winter break and will reopen at 8am on Tuesday 2 January.
We're also excited to let you know that we're having new gym equipment installed on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 December. This means you won't be able to use the gym on these two days, but our studio space will have some equipment that you can use during this time.
We'd like to give everyone a chance to try out the new gym equipment, so on 21 and 22 December, we're opening the to everyone, whether you're a member or not. So come and have a go - it may inspire you to join us in the New Year!
Student welfare and support
Student Wellbeing will be closed from 4pm on Friday 15 December and will reopen on Monday 8 January at 9am. During the week commencing Monday 18 December and the week commencing Tuesday 2 January, there will be a reduced service operating for planned appointments. You will still be able to submit self-referral forms to the service and contact the team via email, however, the response time may be longer than usual. The service will be closed completely during the week of 25 December, so no referrals or emails will be checked during this time.
The Achieve team will be closed from 4pm on Friday 22 December until 8am on Tuesday 2 January.
The University Retreat will be closed from Sunday 17 December and will reopen on Tuesday 2 January. During this time, you can access The Retreat at Hahnemann House, Bournemouth town centre, or virtual support is available at Community Front Rooms, or you can call the 24/7 mental health helpline Connection on 0800 652 0190.
If you need wellbeing support over the winter break, you can call our Student Assistance Programme, Health Assured, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to speak to a trained counsellor or adviser. The team can offer emotional and practical support on a variety of issues.
Depending on your circumstances you may also wish to contact the following organisations: Shelter on 0344 515 2000 for housing support, the Samaritans on 116 123 for personal support, the NHS 111 (for physical and mental health support).
Please also see the external and online resources section below.
For urgent welfare issues, BU’s Welfare Duty Officers are on call and can be contacted by calling 01202 962222.
University Music
All music facilities will be unavailable from 1pm on Friday 22 December until Tuesday 2 January. We will respond to enquiries via [email protected] when the university re-opens in January 2024.
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 Morebus 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.
Campus food outlets
All outlets will close from 22 December and reopen again on 2 January. Between 18 - 22 December and Monday 2 - 5 January, Bournemouth Uni Food outlets at Talbot and Lansdowne Campus will open at reduced hours, as detailed below:
- Costa Coffee, Bournemouth Gateway Building: Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 4pm
- Starbucks, Poole House: Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 4pm
- Costa Coffee, Fusion Building: Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 4pm
- Uni Food Hub, Hot Counter, Fusion Building: Monday – Friday, 12pm – 2pm
External and online resources
While the university services are closed over the winter break, you may find the following external services helpful if you need immediate support:
- NHS 111 (the non-emergency number to contact the NHS)
- Police 101 (the non-emergency number to contact the police if it is less urgent than a 999 call)
- Student Assistance Programme (free 24/7 confidential helpline and online resources)
- Student Space (for wellbeing resources and advice from Student Mind)
- Dorset Mind
- Connection (24/7 mental health helpline)
- The Retreat (mental health support from 4.30pm-midnight every day)
- Samaritans or Samaritans Bournemouth & District (for urgent emotional support)
- The Shores (if you have experienced sexual abuse)
- Steps 2 Wellbeing (for anxiety, depression, stress, mental health and wellbeing)
- UKCISA (for concise and student friendly guidance on all aspects of international student support including immigration)
- GOV.UK - Find an immigration adviser (if you need urgent immigration representation).
Returning to BU
As we prepare for re-opening the campus on Tuesday 2 January 2024, 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.
