Category: News

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Wildflower Planting Project at Penryn Campus 2024

June 13, 2024

At the start of the year (January 2024), the FX Plus Grounds and Gardens team set themselves the target of planting 1,200 wildflowers over the course of the year.

“It was bit of an arbitrary number that meant beating how many we got into the ground the year before,” explains Alasdair Garnett, Gardener at FX Plus.

Through a combination of the conservation volunteering sessions and the continued planting in spare bits of time, we are proud to announce that this week, on 11 June 2024, the team achieved their target.

The honour of planting wildflower number 1,200 was undertaken by Abhishek Dixit, who first initiated the project and conservation volunteering sessions with Alasdair and has just started back with us as part of the Grounds and Gardens team.

All this planting is supporting our biodiversity efforts and helping wildlife thrive on campus.

“This summer, we’ve seen Goldfinches, Meadow Brown Butterflies and Buff-tail Bumblebees feasting in the wildflower meadows that we planted last year!

“Our new plantings of Ox-eye daisies, mallows, self-heals, yellow rattle, and many more native wildflower species will further support bees, butterflies, and birds on campus grounds. 

“We’ll keep planting, and if the weather and time permits then we could end up doubling that number by the end of this year (2024) – you’ll have to wait and see,” says Alasdair.

Below, you can see a photo of wildflower number 1,200 going into the ground and marking this wonderful milestone, as well as some of the other wildflower planting on campus.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Sustainability Café Menu Refresh

June 12, 2024

Introducing our latest offering: the refreshed menu at the Sustainability Café!

The Food and Drink team are excited about their new array of plant-based delights, featuring low-cost options and exciting vegan additions. Proudly certified by the Vegetarian Society, the Sustainability Café is exclusively vegan and vegetarian. Our catering team has crafted this menu to cater to the increasing appetite for plant-based cuisine, ensuring there’s something for every budget.

The new menu features vegan breakfast Belgium waffles with tantalising Biscoff sauce and Biscoff crumble or opt for Belgium waffles loaded with plant-based yoghurt and berry compote. For just £2.50, savour our scrumptious vegan yogurt pots with granola and berries.

For lunch you can choose from a range of flavoursome vegan multi-seed bagels served with salted crisps and a side salad (£5.50).

For something warming, try the new plant-based homemade soup of the day at the affordable price of £2.50, or enjoy our vegetarian offering of mature cheese on toast with a choice of chutneys and dressings, also at £2.50.

Indulge your sweet tooth with our freshly baked vegan pastries and a selection of locally made cakes, including vegan and gluten-free options. Pair your treat with a pot of ethically and sustainably sourced Nuditea ‘tea of the week’ for just £1.50.

In the café, sip on Cornish coffee, roasted in Redruth, with dairy free milk alternatives including oat, almond, soya, and coconut milk. Don’t forget to bring along your reusable cup, or ask us about our circular returnable cup scheme.

View our new menu here.

Remember to share your feedback through our ‘Rate Us and Win’ kiosk. Plus, every month during term time, you have the chance to win a £50 voucher in our prize draw!

Stay in the loop with menu updates and events by following the @foodandddrinkoncampus team on Instagram.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Sustainability Café Achieves Vegetarian Society Accreditation

April 17, 2024

We are thrilled to share that the Sustainability Café on Penryn campus has achieved accreditation from the Vegetarian Society for producing a fully vegetarian and vegan menu offering.

This accreditation marks a significant milestone in our commitment to offering sustainable and ethical dining options to you, our valued customers.

With this accreditation, you can trust that our vegetarian and vegan offering meet the stringent standards set forth by the Vegetarian Society, ensuring the integrity and quality of our products.

This accreditation reaffirms our dedication to promoting environmentally conscious practices and supporting the global shift towards plant-based lifestyles. By choosing our accredited vegetarian and vegan food, you can not only enjoy flavourful meals but also contribute to a more sustainable future for our planet.

We extend our thanks to the Vegetarian Society for their recognition and support, and we look forward to continuing to innovate and expand our range of vegetarian and vegan options. Join us in celebrating this achievement as we strive to make a positive impact, one delicious meal at a time.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Belmont Garden Group at Falmouth Campus

April 12, 2024

A new gardening group launched this spring (21 March) at Belmont Garden, Falmouth campus. Students, Staff and community are invited to plant, potter and pick fresh produce every Thursday between 10:00am to 14:00pm – it’s free – simply turn up!

Belmont Garden is a hidden haven situated behind the Life Drawing Studio in a quaint corner of Falmouth Campus. Under the shade of a Eucalyptus tree, the allotment and greenhouse boast leafy vegetables, herbs like mint and rosemary, potatoes, rhubarb, strawberries, and much more.

The sessions are organised by volunteer Chaplain John from the Multifaith Chaplaincy, in collaboration with the campus Grounds and Gardens team. The Belmont Garden Group is open for all to join and welcomes novices and seasoned gardeners alike, to learn and grow together.

Students, staff, and the public are encouraged to get involved in our community garden. Here you can enjoy planting some veg, watering seedlings in the greenhouse, feeding the robins and blue tits, and take satisfaction in harvesting some fresh produce for your larder. For more information, email chaplaincy@fxplus.ac.uk.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Falmouth University & the University of Exeter Student & Staff 2024 Commuting Travel Survey

April 9, 2024

On behalf of Falmouth University and the University of Exeter (Cornwall), FX Plus is delivering a campus wide commuting travel survey to gather insights into how students and staff are travelling to and from our Cornwall campuses. 

We encourage all staff and students at Falmouth University, the University of Exeter (Cornwall), FX Plus and the Student Union, to complete this survey. Your responses will provide us with valuable information for campus planning, services, and infrastructure improvement, and will also help improve our carbon profiling as part of the university’s net-zero strategies. 

The aim of the survey is to better understand the commuting travel behaviours across our Cornwall campuses. It is applicable to all students and staff based in Cornwall, who are commuting and travelling to our Cornwall campus. This includes Falmouth University, the University of Exeter (Cornwall), FX Plus and the Student Union.

If you are a University of Exeter Cornwall based employee or student, please fill in this survey, and do not fill in the University of Exeter Devon based staff survey.

Everyone who completes the survey, and enters their email address at the end, will be in with the chance of winning a £100 Amazon Voucher. Please provide your email at the end of the survey to be entered into the prize draw. We have three £100 Amazon vouchers to give away! 

Data Protection Act: This information will be recorded and processed by the Falmouth Exeter Plus to:

  • Help understand the journeys being undertaken by students and staff travelling to and from our campuses, including distances travelled.
  • To support the planning and development of initiatives and projects to support sustainable travel to our campuses
    Your data will not be shared or used for any other purposes.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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‘Bin it to be in it’, with a chance to win £1000 with our special LitterLotto bins

April 9, 2024

Have you seen our new ‘LitterLotto’ stickers which are appearing on campus recycling and food waste bins near you? Our Facilities team and Sustainability team have partnered with LitterLotto to give you a chance of winning £1000 every time you dispose of your recycling or food waste correctly.

To be entered into the weekly prize draw, all you need to do is scan the QR code on the recycling or food waste bin and a pop-up will appear on your phone (no app download needed), select what you are binning and take a picture of the waste to enter. So long as you are putting the right waste into the correct bin, the entry will be validated within the portal, and you will be entered into the weekly jackpot draw to win £1000.

The aim of the initiative is to reduce waste by educating and rewarding positive recycling behaviour. When scanning the LitterLotto QR code, if what you are wanting to throw away doesn’t appear in the options, it reminds you that the entry will not be valid and that it could contaminate the bin.

Dylan Jones, Recycling and Waste Officer said, “we are proud to be the first university campus to roll out LitterLotto. We know people want to do the right thing and hope the LitterLotto initiative will incentivise positive recycling behaviours and help to raise awareness of what cannot be placed in recycling and food waste bins (such as coffee cups!)”.

Initially, the scheme will run for a duration of 12 months. For more information about the LitterLotto, please contact Dylan on recycling@fxplus.ac.uk.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Archivist Appointed to Catalogue Collections Relating to Political Movements in Cornwall

March 4, 2024

The Archives on Penryn Campus, shared by the University of Exeter (Cornwall) and Falmouth University, have appointed a new project Archivist and work has begun to catalogue four key Collections relating to Political movements in Cornwall in the mid twentieth century, from our Institute of Cornish Studies Archives: the papers of Mary Mann, Len Truran, Royston Green and Dr Adrian Lee.

Cataloguing Archivist, Lizzie Pridmore, has joined FX Plus Archives and Special Collections in Penryn and has launched the one-year project to catalogue the four Cornish collections, with the view to make them more accessible for all. This has been made possible thanks to the £35,000 grant funding awarded by Archives Revealed Cataloguing Grants Scheme, supported by The National Archives, The Pilgrim Trust and The Wolfson Foundation.

Lizzie said: “I am looking forward to getting to know these collections better and as an archivist, bringing order to the collections through cataloguing and then making them available for reading and research is very satisfying! I’m interested in Cornish culture and identities so it’s a real privilege to work with these particular collections and I’m excited about the potential they have for exploring the political ideas that have helped to shape Cornwall as it is today.”

These collections share a common theme in the examination and documentation of the birth and growth of the Cornish Nationalist movement; however, the subject coverage is wide spanning – everything from proposed postage stamps to political posters are covered – including papers of industry, tourism, transport, employment, migration, devolution, language and more.

Having just skimmed the surface of the collection in the week since she joined us, Lizzie treated us to a glimpse of a few items from the collections that have already caught her eye. Below, you can see some of the treasures pictured and we cannot wait to see more in the coming year. Once completed, the collections will be made available for students, staff and the public to view by appointment at the Archives on Penryn campus.

Lizzie Pridmore, Cataloguing Archivist at FX Plus, with one of her favourite finds from the Royston Green collection, an introduction to the Cornish language, Kernewek, looking at the meaning of different place names.

Lizzie Pridmore, Cataloguing Archivist at FX Plus, with one of her favourite finds from the Royston Green collection, an introduction to the Cornish language, Kernewek, looking at the meaning of different place names.

A log book detailing work on the Falmouth & Camborne Liberal Association’s 1966 electoral campaign, from the papers of Mary Mann

Electoral campaign poster for Len Truran, Meybon Kernow
Rules and Aims for the political party Mebyon Kernow
Press cutting from the Cornish Guardian, 7 June 1979, describing the formation of a Cornish Assembly and including a photograph of five members.

From left to right: Electoral campaign poster for Len Truran, Meybon Kernow. Rules and Aims for the political party Mebyon Kernow. Press cutting from the Cornish Guardian, 7 June 1979, describing the formation of a Cornish Assembly and including a photograph of five members.

Poster for a production of a medieval Cornish mystery play, ‘Gwyrans an Bys’, ‘The Creation of the World’, at Piran Round.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Cornwall Campuses Achieve Gold Cycle Friendly Employer Award

January 15, 2024

Both Penryn and Falmouth campus have achieved Gold Cycle Friendly Employer awards, administered through the national Cycle Friendly Employer program and run by Cycling UK. The gold award is the highest standard available and demonstrates to students and staff the active travel and infrastructure on offer for cyclists.

Based on our climate emergency declarations in 2019 and a focus on supporting student and staff’s physical and mental wellbeing, active travel such as cycling and walking poses a lot of positive opportunities.

Oliver Milliner, Head of Sustainability at FX Plus, said: “the benefits are crystal clear when it comes to taking on active travel measures commuting to and from campuses. Active travel measures such as cycling not only supports personal health, but is a direct emission reduction initiative, reduces traffic congestion in the local community and also helps to save money”.

Oliver also highlights, “this award doesn’t deter from the fact there are still areas in which we can improve upon, in terms of service level, infrastructure and communications to encourage the uptake of active travel. Based on a survey we ran for staff and students in June 2023, 56% of staff and 11% of students are driving alone to and from campuses. This equates to approximately 54% of total commuting emissions each year. Only 4% of staff and 7% of students use cycling as their main mode of transport to and from campus.

“The main pieces of feedback from the survey are that people do not feel safe cycling on the roads and this is deterring them from getting out of vehicles”.

Oliver adds, “based on the survey figures, there needs to be a focus on phasing away from single car occupancy. We’re in the process of finalising our 2030 Sustainable Travel Plan to address key areas for improvement”. The new plan aligns with Cornwall Council’s 2030 Transport Plan which effectively focuses on modal shift as well.

The gold award achievement supports FX Plus and the universities of Falmouth and Exeter, by providing a roadmap to achieve continuous improvement. For any questions or queries on travel, please email sustainability@fxplus.ac.uk.

Gold Cycle Friendly Employer certification mark administered by Cycling UK.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Biodiversity Updates 2022-2023

January 9, 2024

The Biodiversity, Sustainability and Ground and Gardens Teams have been hard at work to achieve some blooming good biodiversity outputs for 2022-2023. Abhishek Dixit, Biodiversity Project Officer at FX Plus, has reported a total of 1,152 wildflower plugs planted in 2023. In fact, we’ve planted a total of 1,572 plants since March 2022.

We also observed 5,145 square metres of grassland enhanced by wildflower seedling and turf planting. With 1,940 square metres of mixed evergreen and deciduous woodland enhanced by invasive plant removal and tree planting.

In addition to the daily contributions of our green fingered colleagues, some of this planting was also thanks to our weekly Campus Conservation Volunteering Sessions which are held every Wednesday lunchtime from 12-2:30pm, and last year an impressive 51 sessions were delivered for students, staff, and the general public. For full details about upcoming sessions visit our ‘Events on Campus‘ page.

 All these activities are already helping wildlife on campus, as seen through new wildlife monitoring events. The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme is one such example, whereby we contributed the recording of 545 individual butterflies from 14 different species.

In total, our Biodiversity Project Officer has led 17 Wildlife Walks, participated in 12 Outreach Events and engaged 225 participants through these biodiversity events.

To continue to build on this work, we have a number of wildlife monitoring events planned for 2024, such as the RSPB Big Bird Watch events which will be held on both our Penryn and Falmouth campuses this month (26 and 27 January 2024), and a BeeWalk, Bat surveys, bird monitoring programme, and potentially a freshwater quality survey for our streams and ponds. Keep a look out for these future events on the FX Plus website here.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Winning at Waste

January 9, 2024

As we look back on December, it’s often a month of excess and overconsumption. It’s the month which creates a mountain of waste and recycling for us to drown in until the first bin collection after the festive holidays. Many of us will have sifted through the sacks of wrapping paper, sorted through plastic packaging and wrestled with a record number of cardboard boxes – it’s a tedious task and one which gets little recognition!

This is not the case on campus. Your noble waste and recycling efforts have not gone unnoticed. In fact, we can look back on 2023 and celebrate some waste related wins. Dylan Jones, Waste and Recycling Officer at FX Plus, has diligently been calculating what we throw away and has reported increases in recycling and a reduction in overall waste generated on Penryn campus when compared with last year’s figures.

Here are some 2022/2023 statistics (when compared with 2021/2022):

  • Food waste recycling has increased by 38%
  • All recycling has increased by 5.3%
  • All general waste generated on Penryn campus has reduced by 7%
  • Over 10,000 tetra pak cartons have been recycled since last January (2023), and we now average around 1,000 tetra pak cartons recycled each month!

Waste and recycling are ongoing challenges, but the above statistics are an encouraging indication that our campus community is moving in the right direction, an endeavour that which takes us closer towards our sustainability goals and reduces our negative impacts on the environment. Well done, you! Keep up the good work.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.