University of Surrey

Click here to go straight to the University’s Community Engagement page

Introduction

The University of Surrey is our very near neighbour. Indeed, much of its land was once owned by Onslow Village Ltd and destined to be an extension of the village.

As a public institution, part of its role is to reach out to the community and to share its incredible resources and research findings. Listed below are some of the many ways in which members of the public can benefit from all that the University offers, and being so close makes that extra easy.  

A note on finding venues

Sometimes the venues information for University events isn’t easy to understand. A venue may be listed as 03 AC 05. This means it is on the 3^rd floor of the AC building (which can be found on Google maps or on the campus map next to the building name) in room 5.

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Surrey Sports Park

Surrey Sports Park is a top-class sports centre situated a 5 minute drive from Onslow Village, or a 25 minute walk (or less!). From award winning pitches to courts of every description, Olympic sized swimming pool, gyms, climbing walls, dance studios etc there is something for everyone. They host over 100 drop-in classes and weekly coaching sessions (many for children) and are the home to several professional sports clubs with regular matches for spectators. Membership is open to members of the public, and they also host a multitude of different sports based children’s parties which anyone can book.

Click here to visit the Surrey Sports Park website

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Lectures and Festivals

These cover a huge range of subjects and are often free. The University has faculties of: Health and Medical Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, and Engineering and Physical Sciences and a Business School. All of these departments are doing cutting edge research and they regularly hold free lectures at lunch times or evenings to present their latest findings. In addition to this they often host local and national festivals and conferences on a wide variety of subjects which are open to the public but may have a cost. To give a taste of what’s on offer, at the time of writing they are advertising free lectures on Understanding Right Wing Populism, Parental mental health, Entrepreneurship in space  and Star Gazing, with tickets on sale for an upcoming conference on Food Allergies. OVRA will endeavour to include some of these free lectures and events on the website calendar.

Click here to visit the Events Page

In addition the Institute of Physics hosts one Tuesday evening lecture a month which they claim are understandable and accessible to all! Examples of past topics are The Magical World of Motion: a child-friendly journey into classical mechanics ‘ or ‘The well tempered physicist: Physics and Music’. On the whole these lectures are free and are sometimes given by visiting speakers who are world experts in their field.

Click here to visit the Institute of Physics Events Page

If you are curious about astronomy and would like to learn more (including looking at stars and planets through the University telescope) why not go along to one of the Public Astronomy Evenings. These are run by the Astrophysics Research Group and include both a lecture about their latest research followed by a trip up to their telescope to view the night sky.

Click here to find the dates of upcoming Public Astronomy Evenings

 

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Guildford School of Acting

GSA puts on more than 20 productions a year, ranging from intimate high-brow plays to big cast full-on musical theatre, and everything in between.

The majority of these are performed in the Ivy Arts Centre, which is just off the Cathedral roundabout, so within very easy walking distance of the village. Some are free, others have a cost, but all are considerably cheaper than shows at professional venues. Whilst we’ll only be advertising a selection of the shows on the OVRA website use the link below to keep track of what’s on.

Click here to visit the GSA events page

GSA also run performance classes for both children and adults throughout the term and conservatoire workshops during the summer holidays. Find out more in the Activities section of this website.

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The Department of Music

The Department of Music hosts free lunchtime recitals on campus every Wednesday during termtime from 1:10-2pm which are open to anyone. In addition, they do free evening recitals and some large scale performances in other local venues which also tend to be free. These recitals cover the full range of instrumental and voice genres from all around the world. Keep checking their website to see what’s coming up:

Click here to visit the Department of Music events page

The Department of Music also run two Community Orchestra Days each year, where local musicians are invited to join students and staff to rehearse and perform large scale orchestral works in one day.  Find out more in the Activities section of this website.

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The University Library

The University Library welcomes members of the public for reference use of the printed items and to use the study space. Whilst children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, sixth formers may find it a space which is very conducive to study. During exam periods access by members of the public is often restricted. A one year visitor’s pass can be applied for online. The library holds several interesting archives but are particularly well known for their collection of letters, notebooks, sketches and coloured illustrations by EH Shepard who illustrated A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh books and Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham. Many of the original illustrations for these books are held in the library and can be viewed on request.

Click here to visit the Library website

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Language Courses

These run once a week from 7 – 8.30pm over two terms. They cost £225 a term for members of the public. Each language can be studied at a variety of levels from beginners to Advanced. The languages currently on offer are:  British Sign Language, English as a Foreign Language, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, French, Italian and Russian.

Click here to find out more about language classes

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The University Campus

The University Campus is worth exploring. It has a lovely lake and grassy area which can be a nice place to sit and relax. If you’re worried you might get lost and would prefer a guided tour, members of the public are welcome to book on to the Campus Tours designed for the prospective students. Or you can download a self-guided tour from their website.

Click here to book a campus tour

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Trouble with noisy neighbours?

 Whilst it is great to welcome the student population to Guildford and we hope they have a very special time here, we know that sometimes houses full of young people can become a little boisterous! If you have any ongoing issues with your student neighbours please contact the public engagement office at the university  publicengagement@surrey.ac.uk  and they will endeavour to address the issue for you.