Student Support

You can talk to a Student Engagement Advisor in confidence about your situation. We can advise on support with your studies, student support

Contact us at student.engagement@beds.ac.uk to arrange an appointment.

Counselling can also be accessed within the University by emailing Counselling@beds.ac.uk 

For specific support regarding impacts to your mental health, please contact mentalhealth@beds.ac.uk 

Find a range of services who can provide vital support and guidance to anyone experiencing domestic abuse. 

Local Services:

Luton All Women’s Centre:

• Confidential women only service including support for domestic  abuse, forced marriage, and honour based issues.
• Providing 1:1 casework, groupwork sessions, counselling and free solicitor advice surgery.
• We’ll talk with you about your current situation/needs and allocate an individual adviser to your case.
• To find out more about accessing support:
  • Drop into the centre (Mon–Fri, 9.30am–12 noon)
  • Call us on 01582 416783
  • Visit the website lutonallwomenscentre.org.uk

The Ebonista Project:

• The Ebonista Project provides emotional and practical support to women and children who have been subjected to domestic abuse.
• We extend a warm welcome to women from all backgrounds but as a grassroots agency led by Black female survivors, we are able to advocate and bridge the gap for women of African and Caribbean heritage who have struggled to access mainstream services.
• Contact us:
  • By phone 07306 088816
  • Helpline
    Opening hours Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm
  • Email support@theeebonistaproject.org.uk
  • Visit the website theebonistaproject.org.uk/contact 

Victim Support Bedfordshire

• Provide domestic abuse support services across Bedfordshire and have Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) services based in Luton, Bedford and at Bedford Hospital.
• Luton IDVA: 01582 488777. Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm, Email idva.luton@victimsupport.org.uk
• Beds IDVA: 01234 763785. Monday-Friday, 8am to 5pm. Email idva.bedfordshire@victimsupport.org.uk
• Free 24/7 Supportline for free on 0808 1689 111 or request support via our website.
• Bedfordshire Victim Care Services run victims’ services in Bedfordshire. Call 0800 0282 887.

Bedfordshire Domestic Abuse Partnership:

• It is important to us that all survivors of domestic abuse are provided with appropriate and tailored support in order to rebuild their lives.
• View and select from the the links on the Get Help page for details of services that can help you.
• Visit the website for more information: bedsdv.org.uk/get-help 

National Services:

Refuge:

• For Women and children, against domestic abuse.
• Support to find Safe, temporary accommodation for women and children escaping domestic abuse with access to one-to-one emotional and practical support.
• Contact us:
  • Free 24 hour Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247.
  • Visit the website refuge.org.uk 

Karma Nirvana:

• Support for those experiencing Honour based abuse or facing a forced marriage.
• Provide a free Honour Based Abuse Helpline, speak to someone who is trained and experienced, we will listen and offer emotional and practical support.
• Contact us:
  • Free phone 0800 5999 247, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm
  • Visit the website karmanirvana.org.uk/contact

Men’s Advice Line:

• Respect, a domestic abuse helpline for male victims of domestic abuse.
• Legal resources and factsheets about abuse.
• Watch this video to find out what happens on a call
• Contact us:
  • Telephone support available Monday-Friday, 10am-8pm, 0808 8010327.
  • Email support available Monday-Friday, 9am-8pm, info@mensadviceline.org.uk
  • Webchat support available
    Wednesday 10am-11:30am and 2:30pm-4pm.

ManKind Initiative: 

• Provide information, support and signposting service to men suffering from domestic abuse from their current or former wife, partner (including same-sex partner) or husband.
• Contact us:
  • Confidential helpline for male victims, Monday - Friday, 10am to 4pm. Telephone, 01823 334244.

Galop:

• LGBT+ anti-abuse charity, provided advice, support, research and lobbying around the issues of LGBT+ policing for over 30 years.
• Contact:
  • National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline, 0800 999 5428. Or email help@galop.org.uk  
  • LGBT+ Hate Crime Helpline, 0207 704 2040. Or email HateCrime@galop.org.uk 
  • National Conversion Therapy, Helpline 0800 130 3335. Or email CThelp@galop.org.uk 

International Students:

International Students based overseas may find the following websites helpful.

International Directory of Domestic Violence Agencies

• An international directory of abuse hotlines, shelters, refuges, crisis centres and women’s organisations, plus domestic violence information in over 110 languages.
• Find out more: hotpeachpages.net

Chayn:

• A global nonprofit, run by survivors and allies from around the world, creating resources to support the healing of survivors of gender-based violence.
• Create open, online resources and services for survivors of abuse that are trauma-informed, intersectional, multi-lingual and feminist.
• Visit website for more information: chayn.co 

If you’re worried about someone knowing that you’ve visited our website, find out below how you can remove traces of your visit, these are called cache files. This includes files, scripts, images, and other multimedia stored on your device after opening an app or visiting a website.

You can clear your browser history (an application used to access and view websites, for example, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer) by following the steps below.

Please note

The information below may not completely hide your tracks. The safest way to completely hide your online activity from someone who has access to your devices would be to search and visit sites on someone else’s devices, eg at a library, at work or using a friend or relative’s.

Clear your browser history

It's possible for someone to see the websites you’ve visited by looking through your web browser’s history on a computer or mobile device. Clearing the history, and emptying the cache file of saved information can be done in a few steps.

Google Chrome

Android mobile - follow the steps below to clear your history:

• open the Chrome app
• at the top right, tap ‘...’
• click ‘History’
• tap ‘Clear browsing data…’
• next to ‘Time range’ select how much history you want to delete
• check ‘Browsing ’ Check any other data you want to delete
• tap ‘Clear data’

IOS mobile - follow the steps below to clear your history:

• open the Chrome app
• click ‘…’
• select ‘History’
• click ‘Clear browsing data’
• next to ‘Time range’ select how much
• history you want to delete
• click ‘Clear browsing data’

Windows computer - follow the steps below to clear your history:

• open Chrome
• click ‘…’ top right of browser
• select ‘More tools’
• ‘More Settings’
• Click ‘Clear browsing data’
• choose a time range, such as last 24 hours or last 7 days
• select the types of information you want to remove
• click 'Clear data'

Mac - follow the steps below to clear your history:

• Open Chrome
• Click ‘…’ top right
• Select ‘ History’
• Click ‘Clear browsing data’
• choose a time range, such as last 24 hours or last 7 days
• select the types of information you want to remove
• click 'Clear data'

Incognito browsing

In Incognito, none of your browsing history, cookies and site data, or information entered in forms are saved on your device. This means your activity doesn't show up in your Chrome browser history, so people who also use your device won't see your activity.

To use incognito browsing:

• Open Chrome
• click ‘…’
• select ‘New incognito window/tab’

Safari

Mac - follow the steps below to clear your history:

• open Safari
• click on ‘History’ in toolbar
• select ‘Clear History…’
• choose a time range, such as the last hour, today or all history
• click 'Clear History'

IOS - follow the steps below to clear your history:

• open Safari
• select book icon from bottom menu
• press ‘clear’

Internet Explorer

If you’re using Internet Explorer on a computer, follow the steps below to clear your history:

• click on the Tools menu (in the row at the top of the browser)
• select Internet Options from the drop down menu; you should now be on a tab that says 'General' – if not, select 'General'; under the title, 'Temporary Internet Files'
• click on 'Delete Files'. You can also check the box that says 'delete all offline content'
• then, under 'History' click on 'Clear History'

then click OK, at the bottom

Firefox

If you’re using Firefox on a computer, follow the steps below to clear your history:

• click the menu button, choose 'History', and then 'Clear Recent History'
• select how much history you want to clear: click the drop-down menu next to 'Time Range' to choose how much of your history Firefox will clear
• finally, click 'Clear Now'