Supporting each other over the coming days

The coming days mark a year on from the serious escalation of violence in the Middle East, a year that has seen an enormous loss of life, with devastating impact on individuals and communities. The Hamas attacks of October 7, Israeli military action, and the violence in the wider region continue to have tragic consequences. 

As members of our community come together to host events including vigils and protests on campus, we ask everyone to be mindful of the diversity of our community and of how our colleagues and fellow students may be feeling at this time. We hope for respect, understanding and compassion for one another over the coming days.

Support available for staff and students 

 Conflict across the globe right now is a source of great pain and anxiety for many people in our community, particularly for those who have been directly affected, and we must do all we can to support and respect one another.  

Over the last year, many teams across the university have been working hard to support those affected in our community. We have a wide range of support available including specialised emotional and practical support for students affected by world events through sessions of Psychological First Aid (PFA), 24/7 confidential and free mental health and wellbeing support lines, extenuating circumstances or academic adjustments for those struggling with the impact on their academic work, financial assistance and more. 

The services we have are open to support all staff and students who may be affected, and we strongly urge you to reach out if you are in need and to help signpost to these widely across our university. A reminder of all available support is here. 

Ensuring campus is a safe, welcoming and supportive place 

During this time, our priority remains ensuring our campus is a safe, welcoming and supportive place for everyone who works, studies and visits here.  

We have always been clear that the right to protest, debate, and challenge ideas, is fundamental to our role as a university. We are committed to ensuring that our students and staff can express their views and opinions in a legal, safe and respectful way.  

However, upholding this right must be balanced with our primary responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of our community. The right to protest and free speech is not without limits and we will act if it crosses a line. This includes when activity turns unlawful, poses unacceptable risks to the health, safety or welfare of employees, students or visitors, or significantly interferes with a university’s primary purpose as a place of learning and research.  

We want to remind everyone that racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, abuse, incitement or harassment will not be tolerated at UCL. We strongly urge anyone to report any incidents of this through the online tool, Report + Support so we can take the necessary action.  

Our campus has security cover 24/7. Security support can be accessed by calling +44 (0)20 7679 2222 or via SafeZone app which reaches our security directly. Find out more information about SafeZone and how to download it here.  

Finally, a reminder that for those planning events or activities on campus that it is very important that all the usual processes that apply to putting on an event are followed and are approved before the event promotion begins. This includes putting in place an events risk assessment and following all usual procedures around organising external speakers. More guidance around organising events with external speakers can be found here.