The Gateway to Hope Building

The Gateway to Hope Building

Consolidating the student-centredness of Liverpool Hope's ethos was a determination that all Student Support and Well-being services should be centrally and conveniently located.  This led to the design and construction of the landmark Gateway to Hope Building, which was officially opened by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in June 2007. 

The original brief to the Architect emphasised three essential features for the building: first, it was to create an entrance to the University that would become its front door, and so physically unite what historically were separate campuses. Second, it was to be a place where visitors and students would be made welcome. Third, and crucially, it would have student service and care as its central purpose. The building is fulfilling each of these ambitions, and the name ‘Gateway to Hope' is not an insignificant part of the building's story.

The word ‘Gateway' captures the building's essential function as the place where students can now access the range of support services that make Liverpool Hope University distinctive. The name also emphasises Hope's Widening Participation Agenda, which seeks to increase the opportunities for successful participation in higher education to all those who can benefit from it, irrespective of socio-economic circumstances.  In Biblical times, the City Gate was often the place where disputes were settled, people's rights were upheld, and justice was dispensed; and that context is not irrelevant to the work that some Hope staff find themselves engaged in, within the Gateway Building.

Sylvie Steward - a long-serving member of Hope staff who is also a former student of the University - originally proposed the name, which was finally chosen in response to a general invitation from the Vice-Chancellor.  On submitting her proposal, Mrs. Steward wrote that, to her, gateways not only represented physical doorways and entrances, but people too; and she recalled:

 "four wonderful, inspirational ‘gatekeepers', who have shown me the way by giving me the support and confidence needed to walk through the door that I was facing at the time."

The hope expressed by Sylvie Steward, and shared by all of her colleagues,was that those members of the Hope community working in the building would offer similar support and inspiration to all students. And, the Gateway to Hope Building does indeed provide wonderful opportunities for the living-out of Hope's mission. The 50 staff who work within it have a key role as front-line ambassadors for the University. They can, and invariably do exemplify the mission and values of Hope in their interactions with students, visitors, and colleagues. The secular world speaks of customer service, but Hope's approach is clearly grounded within the context of its mission, and in its related servant-leadership model.

Taken from ‘A Brighter Hope', Liverpool Hope University Press, 2009