Southend By Day

As a key centre of the Thames Gateway, Southend is a town alive with opportunity and potential. With seven miles of award-winning beaches, high cultural activities and a lower cost of living than London, Southend is the ideal place to live, work and study.

A shopper’s paradise

Our location beside the busy High Street means you’re not far from shops and services in your lunch hour or after classes; many stores offer student discounts. If you jump on the train, London shopping is less than an hour away as are two of the biggest shopping centres in Europe – Lakeside and Bluewater.

Sport and Leisure

A full range of sports and leisure facilities are available throughout the borough. Southend United football ground is near the Campus, and Essex County Cricket Club play at nearby Garons Park. Windsurfing, sailing and kite boarding are all popular local pastimes and speedboat racing and a sailing regatta take place each year.

Art

There’s a strong community of artists and regular art shows and exhibitions in the town. Leigh Art Trail, The Beecroft and Focal Point Galleries offer a diverse range of photographic and art exhibitions with regular visits from international artists.

Theatre

Southend’s major theatres – the Cliffs Pavilion and Palace Theatre – attract West End touring productions, international classical concerts, ballet and opera, drama, jazz, and the biggest names in comedy.

Music

Southend is host to a thriving alternative music scene bursting with home-grown talent (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, The Horrors) as well as attracting the likes of Oasis, Pearl Jam, Charlatans and Blur. A variety of venues ensures a selection of live music for all tastes.

Southend Media & Creative Arts Festival

The College’s very own Media & Creative Arts Festival spans the whole of June and provides culture vultures with plenty to get their teeth into. The Leigh Folk Festival now attracts world renowned artists and Rochford’s Shoplands Music Festival provides a stage for the crème de la crème of local musicians.

V Festival

Just 23 miles from Central Southend is Chelmsford’s Hylands House, a spectacular Grade II listed property situated within 574 acres of historic landscaped parkland. Every August, Hylands Park hosts the V Festival, one of the biggest music festival in Europe, if not the world. Previous line-ups have included Coldplay, Foo Fighters, The Killers and Radiohead. Not to miss!

Comedy

Southend is proven fertile funny breeding ground with the likes of Phil Jupitus and Lee Evans both hailing from the area. Fans of live comedy can expect belly laughs every month at the Comedy Club Southend in Chalkwell Park and the biggest names always include Southend on their tour including Jimmy Carr, Alan Carr and Mighty Boosh.

A cycle friendly town

Southend is set to become one of Britain's top cycling demonstration towns. This Government investment, which will be match-funded up to £6.4 million by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and a number of its partners up to 2010/11, will transform cycling facilities throughout the borough. By 2010-11 using a bike in Southend will be routine. Cyclists and pedestrians will happily co-exist as they do elsewhere in some European towns and cities.

Parks, gardens and history

Southend is lavished with many award-winning parks and gardens, offering everything from wonderful estuary views, beautiful floral displays, riding stables and trotting track woodland. The town is also steeped in history, with an ancient Priory and churches mentioned in the Domesday Book.