Buddy Scheme  Guidance for students on the Buddy Scheme

Once we’ve found you a match, you’ll receive a ‘meet your buddy’ email. This email will have the contact details of your match, including their University of Leeds email address. 

You will also be able to chat with your buddy in real time through the chat function on SUMAC, the portal we use to manage the scheme. Log in to the member portal and view your live partnerships. Once you are viewing your partnership screen, you’ll be able to use the chat feature.

Remember there’s no rule on who should make the first contact. Be proactive and contact your buddy match as soon as you can to introduce yourself and start your buddy partnership.

It’s up to you and your buddy to decide what to do with your buddy. In your ‘meet your buddy’ email, you’ll find a ‘do it together’ resource pack which has lots of ideas about activities to try and join together, including our weekly Global Café. You might decide to meet for a coffee, go for a walk around Hyde Park, explore a new area of Leeds or study together.  

The great thing about the Buddy Scheme is that it is very informal and you can go to events with your buddy, meet up for lunch or just hang out. Just make sure you and your buddy have discussed what you feel comfortable with when meeting up. Why not meet in a public place on campus for coffee or come to one of our Buddy Scheme events together? 

Read the meet people and get involved page for more ideas of activities you can do together.

Our Buddy benches on campus are a great place to meet your buddy for a coffee, between lectures or for lunch. You can connect, discuss your mutual interests and plan an activity together.

We have three Buddy benches: by the Roger Stevens building, near Stage@Leeds and in Beech Grove Plaza by the “Sign for Art”, also known as the ‘wavy bacon statue’.

If you visit one of the benches, tag @uol_welcome on social media with the hashtag #UoLBuddyScheme.

Buddying is a two-way process which means that both of you will have to work at making the relationship a success. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out of the experience.

Buddying is a relationship built on trust, openness, honesty and mutual respect.

A good buddy is someone who is:  

• approachable and supportive  
• able to share experiences 
• proactive about their own development 
• self-aware, non-judgmental and objective.  

An effective buddy will:  

• be motivated and willing to commit the time and effort to the relationship 
• explore the purpose of the buddy relationship and what each person needs from the relationship
• be open to new ideas and approaches 
• build rapport and create a safe space to share issues or challenges, hopes and successes 
• explore activities and options that will help buddies to move forward.  

SUMAC is the online platform that we use to manage the Buddy Scheme. You can log in at any time to review and update your member profile. To do this:

• click the ‘sign in’ button on SUMAC
• click the ‘forgotten your password’ link
• set your own secure password
• log in to view and edit your profile.

If you would like to be matched with a new buddy as you feel you have nothing in common with your buddy or feel you are not being supported in the way you expected, please email the Buddy Scheme at buddyscheme@leeds.ac.uk. We will try to resolve the situation and see what we can do to make your experience better. Please be open with your buddy and tell them how you feel.

If your buddy isn’t replying to you, we encourage you to contact them for one final time and have an open conversation with them, tell them how you feel and ask them to confirm if they would like to continue the buddy relationship. Set a deadline for them to respond by.

If you have contacted your buddy and still haven’t heard anything back, please email the Buddy Scheme at buddyscheme@leeds.ac.uk. We can re-match you with a new buddy.

You can be matched with more than one buddy. Please email the Buddy Scheme at buddyscheme@leeds.ac.uk so we can update your profile and match you with another buddy. 

Please complete the Buddy Scheme leavers form to formally withdraw from the Buddy Scheme.  

It is absolutely fine to leave the scheme – please let your buddy know about your decision too. We’ll also contact them to let them know you’re no longer part of the scheme and match them with someone else.