Taking a deep breath after an unprecedented (we hope!) start to the new academic year, Aidan’s is proud of the way staff and students have worked together to sustain a sense of community. We all hope that our alumni are safe and well and plan to reach out to you via Zoom in early December. The pandemic raises crucial questions about the role of Universities, modes and models of learning and the Future of Work, all of which will be explored in our virtual seminar series this year. We will advertise many of these to our alumni and wider public and hope you will take part in the discussions.
This will be the JCR’s first year as a registered charity. Formerly a ‘Durham Student Organisation’, following a referendum we have gone independent! We believe there is much to benefit from by doing so and joining a number of JCRs across Durham which had already taken this path.
We are currently in an awkward transitional stage where the charity ‘St Aidan’s JCR CIO’ has been registered and is being overseen by a board of Trustees, but we have not yet completed the process fully.
So far, it has presented St Aidan’s students with an amazing opportunity to sit alongside experienced professionals from a variety of relevant sectors on the new trustee board and be involved with governing the new charity.
We are very excited about what additional opportunities this move could bring for the wider Aidan’s community. If you are interested in our new charity or have any questions, please get in touch at pfo@st-aidans.com
The JCR Welfare Team have been working hard so far this term. After a successful Freshers week, with twice daily Welfare drop-ins giving peer-to-peer support to the Freshers, we have continued into term with great momentum. We have daily Welfare Hours run by fully trained student volunteers where we offer active listening and signposting support over Zoom. This means anyone who is having a bad day or week, is worried or concerned, needs someone to chat to or needs some help always has someone to turn to. This support is indispensable and means that every student can talk to a fellow student who has both been through the transition from school to uni, is similar in age and uni experience but also has professional training and really wants to support them.
What’s more, the Welfare Team run 8 annual Awareness Campaigns in issues that are relevant to uni students. The latest week was our Black Asian and Minority Ethnic Awareness Week run by our BAME Rep Nada Ali. We had anti-racism workshops, a quiz, a movie night, Black History videos and social media posts to educate, celebrate and commemorate. Our next week will be Sexual Health and Guidance week run by our Assistant Welfare Officer Govind Nair. We will have consent workshops and educate on sexual health and getting tested with mythbusters and fun events!
Check out our Facebook Page (St Aidan’s College Welfare) to see it all!
JCR Senior Welfare Officer, Jo Welsh
St Aidan’s for Refugees is a student initiative, set up to fundraise for displaced people worldwide. Initially motivated by the devastation from fires in Moria, in which over 12,000 refugees and asylum seekers lost many, if not all, of their possessions, as well as their shelter, the first charity fundraiser run under the guise of St Aidan’s for Refugees raised money for Choose Love. Choose Love oversees projects in Europe, the Middle East, and the US-Mexico border. Currently, a significant fraction of their funds goes towards providing vital aid for displaced people in Moria.
St Aidan’s for Refugees also wishes to raise awareness for refugee crises occurring on a global scale, to bring people closer to those who need our support most, in a way that is informative, and motivates individuals to act. You can find out more through our @aidans4refugees Instagram page.
The initiative works closely with other projects and organisations on a local scale: we regularly collaborate with Care4Calais, by promoting their projects and content, and have connections to Durham STAR, and St Aidan’s Intersectional Feminism Society.
Tyla Danskin
The SCR has moved online for the early part of term, including talks, seminars, drop-in virtual coffee breaks and film nights. The new executive are really interested in communicating with PG alumni, via Discord (social media, but ignore the name, it is a site of peace and love). Just contact us via the website if you’d like to take part. Katie Brun on behalf of the SCR Exec.