Hi everyone,

I know that this is very short notice, but I wanted to make everyone aware that tomorrow I have a meeting with Student Support.

Some of you might be aware of the 'Diary of a Depressed Student' blog which a student has been writing recently. The blog is extremely powerful, and has given not only the student concerned, but other students, a place to express some of their experiences regarding mental health in general, and also some concerns with the support available.

I have met with this student, and have managed to arrange a meeting for us both to see Student Support tomorrow. Warwick has some really great support services available, but if you have had a bad experience, I'm writing to ask that you would please get in touch and let me know, so that we can try and work to improve things here.

It is so so important that we strive to improve these services, and help more people, so please do get in touch if you feel comfortable doing so. As I've said, I'm aware that the notice is very short - but let me make it clear that there is no time limit on your opinions- if you want to say something, but you don't see this in time, or you aren't ready yet, please still get in touch, and I will make sure I arrange another meeting.

As it is of a sensitive nature, I am not going to allow comments on this blog - but please please, if you have any thoughts at all, or have questions of any kind, email me at welfare@warwicksu.com - of course anything you bring to me, will be kept in confidence.

Thank you

Ben

Hey everyone!

So we are into Term 3, and all of a sudden it’s all dissertations, revision and exams!

Every year, to help students at this time of real concentrated academic pressure, we run the Feel Good campaign which aims to make sure that we all look after ourselves during times that can be particularly stressful.

This year we have broken it down into four ‘Feel Good Factors’, and we will be focusing on a different one each week. The first one is ‘Good Mental Health’, so do check out the Feel Good website for all the information, but here are three things I particularly want to draw to your attention:

1)       NHS Wellbeing course and Drop in Sessions:

The NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Service, are running a four week workshop series in SUHQ on Tuesdays at 1.30 for Weeks 1-4. It is based on managing stress, anxiety and low mood. This is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy lecture series that explores techniques on how to deal with and manage any difficulties – it is not group therapy and you would not be required to share any personal details.

The sign ups for this initially reached capacity, but we have managed to secure a bigger room now, and are able to reopen signups here for anyone who wants to. Whilst the first session has passed, this was more of an introductory lecture, and the course convenor says it wont be a problem to join from the second week.

If you feel you would like something more personal, the service will be running drop in sessions from Weeks 5-9, and will be able to give advice on the techniques on a one to one basis. These drops ins are open to anyone whether you have taken the lecture course or not and you will be able to book an appointment through our website in the next couple of weeks.

2)       We are here for you!

If you have any concerns about your personal wellbeing, about your workload, or about anything in general – the SU is here to help you. We can also put you in touch with some of the other services, so the SU is a good place to start if you are unsure – come and drop by SUHQ or get in touch by email:

The Advice Centre (2^nd floor of SUHQ) – advice@warwicksu.com

The Education Officer (2^nd floor of SUHQ) – education@warwicksu.com

The Welfare Officer (me) (2^nd floor of SUHQ) – welfare@warwicksu.com

There are loads of support services available at the University too – check this out for a full listing of where you can get help

3)       The MIND bus is on campus today

Drop in at any time to pick up information about wellbeing and good mental health, and to find out about the wide range of support that is available locally for you, your family, friends or colleagues.

MIND's friendly staff are hand to chat with throughout the day and they can also provide confidential advice in a private area within the bus.

You can also check out online advice on coping with the stress of exams at the MIND website

As ever, if you need anything, please do get in touch with me welfare@warwicksu.com

All the best!

Ben :)

Hey everyone!

I hope you have all had a fantastic Easter! Welcome back to all returning undergrads!

Ok, this is just a really quick one to update you on the bus situation. I know that there were a lot of problems in the first week of the holiday, and the first couple of days of this week with the buses being completely off schedule and then often arriving full up. As a result I wrote a post asking as many of you as possible to detail your exact complaints to us, so that we could compile evidence for discussions with Stagecoach.

Taking all of these complaints with help from the excellent Graham Hine (Transport Manager of the University), and Stagecoach therefore monitoring their bus services has meant Stagecoach have agreed to run several more buses a day during the peak times of rest of the Vacation periods (as you may have seen yesterday) – duplicating all of the peak time bus services to make sure that no bus is too full. The extra buses will be at least on the following buses (potentially more):

In the morning:

The bus that leaves the Crown at 0837

The bus that leaves the Crown at 0937

And in the evening from Campus to Leamington, the buses that depart the SU at:

1657 

1757 

1910 

2010 

Whilst I understand that there are now only a few days left on the Vacation schedule, I really hope this makes a difference for you now, but also, Stagecoach have said that additional peak time journeys will now be planned for the Vacation times for the year ahead.

Stagecoach will also continue to monitor their service and liaise with us over the week ahead, to ensure that the term time buses are running efficiently for you.

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to email us, and to Stagecoach for putting on the extra services - I really hope you feel the benefit of the extra services for the next few days and afterwards – and of course if you still are having trouble, just let me know.

All the best

Ben

Hi everyone!

I hope all of you lucky Undergrads are enjoying the holidays so far! 

This is just a quick note to anyone who is still about on campus. Whether you are a Postgrad, have a job, or are just here to keep studying - you will have noticed if you live in Leam, that the buses have gone onto Vacation times recently, and it has been a bit of a joke...

Frankly, the service has not been good at all over this past week - and a lot of people have been put out by it. Services have not been sticking to their schedules, and buses have often been too full.

If you have had a bad experience of the buses recently, particularly with regard to the last week - please don't just tell your friends and put it up on Facebook and then leave it, but let us and the University know about it officially so we can pass on stuff directly to the company. 

Its dead easy - just drop a quick email to Graham Hine, Transport Manager at the University - G.Hine@warwick.ac.uk, and you can copy me in at welfare@warwicksu.com - and let us know the time, location and the problem. If we all take just a couple of minutes to do this - we will be able to compile all the complaints and will have a much stronger case as we take them to the company. 

We always want to hear your experiences and do our best to help you if there is a problem. Graham, has also asked me to encourage you to get your complaints in to him so we can help you with them!

All the best, and have a great Easter!

Ben :)

This week, our Women's Officer Alys Cooke, Warwick Anti-Sexism Society, Warwick Women's Forum and countless other individuals, have come together to organise some incredible talks, debates and events as part of International Women's Week.

Events have included: a presentation on female genital mutilation, a talk on the No More Page 3 Campaign, Women's Self Defence, Women's Career Advice, talks on systemic gender imbalance in the workplace, and The Vagina Monologues, as well as much more.

There are loads of events still happening today and tomorrow - which you can check out full details here.

I would personally like to give a huge plug to Warwick Anti-Sexism Society's final performance of the aforementioned Vagina Monologues. There are still tickets available to see their Saturday performance in Leamington. It is a very good night - very funny and highly informative - a must watch! You can get tickets here.

So - today is actually International Women's Day itself - and there are so many reasons why it is important - but here are five particularly which I really feel we should remember. Sometimes we can forget just how much an imbalance really does exist:

1) 1 in 3 women (that’s over 1 billion worldwide) will at some point be the victim of violence

2) Women are underrepresented in politics - with just 20% of parliamentary seats worldwide - despite being 52% of the world population.

3) Women are disproportionately affected by conflict - over 80% of refugees are women and children. Further, women are often raped as part of the warfare - meaning constant fear and degradation looms for women, on top of the already existent conflict.

4) Women are more likely to suffer from poverty and lack of education - they are less likely to have opportunity for education in the poorest areas - meaning that 2/3 of illiterate adults are women

5) Even in modern developed economies - women are paid less than men for doing the same jobs.
 

You can check out the official website here for more details and resources, but as I said above, please do support the final couple of days events here at Warwick
 

Finally, I would also like to take the chance to commend CMD (Classical Modern Dance) for all their work with 'Pink Week' this week. They have been out in the Piazza and Leamington all week collecting money, in addition to running dance classes and nights - all to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, which affects nearly 50,000 women (and some men too). CMD have already raised over £1500 and are in the Piazza once again today - so please do go down and support them, you can donate here.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read, it has been an amazing week, with so many women giving up time and effort to making a difference - a huge well done to everyone.

Ben :)

We're down in the Atrium all day for Mental Health Awareness Day! Check out the event here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/566017563410628/?notif_t=plan_user_joined

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In association with Warwick Psych Soc, UMHAN, IAPT, Coventry Mind, Drinkaware, Mental Wealth UK and MindApples, Warwick Student Support and Warwick SU will be hosting a number of stalls and activities aimed at reducing stigma and promoting mental health and well-being:

Wellbeing Checks (all day)

EQHO Performance and Salsa Workshop (between 1:00pm - 2:00pm)

Coventry Mind's mobile wellbeing resource bus, Journey, will be parked on the Piazza and welcomes staff and students alike to find out more about the range of support that is available locally.

We are currently approaching one of the busiest and most stressful times in the University calendar. Many students are revising and preparing for exams and finals and, understandably, it can be hard to find the time to take care of your wellbeing!

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We’ve all heard that eating five fruit and vegetables a day is good for your physical health. Did you know that there’s a “5-a-day for mental health"? Following extensive research, the Foresight Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project identified 5 activities which promote mental wellbeing:

1: Connect… With the people around you. With family, friends and fellow students.

2: Be active… Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good.

3: Take notice… Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends.

4:Keep learning… Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Learn to play a musical instrument.

5: Give … Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in.

Before you say “I haven’t got the time”, consider that we all have the same number of hours in the day. Devoting time each day to activities which promote mental health and well-being can lead to improvements in:

- Your overall level of wellbeing
- Effective time management
- Meeting the demands of study and student life
- Your ability to fulfill your academic potential

It’s worth the investment!

Hi everyone,

Today there will be a free and confidential GUM Clinic to check for STIs, from 12-6 in the Meeting Rooms 4/5 in the SU. No appointment necessary.

For more information please email welfare@warwicksu.com

Ben 

One of the best things about Warwick in my opinion is the sense of community. When I visited Warwick for the first time, I had actually already accepted an offer from another University. However, something struck me about the campus that made me know that I wanted to be here. For me, contrary to popular opinion, the fact that the campus is conveniently removed from a city centre by a rickety bus journey, was actually a real plus! As my friend showed me around and talked me through all that went on here, it really showed that the societies and the sports and other student led activities on campus really flourished as a result of Warwick being semi isolated – and if I thought that was the case on one visit, how much more have I seen this over the last few years.

When you couple that with the fact that Warwick is a truly international University – a third of students coming from overseas, and look at the impact that that can have on the diversity of the student activities, you can see what a truly vibrant and enriching place Warwick is to be part of.

One World Week is a fantastic celebration of this. We are solidly into the week now and there have been some incredible events already – but I really want to encourage you – if you haven’t been to something yet, please take a few minutes and have a little explore – there really is something for everybody.

The thing I love about One World Week is how it provides an opportunity to celebrate and explore the different cultures, traditions and stories of all of our students here. We really are in such a privileged position to have the chance to sample such a rich diversity of experiences from all around the world, all on our very doorstep!

For me, looking at the Bread Oven menu and seeing the Cheese and Pickle Ploughmans alongside Greek Salad, Thai Prawns and Tandoori Chicken; or seeing performances ranging from Sword dancing to ukuleles to belly-dance; or such a range of issues debated in the Forum – sums it all up. We have had a few great days of One World Week 2013 already, and there still loads of great things planned over the next few.

I have been lucky enough to have had the chance to be very actively involved in the performance side of OWW over the past four years and I can’t wait to do it again at World Party this Saturday Night. If you haven’t got a ticket yet, I really would urge you to do so – it is undoubtedly one of the best events on the Warwick calendar with performances from Bollywood to Bulgarian, from Hip-hop to Hong Kong – and you can see me shimmying some serious Salsa!

There are also two days left of Forum with some really interesting talks and discussions, Middle East and Africa and Europe Days in the Atrium, sports, the final day of the food festival and of course an ACTUAL CARNIVAL on campus on Saturday evening before World Party.

Please do try and get along to something if you haven’t already! As I have already said, I think it is an amazing opportunity to experience other cultures and to see different people, societies and activities pulling together as community to make such a fantastic event.

For more details, check out the One World Week Website, and if you have any questions about how we support International Students or international experiences, please contact Silkie Cragg at societies@warwicksu.com.

All the best!

Ben :)

This term we had the most successful Housing Day ever, with 1000 of you coming and getting advice!

Now, many of you are in the process of, or have already sorted out your housing. Here are some quick answers to some of the questions you have been asking, so you have all you need for the next steps - whether you have signed or not!

If you need anything else - come to the Advice Centre in SUHQ - make an appointment on advice@warwicksu.com, or come and see me in my office, or email welfare@warwicksu.com

Have a good one!

Ben :)

Hey everyone!

Happy New Year from me – I hope you have a fantastic year ahead! Ok, so this is just a short one – but is really important.

One of my biggest priorities with this job was to increase Mental Health support and awareness on campus. I’m really pleased to say that after a lot of hard work last term, we have managed to arrange a four week NHS run ‘Academic Wellbeing’ Course – a lecture series, which looks at techniques to manage our stress, mood and anxiety.

It is not a group therapy, and you won’t be expected to share your problems with others – it looks at ways we can alter our lifestyles to make us feel better.

All the details about the course, where and when it is, and how to register your attendance are here:

http://www.warwicksu.com/advice/health/mentalhealth/iapt/

If you have any questions about this, or anything at relating to Mental Health please do get in touch with me at welfare@warwicksu.com

All the best

Ben :)