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| Fri 12th March | |||
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In this section...
Your JCR Welfare and Equal Opportunites team
Welfare in DowningIntroductionWelfare covers any aspect of your life that contributes to your happiness, which essentially means that the welfare team should get involved in trying to solve any college affair that is giving you problems. Our aim is to take a preventative stance and make the College a supportive and nurturing environment so that fewer issues arise in the first place. One of the key ways to do this is to tell people what is available. Awareness is a central concept to welfare, both for people to know themselves and to know others. There are vast resources available to make our lives better; knowing they are there is the first step. The Welfare Officer and Men's and Women's Reps, all have at hand a lot of information about where to find the sort of help you are looking for and there is a link to a Welfare poster above; please get yourself a copy for easy reference. Of course, the next step is to use these resources. This is harder than might be imagined. There is no line to show those who need a little help from those who don’t. You don’t have to be 65% depressed before you should talk to someone. We all have different tolerances for stresses on body, mind and soul. We all have a right to help. It is available, so use it. (Use it early as well. If something worries you, ask someone sooner. It cuts out the pain in the middle when things are only getting worse.) The more information is open and available, the more it will hopefully be talked about and discussed. Then finally some of the silly hang-ups will go. The welfare system is not to be feared or its users ostracized. Your Welfare OfficersLauren Juster Free pregnancy tests: Email me, or use the Listening Ear service, and a free pregnancy test will be placed in your pigeonhole in an envelope. This service is completely confidential. Free rape alarms: Again, drop me an email if you would like a free rape alarm and I will place one in your pigeonhole. Alternatively, come to P Cellar during the Welfare drop-in sessions and pick one up in person. Free chlamydia tests: Send me an email if you would like a chlamydia test. They will be placed in your pigeonhole, with instructions, in an envelope. People tend to underestimate just how widespread chlamydia has become. If left too long, it can cause joint inflammation, abdominal pains and infertility. Chlamydia has few symptoms and official surveys suggest that if you are under 25 and sexually active - regardless if you have used the correct contraception – you should think about getting tested. The other part of my role is ensuring that female students are having equal opportunities. I am here to address any discrimination, harassment or representation issues which may arise during your time at Cambridge. If you do feel you are having any of these problems, please do not hesitate to contact me via email, or come along to one of the drop-in sessions and discuss the problem. I receive training from the CUSU Welfare Team which is designed to help me, help you. I will keep you posted on the happenings of the Cambridge University Women's Union. CUWU is a place where all other college women's officers meet if anyone has any issues they would like me to have added to the agenda, drop me an email and I will do my best to make your voice heardTom Leather Besides this, I also organise social events such as formal swaps throughout the year, which can be a great way to get to know other LBGT students in and out of college. I send out details of these events via the LBGT mailing list. If you would like to be added, just send me an email to let me know. Finally, I also work to raise awareness of sexuality and related issues in college, and to try and combat homophobia. Anyone with issues or questions relating to this should feel free to come to me. Welfare ProvisionWomen's drop-in session: Sundays, 4-5pm Our Plan of ActionThe results of the JCR survey will soon be known, and the welfare team aim to target the important issues of room allocation, security inside the college and around college accommodation, and campaigning for Parker’s Piece to be a safer environment with better lighting. We are also planning activities such as a First Aid Course and Self-Defence, as well as making arrangements for exam term and planning fun activities so that people have a break from revision. We will be working alongside welfare officers of other colleges and running CUSU campaigns to target specific physical and mental health issues, as well as publicising the provisions made for welfare by the university. In the meantime what happens if you have a problem? The Welfare Officer, Men’s Officer and Women’s Reps are all available, not to mention the Nurse, tutors, Chaplain and so forth. However, it should be remembered that however willing these officers are, their expertise is limited. They will help in whatever ways they can, but may have to advise you as to better sources of support such as College Nurse, Tutors, University Counselling service, Chaplain or whatever. Things to RememberFirst life at Cambridge comes at a cost. It can be the best time of your life but is also very draining. Most people need to find a way to cope with the fast pace of life here for the full 9 or so weeks. As a general rule this will involve taking some time for yourself every day. Music, Sport, outdoors time, quiet reflection seems to do the trick. Don’t regard it as time spent not working, but as time spent on yourself: time you deserve. It is no good getting the essay in on time only to collapse or get ill for two weeks and missing many more. It may sound odd, or obvious, but it is hard to realize sometimes when you’re in the thick of it and a supervisor is breathing down your neck. Second, Cambridge is sadly often a result-orientated place. Don’t let your grade, or your desire for it, define who you are. There are very few professions in the world that want people with no personalities but excellent staying power in a library. Don’t confuse having degree with having a life. A very useful website is run by CUSU and is recommended for information on welfare: www.cusu.cam.ac.uk/support/welfare. If you still have any questions, ask a member of the Welfare Committee. We will do whatever we can to help. There will be more links up here soon too. Should you want anything else up here, contact the Welfare Officer. Sexual Health Advice Centre http://www.addenbrookes.org.uk/shac/ Student Health http://www.studenthealth.co.uk/ Mental Health http://mindout.clarity.uk.net/ Drugs advice BBC Beeline 01223 333179 Confidential information and support from fully-trained male and female volunteers:
Saturdays and Sundays 3-5pm in term
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