Category Archives: News

Burns Night Formal

Front-Page, News

Burns Night Formal last Thursday was fantastic! Freddie Bearn began the evening by piping in the guests, and Alex Milne gave a wonderful rendition of ‘To a Haggis’ and subsequently the meal began. The Catering Team did a marvellous job; the haggis and whisky gravy were delicious.

Once the meal had finished, Richard Penney delivered an excellent Toast to the Lassies and a witty retort was made by Isobel Clarke in her Toast to the Laddies!

Burns Night was a great opportunity for everyone to join in the evening’s jollities and to display their best tartan gear.  Mention must go to Sean Gallagher Gill who managed to sprout a bob of red hair for the evening.

The night finished with a jolly Ceilidh which was enjoyed by all!

 

St Chad’s Advent Procession

Choir, News

On Sunday Chadsians, family and friends all gathered to watch St Chad’s annual Advent Procession in the dim glow of a candlelit Durham Cathedral. The darkening of the Cathedral along with the procession of twinkling robes and a veil of incense created a very magical atmosphere. The Advent Procession is one of the most beautiful and reflective services of the year!

The St Chad’s Choir and soloists sang beautifully. The procession advanced towards the choir to ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ in celebration and anticipation of the arrival of Jesus Christ, the light of the world. As the clergy approached the choir, candles, held by current Chadians, were lit down the aisle, alongside the congregation representing the journey of the second coming of Christ.

Thank you Tristan, David Rushton, and organists James, Matthew and Peter for bringing the evening together. The evening ended with tea and canapés in St Chad’s dining hall.

 

 

 

 

 

Vestra Vox Concert

Music, News

An awesome £231.02 was raised at the Vestra Vox concert in Chad’s Quad last week! The money was raised in aid of finding treatment, hospice care and family support for Spinal Muscular Atrophy sufferers in the UK. SMA is a disease that robs people of physical strength. often taking away the ability to walk, eat, or breathe. It is the number one genetic cause of death for infants and 1 in 40 carry the gene that causes the condition! Due to the fact it is relatively common, it is a charity which many hold close to their heart, thus it was such a success that we were able to raise such a considerable amount of money at the concert!

Attendees had a fab night especially those who won the blackberry gin liquor gift set which was kindly donated by Durham Distillery!  Early birds certainly caught the worm as Q-Jump Wristbands for Klute were given out to those who arrived promptly.

The line up included Velvet Riverside, Autofluorescence, Man like AB and Chad’s band, Halcyon. Halcyon played a mix of originals and covers and had the crowd raise the roof to ‘She’s So Lovely’, ‘Boys That Sing’ and ‘Naive’.

Well done to Matthew Prudham our Music Rep, and thanks to Van Mildert for tech support and all Chad’s volunteers!

Bishop David Stancliffe

Front-Page, News,

On Friday, St Andrew’s Day, David Stancliffe, St Chad’s Fellow (and former Bishop of Salisbury) celebrated the 50th anniversary of his priesting, and the 25th of his being ordained bishop. David  presided at a Eucharist at the shrine of St Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral. A number of Chadsians (including our chaplain, David Rushton) were delighted to share the occasion.

Domus Dinner 2018

College, Front-Page, News

It was wonderful to see some of our donors, supporters and partners at our Domus Dinner on Saturday 17th March. Thank you and congratulations to all  who made it through the snow.

The Domus Dinner was an opportunity for the College to thank some of our and to hear from the Principal, Dr Margaret Masson, on all that has been going on in College including Intern: North East, the AIM project in collaboration with Park View School, the ongoing fundraising and scholarship projects, and the success of the kitchen, boathouse and other building work.

The event consisted of a drinks reception, followed by dinner in the quad. Many thanks go to the Bailey Quartet for their wonderful music during the drinks reception. After dinner we heard from Dr Masson before the bar was opened for the evening.

We were pleased to be joined by some of the research group who work out of the College on questions of social and economic policy affecting the North East. Dr Masson also took the opportunity to thank our partners at Park View School, and from the North East businesses who are participating in our new Intern: North East programme.

MCR Update March 2018

College, News

 

In recent weeks our MCR have hosted a variety of events including an Inter-MCR Formal, Welfare Walks, a Welfare Cafe Trip and an Ayyám-i-Há celebration combined with a charity fundraiser.

On Wednesday 28th February Chadsian Matthew Shanin held an Ayyám-i-Há celebration in St Chad’s. The event was organised by the Durham University Multi-Faith Society, and included food, a viewing of the film Persepolis, and information on Ayyám-i-Há. During the event money was raised for Durham Action on Single Housing, a particularly pertinent charity given the current weather.

Other recent MCR events have included the Inter-MCR formal on Tuesday 26th February. This was an event open to MCR members from any college, was Great Gatsby themed, and included a performance from the University Big Band. The formal allowed for cross-college integration, and a wonderful evening of entertainment.

 

Meanwhile the MCR Welfare team  have been busy keeping everyone’s spirits up with weekend activities. The walks haven’t always ended up exactly where they meant to, but all in all Welfare seems to be going well, and at least everyone can manage to find Durham’s cafes!

 

Reading Allowed (or the Chad’s Dead Poets’ Society)

Front-Page, News, Uncategorised

Reading Allowed had its first meeting this Saturday past.  Around 15 people came, many to share, some just to listen. We squeezed into a snug little room in Grad’s building. This, alongside the hot drinks and dim lamplight, added to the cosiness. We kicked off with a short children’s story about arrogant raindrops. Reading passed anticlockwise around the circle; with teas, hot chocolates and coffees frantically assembled in the intervening spaces. We had a huge variety of pieces: from Hungarian poetry to Silmarillion to Plath to two people’s own work to a passage on fecal analysis from a non-fiction book on wolves. We have no particular limitations on what can be read; speeches and song lyrics being examples of other writing people may share in the future.

There are currently around 26 people on the chat where we organise the meetings. As it is open-invite, more people are slowly trickling in as their friends recommend it. Overall it was a sort of gender-diverse Dead Poets’ Society; something that we didn’t realise until we actually started. There is another one planned this Saturday, hopefully then continuing every other week.

P.S. Much as we love a pun, we’re hoping that a quote will be shared at some point that makes for an even more fitting name.

Robbie Bell