Category Archives: College

St Chad’s Syrian Refugee Outreach Project

Front-Page, News, Outreach

As part of a small St. Chad’s outreach project, each week, a small group of St. Chad’s students venture out to the nearby town of Chester-le-street on an evening to help a family of Syrian refugees with their English language skills. I am incredibly glad to say I am one of those students. We open the gate and walk up the path of a semi-detached house. We are always greeted with smiling faces. This is the home of Muhammad, Amna, who are parents to Ahmad (22), Salah (18) and Rania (17).

But this has not always been home. Over notes about pronunciation, Amna tells me of her childhood in Syria, how she met Muhammad (above) and how they got married. When the conflict worsened in Syria, the family moved to Jordan. Ahmad (below, right) shows me some of his writing: a letter to a friend back in Jordan, telling them of his new home in the UK. Muhammad and Ahmad were once manual labourers in Jordan.

Now, their days are filled with Muhammad volunteering at the local Re-f-use Cafe and Ahmad working in catering at the University. Salah tells me of his school days in Syria, explaining how much he prefers his lessons at Durham New College. ‘The teachers respect you as a student,’ he states. Rania has recently been moved into the top set for her classes, Amna tells me with a beaming smile. Amna (below) enjoys cooking, and often brings out home bakes made from middle-eastern recipes, which are always very sweet, and always very delicious.

The family are all so keen to learn. They bounce off each other, we all laugh, over mispronunciations, the complexities of tenses, cognates, and when to use ‘those’, ‘these’, ‘that’, and ‘this’.

Being an hour or two and plenty cups of middle-eastern tea, these evenings are always modest, simple and heartwarming. The family are always so grateful. St. Chad’s engages in several ongoing outreach and volunteering projects throughout the academic year; one of which takes us as far as South Africa. With the current, uncertain political and international environment, this project brings a personal element to wider issues. And, for that reason, amongst many, it is incredibly rewarding and most certainly feels like Chad’s is making a difference as part of a bigger picture.

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!

Let’s talk about value: how universities create value for students, staff and society

Lectures, Talks & Sermons, Research News

St Chad’s College Lunchtime Lecture, Wednesday 30th January, 12.30 – 1.30 p.m.

Carol Adams, Professor of Accounting in Durham University Business School, will consider the appropriateness of measures of university performance.  Her talk will be based upon her recent report: ‘Let’s Talk Value: How Universities create value for students, staff and society’.  In her lecture, Carol will ask what universities create for society and how that can be better communicated.

Professor  Adams is an expert in integrated reporting, social and environmental accounting, sustainability reporting and developing strategy to address sustainable development.  She is founding editor of the Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal and writes on her website at www.drcaroladams.net.

Carol has been involved in various global corporate reporting initiatives and is currently a member of the ACCA’s Global Forum on Sustainability, the ICAS Sustainability Panel, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board’s Technical Working Group and she is Chair of the Stakeholder Council of the Global Reporting Initiative.

She was a member of the Capitals Technical Collaboration Group for the International Integrated Reporting Council. She has also served as a Director and Council Member of AccountAbility and was involved in the development of the first AA1000 Framework.

Carol is an experienced non-executive director and consults to multinational corporations and other organisations on corporate reporting and integrating sustainability into business practices. She has led the development of internationally award winning management and governance processes and sustainability reports

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.

Novice Cup

College, Front-Page, Sport,

This weekend brought Durham’s annual Novice Cup, in which all college novices compete for the winning title. On the first day, crews have a time trial of 800m on the racecourse with a 360 degree spin in the middle. On the second day, depending on their time, crews are pitched against another in a head race. The weekend saw over 40 crews race with one another. It was a weekend full of splashes, crabs, some broken boats, but, mostly, team spirit. It is events like these which truly reflect the teamwork and effort contributed by not only crew members, but also coaches, the Boat Club exec, and beyond. It’s an opportunity for Chad’s ethos to be represented, it shows all members of the Boat Club, regardless of experience, pulling together to ensure a rewarding weekend was had by all.

Chad’s was lucky enough to have three excellent times, with the novice men’s crew finishing 4th, and the women’s crews finishing 15th and 34th respectively. It’s been a great weekend for St Chad’s College and our Boat Club. It’s fantastic that the novices get the chance to participate in this event so early into the academic year; and so early into their rowing careers! What’s also so rewarding about the weekend is seeing how far last year’s novices have progressed: now senior crews are focusing on WeHORR and HORR, both 8 kilometre head races in March which will take us down to the Thames. Who knows where the novices will be this time next year; a huge well done to all involved.

St Chad’s – volunteering in South Africa

Outreach, South Africa,

What’s more terrifying? A cheetah 5 meters away from you or teaching 50 13 year olds? We ponder this whilst we recover from leading a 3 hour maths lesson at 8am on a Saturday morning. (Yes, 8am lectures, one thing Keiskammahoek and Durham University now have in common). But our time in South Africa did not begin here.

As three students, weary from a 10 and half hour flight, stumbled out of Port Elizabeth airport they were met by a knight in shining armour, Tim Bernard. Tim is a grizzled veteran of the South African education system (though he is not yet 51, Happy Birthday for Tuesday Tim!) and he would be our primary life support as we found our feet in South Africa. One could say we had a gentle start, braais, beaches and bitches (shout out to Molly, Tim’s dog). Tim and his wife Michelle gave a great insight into both the history and culture surrounding South Africa and the expectations upon us on the classroom.

By Sunday we were back in a small town dominated by a large Church and a university, yes we were back in Durham or something quite like it – Grahamstown (soon to be renamed Makanda – locals are joking that the government wanted to tie the town to Wakanda of the Black Panther films).

The first job was to learn isiXhosa. We bet you pronounced that wrong, we are still learning to perform an ‘aspirated lateral click’ to give but one example.

Wednesday and Thursday mornings saw our first taste of teaching. We observed some incredible teachers who showed us how it could be done, but our first attempts were perhaps less than inspiring, Ermos forgot what a verb was, Andy let a cow loose in his classroom and Sarina somehow lost the number between 7 and 9 – I would ‘eight to be her.

Fortunately, Tim’s son Eric took pity on us and rewarded our efforts with a game drive. This is where the cheetah became involved, we got a once in a lifetime opportunity to be next to a cheetah and him not want to bite our heads off, thanks to Steve the Wildebeest for taking one for the team.

After that it was time to go to St Matthew’s, where we will be spending the remaining 6 weeks volunteering. The drive here was rather uneventful, for once, no pedestrians were in danger from Andy’s driving, no passengers were in danger from Ermos’ and no driveways were in danger from Sarina’s driving.

Having met the staff and already started teaching here we are all incredibly excited for what the next 6 weeks will bring. Not missing you guys at all, for the final time Mum, I’m fine! (from Ermos)