Tag Archives: Front-Page

TEDxDurhamUniversity

8th March 2020Front-Page, NewsCollege, Durham, Front-Page, NewsVictoria Brown

On the 7th March, St. Chad’s hosted the annual TEDxDurhamUniversity conference. The theme this year was “Make Your Mark” and featured a series of inspirational speakers and fantastic performances.

TEDxDurhamUniversity is a student run society which bring together bright minds in order to give and listen to “ideas worth spreading”. The aim of this year’s conference was to inspire students at Durham University to bring new ideas and innovations to all areas of their lives.

The speakers of this year’s event were a mixture of students and international figures: Sarah Mardini; Matt Unerman; Malin Anderson; Sarah De Carvalho; Gladys Kyotungire; Ediri Omonoseh and Adrian Bradshaw. Between them their experiences range from work in international development, humanitarian campaigns, climate change activism, the military and more. Each speaker brought their personal experiences to the TEDx stage in order to share advice, motivate and inspire students to follow in their footsteps, making their mark on the communities and world around them. The conference also featured a number of performances, including music, poetry and magic.

A number of St. Chad’s students were able to attend the event and we hope that all the students from St. Chad’s and the wider university community enjoyed the day and feel inspired to make their mark. If you were unable to attend the event, the talks will soon be uploaded to the TEDx YouTube page for everyone to watch.

St Chad’s College Charity Fashion Show

25th June 2019Front-Page, NewsFront-PageVictoria Brown

St Chad’s College Charity Fashion Show

St Chad’s College Charity Fashion Show last week was a huge success, raising over £7000 for Bright Red. Bright Red is a North East based charity that works with blood cancer patients to improve their lives and treatment through care, research and education. Illnesses such as leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma, myelodysplasia and myeloproliferative diseases are life changing, but this years charity fashion show aims to support this charity in making the North East a safe place to be treated.

The designers showcased this year included Mei-Po, a fashion knitwear graduate from Nottingham Trent University. Her collection concept idea is based around technology, incorporating the idea of robotics whilst thinking towards a more utopian futuristic element side – hence the name Futurology. Since graduating in 2017, her collection has been shown at the Glasgow University Charity Fashion Show and the St Andrews University Charity Fashion Show.

SCCCFS also collaborated with Ella Bella Gifts, bow ties created by Durham University Student Ella Ramsden, Demoo jeans, & Other Stories, Lucy Leybourne Designs, Wire Your Days, Oliver Spencer and more. Sponsors included Sipsmith, Whitworths, Cook, Bounce UK, Emily Crisps and a whole host of other yummy treats.

Congratulations to the co-presidents Hannah Welsh and Lara Whitmore, the rest of the executive committee and all of the models for their hard work and dedication over the past year, for putting on an incredible show and for raising such a huge amount of money.

‘Is Voluntourism Ethical?’

6th March 2019College, Front-Page, NewsFront-PageVictoria Brown

On Monday evening, as part of our ‘Perspectives’ lecture series, Chad’s was delighted to invite DUCK and COCO Charity as well as students from all over the university and members of the public to discuss the topic ‘Is Voluntourism Ethical?’

Many people venture all over the world to volunteer and this can provide much-needed support to communities. But can this also result in a debilitating reliance? Is it sometimes even damaging? Should we be travelling abroad when we could be volunteering locally instead? Will the help last a lifetime or is it a temporary fix?

It was fantastic to see so many people engage and collaborate in exploring such thought provoking questions and thank you to all the speakers for attending.

Celebrating Chad’s Women at the Ladies’ and Friends’ Formal

27th February 2019Alumni, Archives, Front-Page, NewsFront-PageVictoria Brown

Last night at ‘Ladies’ and Friends’ formal’ we marked 30 years since women were first admitted as students to St Chads. Thank you to our guest of honour, Chad’s alumna Sherin Gerami (who is the first woman to be permitted to represent Iran in the Triathlon) for such a motivational talk. Your work is so inspirational and really encompasses our Chad’s ethos.

Dr Margaret Masson, our (first female) Principal, gave a brief account of the history of women being admitted in 1988. She also paid tribute to the many female members of staff who have enabled the College to run from day-to-day since its founding in 1904 and expressed our gratitude to current female members of staff – Vicki, Linda, Catherine and Lesley – who were guests at the formal. At the end of the meal, Julia Atherley, co-chair of Chad’s FemSoc invited guests to contribute to ‘A Way Out’, an outreach and prevention charity which aims to engage, empower and equip vulnerable and excluded women, families and young people to live lives free from harm, abuse and exploitation and to reduce life limiting choices and behaviour. We hope that everyone attending the formal had a great time celebrating the ladies and friends of St Chad’s…

JCR exec husts

18th February 2019Front-Page, NewsFront-PageVictoria Brown

The JCR exec husts are well under way now. Congratulations to everyone who has run for a position; as always in Chad’s, this year’s candidates have been very strong and the husts have been a pleasure to watch, with many thought provoking topics being discussed. With each new post elected, it’s exciting to see the new executive committee gradually emerging, and getting ready to lead their JCR through the next year. During these times of change it’s reassuring to see Chad’s students come together, to strive towards their goals and to embrace this dynamic environment.

Recently Elected Governors

23rd January 2019Front-Page, NewsFront-Page, NewsVictoria Brown

The Governing Body of St Chad’s College has three new members:

John Marshall – Bishop of Newcastle’s nominee
Alex McCallion – Archbishop of York’s nominee
Jane Macnaughton – University Representative

Check out their photos and profiles (together with all the other governors) on the Governing Body page

Chad’s Christmas Panto

9th December 2018Front-PageFront-PageVictoria Brown

Chad’s is well and truly in the Christmas spirit and what better way to kick off the festive season than with the pantomime. Completely student led, each year the pantomime showcases the wonders of Chad’s and its exec. Congratulations to the cast who put on such a fantastic show on Friday night and had everyone in the Quad crying with laughter.

Bishop David Stancliffe

3rd December 2018Front-Page, NewsFront-Page, NewsVictoria Brown

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.

Postgraduate formal and MCR research forum

1st December 2018Front-PageFront-PageVictoria Brown

It was so great to see so many postgraduates at Thursday’s formal. Here at Chad’s we aim to celebrate every common room and what better way to do that than with some delicious food and wonderful company. At this time of year it is easy to get wrapped up in work but it was lovely to see so many 4th years and postgraduates, as well as guests, enjoying the evening.

The formal followed the MCR research forum. This week’s presentations were on two interesting topics: Claire Cooper spoke about nature based solutions to urban resilience and Matt Shahin Richardson discussed his research on the way Islamic State has used Twitter. Thank you to both for delivering such interesting topics, and for everyone who attended and asked such excellent questions.

Novice Cup

27th November 2018College, Front-Page, SportFront-Page, NewsVictoria Brown

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.