Student Diary: Volunteering in Sri Lanka

Student Volunteers Leaving NTU For Sri Lanka!

Some of the student volunteers set off to Sri Lanka this week! Here's a diary entry written by a few of the girls on the trip...

Travelling

The group met at Heathrow Airport, ready for an adventure. Our first flight was six and a half hours to Dubai. For one member of our team, it was their first time leaving the UK... ever!

After a plethora of movies, entertainment and (surprisingly) good airplane food, we made it to Dubai International Airport. It's the busiest international hub in the world and that was still the case at 8am!

Why Young People Voted In The General Election

This year's general election saw a significant rise in young voters and young people actively taking an interest in politics. I was one of these young people. 

Following on from our post Why Young People Don't Vote, it was clear that young people's enthusiasm and engagement was bubbling away (particularly on social media) ready to boil over in the results of the general election.

As a young person, I can only speak for myself when expressing my reasons why I chose to vote for the first time in this general election.

Nottingham Mental Health Festival

Time	Session
10:00	Registration & Refreshments
10:30	Welcome and Introduction (Well aHead Project)
11:00	Lucy Judd, Outreach Coordinator - NTU Outreach Team  Paul Dodsley, Student Health Development Officer – NTU Student Support Services Workshop: What should (& does) Mental Health Support Look Like in HE?
11:30	Key note: Simon Clarke - Clinical Psychologist (NTU, School of Social Science) Simon will be sharing insight from his career as a Clinical Psychologist, and talking specifically about his own experience of the benefits of collaborative, multi-agency working. 20 minutes with 10 minute Q&A.
12:10	Workshops: Kinsi Clarke, Service Manager for Migrant Health & Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children – Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum (NNRF) The Refugee Experience & Mental Health (Newton N35) This workshop will outline the mental health support experience for many refugee and asylum-seeking people accessing NNRF services. It will not only provide a local picture of the mental health needs of refugee and asylum seeking communities, but also the many barriers and challenges often faced in accessing appropriate services. As part of this session, Kinsi will also be seeking your help in identifying possible solutions and improvements to service to reflect the specific needs of this group. ------- OR ------- Ruthe Sawyer, Outreach Team Leader - Base 51 ‘Man Up’: Helping young men to talk about mental health (Newton N38) Building on a long and successful track record of supporting LGBTQ young people, this workshop will introduce Base 51’s recently developed area of work which aims specifically to support young men around matters of mental health. These sessions and activities represent an important, but challenging new area for the team which raises broader questions around gender perceptions and mental health support. Ruthe will share what the provision looks like so far, what the response and impact has been, and will also share her vision, as well as seek thoughts and ideas on, what the future holds for this important area of the service.
13:00	Lunch
13.50	Key note: Lucy Betts & Gayle Dillon – Reader & Principal Lecturer (NTU, School of Social Science) Lucy will share her research on cyber-bullying and the subsequent impact on mental and emotional health in schools. Gayle will focus on outlining the links between emotion and behaviour, exploring the understanding of emotions in children, the ability to regulate emotions and the subsequent impact on behaviour. 20 minutes with 10 minute Q&A.
14:30	Workshop: Pav Kaur, Director – Full Circle Partnership Create. Nurture. Learn. Transform: Resilience and Managing Transition (Newton N35) This workshop will outline Full Circle Partnerships’ resilience programme, specifically designed to build positive outlooks and equip young people with the skills to understand, organise and manage their most difficult thoughts and emotions. Pav will share her insight on the benefits of adopting individual and group coaching techniques in a non-specialist context, and the impact it can have on supporting the mental health needs of young people, particularly at key transitional stages. ------- OR ------- Carmain Gibson - Head of Children and Adolescent Inpatient Services - CAMHS Developing Nottingham's CAMHS Service (Newton N38) Discussing the expansion of CAMHS services within Nottingham and the opportunities this brings for local young people with mental health needs. Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust are investing £24 million into CAMHS services, expanding and moving the current service into a 32 bedded unit compromising of 3 wards; a general adolescent ward, an eating disorder ward and an intensive care unit. On the CAMHS site will also be the CAMHS community teams, Perinatal Inpatient Services and Perinatal Community Services. This session will provide an overview of the new site, proposed ways of working, discussion around vacancies, and opportunities to link with other services.
15:20	Close

My Journey Into Mindfulness

On Friday 9th June, I went to Nottingham Contemporary to take part in their June workshop 'The Quest for Happiness'. The workshop was created by Collabor-8 (you can find out more about this creative group of young people here) and the Nottingham Buddhist Centre!

After reading the advertisement:

I was intrigued to go along, so, with an open mind, I made my way down to the gallery on a beautiful June evening to see what I could learn!

Why Young People Don't Vote

These are words you will be hearing everywhere, especially at the moment but do they mean anything to you?

Evidence has shown that young people are interested in elections and politics way more widely right now. They are interested in voting, they do care about who's elected so why have they been so disengaged up until now?

Unfortunately, in recent General Elections, many young people think that the candidates haven't been able to demonstrate the points above effectively.

This has led to young people feeling marginalised and alienated from formal electoral politics which resulted in a low turnout of young people.

So, what does this mean?

#NTUDEGREESHOW

Nottingham Trent University is currently buzzing with creative energy as the Art & Design graduates prep their work for #NTUDEGREESHOW!

Last week, the fashion students showcased their work in a series of catwalks which, we can confirm, were as excellent as ever.

Their work is still up in Newton if you haven't yet seen it and we couldn't miss the opportunity to take a few snaps of their unique and inspiring pieces to give you a little taster...

Collection by Natasha Flannery