In March our Student Wellbeing Champions hosted two events focused on destressing - read about what they got up to here!
This academic year, our VP Community and Welfare, Fayaz Kareem, recruited 14 Student Wellbeing Champions. The Student Wellbeing Champions (SWC's) are a group of students who are all interested in bettering students’ wellbeing during their time at University. They form as part of a committee or students, chaired by VP Community and Welfare.
The Student Wellbeing Champions ran a Destress campaign in March 2024, where they hosted two events – a destress crafting session where students could drop in and take part in a number of craft activities whilst also learning about support services. We ran this session in The Space at Frenchay and got students painting, sewing, colouring and eating cake!
The SWC's also shared what they do to destress, here's some of their top tips:
'I like to plan out my day and make sure I put in breaks for myself. If I know I’ll be studying most of the day, I put a alarm on my phone to remind me to go for a walk or eat something.'
'Writing is my outlet to release everything - whether it's the stress of the day, or the things that I can never tell anyone out loud. It's my go to when I need to shut the outside world off for a moment’
'Going to the gym - I like to put my music on and just focus on the exercises.'
The second event was a mocktail and pizza social night where people could socialise in a relaxed, alcohol free environment and get to know our Student Wellbeing Champions as well as meeting new people. There were mocktail ingredients and recipes and attendees were invited to follow the instructions or make their own concoctions.
Our SWC's shared some of the things they like to do around Bristol and UWE in their spare time:
'Walking in the green spaces, my favourite are: Eastville Park, Oldbury Court Estate, Conham River park and Greville Smyth park.'
'Exploring the independent coffee shops, especially at North Street, Southville”
"There's a field with a bench outside my accommodation and I absolutely love sitting there and watching the sun set."
“I really enjoy going to the theatre in Bristol'
We engaged with a total of 45 students across the two events and received some great feedback.
‘Thank you for making me feel so welcome. I came by myself and was anxious but have had a great time.’ – 2nd Year Frenchay Student
‘I feel destressed!’ – 3rd year Frenchay Student