JCR News

It has been a busy and exciting term for the JCR, from a successful “Take Time to Sign” Welfare Campaign to well received outreach projects in the local community.

Hello, I hope everyone had a very happy New Year. Michaelmas Term was hugely successful for the JCR (as I’m sure articles in this issue will highlight). One notable success was Welfare’s “Take Time to Sign”. Sorting housing can be incredibly stressful and expensive, so Welfare Campaigns Committee and our SU Committee took it upon themselves to encourage freshers to (quite literally) take time to sign in order to ensure that they were well informed and that they didn’t rush into signing poor quality houses, or with people they didn’t know well enough yet. This was a hugely effective campaign that ended up being adopted and promoted across a number of other colleges.

Carrying on from last term’s success, I’m hoping that Epiphany will be equally exciting for all of our members! We have staple events of the term coming up like the Feast of St Cuthbert and the Fashion Show, but also new events such as Cuth’s Live (a new musical event in the bars).

This term, we will also be continuing to expand the ‘Bailey Wardrobe’ initiative that was started last year. Bailey Wardrobe is a literal rail of formal wear, all donated by students and alumni, from which students can cheaply rent outfits for events such as Formals, Balls, or even interviews. We are always looking to increase our stock, so please get in touch if you have any formal wear going spare. The JCR is also looking to increase our Participation Fund. This is a pot of money the JCR sets aside for people who need assistance paying for costs associated with sports and societies. For example, this year we covered the costs of some sports kit and paid subs for a number of students playing sports on both Cuth’s and DU levels. If you would like to know more please head over to the JCR Website (https://cuths. com/).

I’d like to end by saying thank you to the wider Cuth’s community for your efforts in helping the JCR continue to be as inclusive, accessible and friendly as always.

Elena Martin, JCR President

South Bailey Cuth’s Choir Outreach

Men Racing

Cuth’s Big Band

Cuth’s Outreach

This year Cuth’s Rugby and the Outreach Committee have come together to provide an after-school ‘tag rugby’ club to St Hild’s College Church of England Primary School in Gilesgate. With a group of around 10 committed volunteers to choose from every week, we took our first after-school club in October. Since then our weekly onehour sessions have grown in popularity. We started our classes with around 8 students but this number has continued to grow to around 15 regular members. Word has it that the club is the talk of the school. Cuth’s would very much hope this is the case and the increase in interest seems to attest to this. Our main aim for starting the project was twofold: to introduce children to the sport but also to engage with those from outside of the University community. The sessions themselves have been hugely enjoyable with classic games like stuck in the mud and bulldog proving particularly popular. What has been most impressive about incorporating these games is that we are yet to have any injuries! This is despite the almost frightening competitiveness with which these games are played. On top of this, we have sought as a club to highlight the basic skills and techniques needed for rugby, such as good handling and passing. These skills are difficult at first but the children have been extremely

Cuth’s BIG Band

On Monday 9th December 2019 St Cuthbert’s Society Big Band hosted their annual Christmas concert in the Dining Hall to raise money for St Cuthbert’s Hospice, a local charity very close to the hearts of Cuth’s after they supported our late porter Wayne and his family over his final few weeks. The concert was a roaring success with almost all seats being filled with people from all years and colleges. We played a mixture of music including our classic pieces that we’d been working on over Michaelmas term, as well as plenty of Christmas tunes. A raffle was held in the interval with lots of prizes that had been kindly donated by the Catering Manager and Bar Steward and many businesses around Durham. In total we raised £80.43, which we were very very happy with, considering we did not charge for entry! It was definitely the best Cuth’s Big Band concert that I’ve played in, and personally I was very proud of everyone in the band for their hard work and dedication that meant we could hold such a brilliant evening.

Alice Law

well behaved and receptive to what we are saying.

The number of volunteers for this project has been extremely impressive. Volunteers have come from all sides: the men’s and women’s rugby teams, as well as experienced heads from the college Outreach Committee. In our first session, only two of the children knew anything about rugby. Now, these children have learnt a whole new sport. The scheme will continue to run over the next two terms so there is still a lot to look forward to (for students and volunteers alike).

Henry Johnson For more Outreach news see page 21

Postgraduate and Mature

Student News News from Sarah McAllister, Postgraduate and Mature Students Committee Chair

The year kicked off with Freshers’ Week when we had a team of 9 Postgraduate Freps to welcome our new intake of around 180 postgraduate students. Over the first week the Postgraduate Community enjoyed a Quiz Night, a Games Evening, the Postgraduate Welcome Formal and an evening of talks organised by the SCR. Term started with Postgrad Family evening, which is building on the tradition of college families where freshers are assigned to parents in older years and gain siblings in their own year. This year we introduced Postgraduate families to put new students to Cuth’s in contact with other students undertaking a similar subject and students who have already spent time at Cuth’s. The night proved to be a great success with eleven postgraduate families bonding in Brooks Bar. The night involved families being asked to go around college and take typical family photos which involved recreations of family dinners, board game nights, putting a ‘child’ to bed and some more creative photos. We’ve had a busy term once the positions on Postgraduate and Mature Students’ Committee (PGM Comm) were filled. With a committee of nine people we have organised a PGM brunch, international and postgraduate film night and a research slam. We also had a Research Forum, where Joe Watson and Hitham Hassan, two of our PhD students, gave talks on their respective fields of classics and physics. Hitham gave a talk on his Masters dissertation on ‘Jet Multiplicity Measurements at the Large Hadron Collider’, and Joe talked about ‘The Roles and Functions of Latin Sexual Swearing in the Poetry of Catullus’. As the Postgraduate and Mature Students Committee Chair, I have been working alongside the MCR Presidents (Postgraduate Reps) from the other colleges. I was elected the Chair of MCR Presidents’ Committee, where we have been working on increasing participation in postgraduate events, increasing the range of Inter-MCR events and workng on JCR/MCR relations. After these discussions, Cuth’s hosted our first Inter-MCR pub quiz which had questions on a wide range of subjects including Durham Colleges, the year 2019, and guess the language. The term culminated with the Christmas Formal, which of course ended with everyone singing ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’.

Sarah McAllister Art in Cuth’s Cuth’s students have proved that even though Durham University does not offer Art as a degree, students at Cuth’s are very creative. Weekly sessions have included Lino printing, felting, brush, inks and a collage session. We have also reinstated a photography officer who has run a session at the Botanical Gardens. In December, a group of students visited the Crushed Chilli Gallery, run by local artist Janet Rogers. Janet is an award-winning glass artist working in kiln fused, leaded stained glass and Pate de Verre. At the Gallery, our students were able to make their own stained glass works. This year we also sold Christmas Cards throughout the last week of term and raised £80 for St. Cuthbert’s Hospice. We are now in the process of planning the next two terms which will feature the Annual Art Show, opening at the Principal’s Garden party.

We also introduced our new mascot for Postgraduate and Mature Student’s Committee, PG Tips.

Invitation to apply: Charity Trustee

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AsanexternaltrusteeI enjoy sharingmywiderexperienceto helpguideanddirectmembers oftheJCRCommittee.Whilst notaCuth'salumnus,Ifeelthat Ihavelearntquicklyhowthe JCRfunctionsandenjoy

Euan Martin, Student Trustee

Ifyou feel you have the skills to supportandassist the JCR in achieving its charitable aims, please consider applying to be a Trustee. We are currentlylookingforarangeofskillsetstojointhe

supportingitsaimsand objectivesasacharity.It'sgreat asatrusteetoguideanddirect thetasksofexecutiveofficers, bethatinreadingcontractsfor th eBall,checkingaccountsor settingthestrategicdirectionof theTrust. Board, but particularly those with financial and accounting experience. Applications are being taken on a rolling basis. For more information, includinghowtoapply,pleaseemail: nominationscommittee@cuths.com