Arrivals Weekend - JCR President Jack Judge

This Year’s Arrivals Weekend and Freshers Week required a lot of preparation. Not only were we on a brand-new site and had to familiarise ourselves with the new spaces, building names and even just the address, we were expecting the largest intake of students we had ever had before! Although this was a daunting thought for me and the staff team who were planning the logistics of getting all the students on-site over one weekend, it was incredibly exciting for staff, JCR Committee, Freps, Wreps and Agents. We had all returned to Durham after a long period of being in Lockdown, so any social interaction, even though regulated by the strict Covid restrictions, was very much welcomed! The whole team showed a huge amount of dedication to everything that was thrown at them: all the preparation jobs, the training sessions, the long hours waiting for early arrivals and perseverance in the cold winds of arrivals weekend, (Saturday was extremely cold!). Freshers Week this year was unlike any other. We were very limited in what we could do in person due to the COVID guidelines, so we put all our efforts into adapting the Week virtually. Thank You to everyone who helped out at the events and all of the students who have been involved in the Online Events this Term!

Although it wasn’t the experience we had hoped we could put on, we were still able to include some of our traditional events such as the Matriculation Procession (albeit shorter but still with our Bugler) and the Welcome Meals, to ensure our Freshers could have the John Snow Welcome we love to deliver each year.