JCR Round Up

JCR Round up - President Jack Judge

When I got elected into this role, I would never have imagined the world as it is now and that I would be working with our team to adapt the JCR to all the changes and restrictions that would be coming our way. By the time we got to September, Stephanie Male (JCR Entertainments Officer) and I must have planned over six different versions of Freshers Week, as there seemed to be new guidance and more changes each week in the lead up to the new term. Despite this, a lot of effort went into the Virtual Freshers Week we held, and the participation from the Reps and students made it very rewarding for us.

The Big Move to Mount Oswald has been something we have looked forward to for years, so the staff team and I were very excited to get into work on that very sunny morning on 1 September. We spent a total of one day embracing the excitement of finally being in our new home and familiarising ourselves with it all - by the end of the week, with the intensity of the preparation process, it felt like we had always been here! We’ve finally dug out all our belongings that have been in storage for a good few years, (amazing what we’ve found!) and brought them up here on site with us so the transition is officially complete! Although we’ve still got lots of unpacking to do, it has been very easy to settle in to the beautiful setting and amazing new buildings and facilities. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the transition and has helped to make it a huge success. Here’s to the future!

The large interest in this year’s Freshers Fair put our Sports and Societies in a really good position to start the Term. Our Sports Captains, Society Presidents and their Exec Teams did a great job at starting up their groups, getting used to the new and exciting facilities we now have and adapting to the second Lockdown. I hope in the next two Terms to come, there are more opportunities and freedom for these groups to get up and running again and allow our students to continue meeting each other by getting involved.

Our Bar Steward, Amara Garasia, worked very hard to get our new College Bar up and running, with close help and effort from our Food and Beverages manager, Phil Smith. This was a very difficult job as we had a very small time frame in which to do this and none of us had even seen what the finished bar looked like until we arrived in September! Nonetheless, all the time and effort paid off as the new space proved very popular with both livers-in and livers-out (even though Lockdown 2.0 cut short this excitement). I’m now looking forward to hopefully re-opening the bar in the New Year and seeing what amazing events Lamesha Ruddock (Bar Events Officer) and Stephanie will hold there!

As we were unfortunately placed in a second National Lockdown this Term, I came up with the idea of keeping Snow students connected through a whole month of online events. This idea was branded as…’Snowvember’! Every day throughout the November lockdown, I have put on a different online event for students to take part in, to make sure students have had some way of engaging with each other and to keep busy during this difficult time. Thank you to everyone who has participated in these activities, won our competitions and kept the spirit of Snow alive over the past few weeks.

What also stood out for me this Term was the commitment of the vast amount of John Snow Students who have been fundraising for Movember. Well done to you all, the milestones you have reached are incredible. Despite all the challenges, it is brilliant to see so many achievements this Term. I look forward to what’s to come moving into 2021.