Outreach and Arts

Outreach and the Arts

A celebration of the outreach and artistic talents and achievements of the Van Mildert College community.

Outreach

As with all aspects of JCR life, this year has been a difficult one for Mildert Outreach.

Nevertheless, Outreach has adapted and students have completed many hours of fantastic volunteering, both virtually and in person.

One of the most successful achievements of the year has been the revamp of the Environmental Conservation Committee.

The two directors, Izzy and Sophie, have been absolutely instrumental in restarting both the school’s aspect of the project and establishing a ‘conservation’ side which has worked with the Durham Botanic Gardens and Green Comm in planting allotments and wildflowers.

With the creation of a number of fantastic workshop material on environmental issues, the project is in good stead to start the next academic year strongly when we can go back to schools.

YPP and CVS have both done well in adapting their projects to virtual versions, with CVS volunteers keeping regular contact via phone call during the difficult lockdown periods.

Furthermore, YPP redesigned and ran a number of highly successful school sessions over Zoom, holding workshops designed to help increase self-confidence and aspirations of young people in what has been a difficult time.

CRC are also hoping to host summer day activity sessions in June for the children and families with learning difficulties who we have been partners with for many years but have been unable to spend time with this year. Outside of our own projects, Mildert students were one of the top contributors to the DUSVO Christmas card scheme for care homes in December. This is further testament of our continued commitment to outreach and community volunteering, despite the challenges that we have faced during the year.

In addition, as part of a food drive for County Durham Food Bank, the College collected 76.84 kg of food, equivalent to providing 96 meals for local families in need.

Next year, we are looking forward to re-starting all of our projects hopefully in person next year and being able to work even closer with our community partners going forward.

Theatre, Arts and Dance

Following the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to music, theatre and dance performance, we catch up with VM Dance.

An all-inclusive student-run dance society, VM Dance is a tight-knitted, friendly community that welcomes dancers from all backgrounds and abilities. Deciding that this was a year to focus on well-being; both physically and mentally, several new initiatives were rolled out, aiming to deliver as best of an experience as possible despite unprecedented circumstances.

To mark the start of a change from previous years, an initial creative focus on rebranding the society via logo and stash redesign, social media platform updates, and mascot development started off the year with a bang.

Furthering this, new opportunities were brought to the table, aiming to target firstly - physical well-being, through (i) regular stretch classes, (ii) fortnightly combo classes – where dancers learn a short excerpt of original choreography from society members, and (iii) fortnightly beginner classes – following popular demand; and secondarily - mental well-being, through a monthly mental-wellbeing campaign that discusses and reflects on the unique issues that dancers face.

Performance-wise, VM Dance saw no shortage of such this year - though of course, with a creative twist besides the traditional fashion show and Mildert Day preparations! The annual showcase was redesigned; dancers were each assigned several lines throughout the song to choreograph and perform.

Each person’s last move would become the next person’s first move, requiring dancers to coordinate with one another. This culminated in 3 virtual group performances showcasing 4 different styles as well as some solo, duet and trio performances.

Epiphany term saw the birth of VM Dance’s first production, but this time in a fun, new format differing from the last virtual performance. Members were invited to choreograph and teach through a hybrid of video calls and tutorials, resulting in a very successful virtual production that told the tales of 5 very different lives.

Continuing member engagement has been at the heart of VM Dance’s operations this year, and with well-being being at the forefront of all stages of planning, every activity was designed to cater to different well-being demands whether that be a chill stretch session, a physically active commitment or a fun virtual social.

Alumni have even been coming forward to complement the achievements of VM Dance this year, giving us the motivation to continue to grow even better and stronger as a society!

Catch a glimpse of what we’ve been up to!

Youtube: Van Mildert Dance Society

Facebook: VM Dance

Instagram: @vmdancesoc

Christy Cheung