It's almost a year since the Covid-19 crisis began and we wanted to take a moment to reflect and to thank our community for their continued efforts during the pandemic. After such uncertain and worrying times, their moving stories have uplifted and encouraged many of us to stay home, be safe and remain hopeful for the future.
Let’s put our hands together once more for the incredibly brave staff members and students who have gone the extra mile over the last twelve months and beyond.
The Newcastle University First Responders is a voluntary, student-led initiative ran by Newcastle University medical students. Operating alongside the North East Ambulance Service, the team provides a uniformed, first responder assistance to 999 calls across Newcastle and the North East.
Launched in January 2020, the students attend the most severe categories of calls and respond to immediate life-threatening emergencies. Not only do the team develop their medical skills and put their training into real practice, but their volunteering is a huge help for our wonderful National Health Service (NHS).
After one of the most challenging years for the NHS, the team jumped into action to support. Alongside their regular shifts in the community, which were no doubt heightened by the pandemic, the medical students have also been trained to work at a Covid-19 vaccination hub in North Shields. There are approximately 50 medical students helping at “The Parks” North Shields base and they work under the direct supervision of a GP.
Incredibly by February 2021, the centre had administered over 30,000 vaccines with the help of our students and we couldn't be prouder of their efforts throughout the vaccination period and beyond.
As the vaccine roll-out commenced across the UK, many locations offered up their space for vaccination training to begin, just like we did with King's Hall in the Armstrong Building. Week after week, amazing volunteers from St John's Ambulance Service (SJA) have used our space to provide crucial vaccination training to hundreds of attendees. Alongside the SJA cadets, Newcastle and Northumbria students from Newcastle's First Aid Society, among many others, used their weekends to support the vaccination efforts and achieve a Covid-19 vaccinator status.
Risking their own health every day to assist the national vaccination effort is truly admirable work. Huge well done to all involved on our campus and beyond.
To ensure all members of our community remain safe when visiting our campus, an asymptomatic testing site was set up with the help of qualified technicians and student workers. Initially situated at the Frederick Douglass Centre, and now located at Newcastle University Students' Union, the site is part of the Government’s UK-wide drive to increase the availability of mass testing and any colleague, visitor or student registered at Newcastle University can secure a test through our online booking system.
Alongside the brave and dedicated staff members, we’d like to say a huge thank you to every single person who has booked a test at our site for doing their bit to protect our community and beyond.
If you must visit Newcastle and our campus anytime in the near future, you can learn more about booking a free rapid LFD Covid-19 test here.
Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, Newcastle University would simply not have been able to function without the support of our key worker staff. Every day our security, cleaning teams, accommodation staff, estates workers and more arrived at work to provide a safe and secure environment for our campus community and for that, we are eternally grateful.
At the beginning of 2021, five student-led initiates from Newcastle and Northumbria universities were named the latest Best Neighbour on Campus (BNOC) winners, awarded to students for making a positive difference to their local community.
Within the selected initiatives are Newcastle University Geography students Tash Finchett, Kate Abery and Eleni Haines or otherwise known as, 'Carrots on the Run'. Starting their efforts back in October 2020, the trio made it their goal to run 5km every day until Christmas, dressed as bright orange carrots. Despite managing their own deadlines, social and university lives and challenges during the pandemic, they managed to raise an incredible £6520 for Newcastle West End Foodbank, an important cause which will be hugely thankful for the donation.
Another winner involves a team of fourth and final year students at Newcastle University who have set up the North East group of Medical Students Helping Hands, a national initiative to help support NHS staff. Early into the pandemic, the team acknowledged the variety of challenges faced within our community and therefore decided to join forces and provide practical help to those health workers who need free, flexible assistance during this taxing period. No matter what size the task may be, the students helped give back to the every day heroes in our NHS. We are certain that this additional support will be a huge help for many households.
These students are just a small handful of those doing amazing work during the pandemic and we are incredibly proud to see it. Well done to all.
Every year, a proportion of our student community stay in Newcastle over the winter break. However, this academic year saw many more of our students remaining in Newcastle, unable to to travel home to friends and family due to the pandemic. To ensure this group of students received the help they needed during this difficult time, a dedicated group of colleagues joined forces to develop a programme of support.
From organising fun social events and crucial wellbeing support to providing festive hampers and sports memberships at no extra cost, the team went above and beyond to ensure all students were not only entertained but supported throughout. Whilst many of us used this time to take a well deserved break with family and/or our support bubble, the team worked tirelessly and their kindness and selflessness does not go unnoticed. Huge thanks to those colleagues that made this programme possible.
Another BNOC winner is North East Solidarity and Teaching (N.E.S.T), a student run volunteer group at Newcastle University. N.E.S.T is coordinated by over 70 student volunteers and annually supports 400 student volunteers who work as a team to deliver weekly classes to approximately 400 members of the forced migration community across the region.
Like many ways of learning, N.E.S.T was forced to transition their operations online in light of Covid-19 restrictions. However, the challenges brought about by the pandemic didn't limit the team as they successfully continued to provide their support and services in a virtual format. From the moment lockdown was announced, the team hosted classes every day and stuck broadly to their normal schedule, including digital socials, support sessions and learning classes via YouTube. Student volunteers also made wellbeing calls to all registered learners, contacting them to ensure that they have everything they need and understand the restrictions.
Despite the pandemic impacting all of us in many ways, these students prioritised their members at N.E.S.T and ensured that they were both informed and supported at all times. Their selflessness here is truly admirable so thank you to N.E.S.T for your hard work.
When the pandemic began, our Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers created a Facebook group for all students to share positivity, ideas, well-being tips and support for one another. Twelve months on, the new 2020-2021 officers have continued the virtual community work to ensure all students are informed and supported throughout the pandemic. This group has been a great resource and safe space for many of our students.
Alongside our Students' Union's Sabbatical Officers, the 160+ student societies have also been coming together to provide endless support during such uncertain times. From useful wellbeing resources produced by Mind the Gap to sessions on relaxation and mindfulness with the Yoga Society, many student groups have quickly adapted to virtual events and drop-in sessions to ensure all of their members continue to be both heard and supported.
Beyond wellness sessions, societies like NCL Zumba, HIIT in the Park NCL and the Irish Dance Society have encouraged our students to keep moving and stay healthy and groups like Film Soc, Quiz Soc and the Raising and Giving Society have proven that virtual events can in fact be a whole lot of fun.
Each and every student society continues to amaze us with their creativity, thoughtfulness and adaptability and we are truly thankful for your support over the last year.
#WeAreNCL but most importantly, #WeAreTogether.
Did we miss anything? Send us your Covid-19 community stories via socialmedia@ncl.ac.uk.
Discover more about Newcastle University's efforts in the fight against Covid-19.