World Mental Health Day

Celebrating World Mental Health Day yesterday ...

Offering FREE HUGS and asking students and staff to add to our 'Five Ways to Wellbeing' graffiti board.

Cambridge Trip

Cambridge is one of my favourite places to visit

We had a coach full on Saturday, Oct 5th  -  53 people  -  and I got to sit in the important, grown-up seat at the front :-)

Our group was made up of students from
France, Russia, Italy, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Spain, China, India,
Vietnam, Romania, Malaysia, Singapore, Colombia
and I'm sure I've missed some nations - do please let me know.

After an hour and a half on the bus, for some of us, the day needed to begin with coffee.

Followed by a walk up Great St Mary's Church tower.

The weather was really lovely, so we got fab views of the city.

Getting ready for the 123 steps back down,
hoping we don't have to cross paths with too many
people on route.

Punting on the river is quite expensive and you need to check out the different companies but, as the weather was so lovely, Veroni and I decided it was worth the expense. The views from the river are lovely and it was worth it for the history lesson. It was also very peaceful and relaxing :-)

This was possibly my favourite moment of the day ...


Here is our boatman with pole ...












... and here is pole, stuck in river, without boatman :-)

Then it was time for lunch at my favourite place ...

The photo doesn't do my meal justice ... sourdough toast, with ham, leeks, melted cheese and a perfectly poached egg with salad ...  it was truly scrumptious :-)

Thought for the week ...

Visit by Bishop James

Many of you will know that my role as Campus Chaplain is a 4-way agreement between the three universities at Medway and Rochester Diocese. 
Yesterday it was a privilege to host Bishop James Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester, as part of his time with St Mark's Parish. 

I'd like to thank Ali from GKUnions, Lesley from Drill Hall Library and Kate from RETI (UoG); as well as students Ahmed, Aiste and Veroni who helped make that visit a success.

Thought for the week ...

TABLEtalk

Even when I'm super tired, TABLEtalk is still one of my favourite times of the week.  Last night we said "welcome back" to some continuing students, "hello" to Jose and Emma, new students from Ecuador and Vietnam  ...  and a very sad "goodbye" to Afaf from Jordan.

We had a great time playing my new, yet to be patented, 'Getting to Know You' board game.  In fact we could have gone on well past our 9:30pm stop time!!

I know that it's hard for new students to come out in the dark and the cold on a Thursday evening, but I can't begin to express the benefits of TABLEtalk. Come along and see for yourself.

Here are some things students have said ...

World Cafe starts again

It's that time of year when all our activities are starting up again. Yesterday our weekly World Cafe got off to a great start with approx. 60 students, both new and longer-term, paying us a visit.