RAG Monopoly 26/10/2020

RAG Monopoly was the first event that I was hosting as the new BLSA RAG Officer, and to say I was mildly stressed would be a bit of an understatement.

From sending out event proposals, filling out risk assessments over and over again, navigating the intricacies of the ever changing COVID restrictions, and trying to understand the absolute MOUNTAIN of regulation surrounding charity law- not to mention the logistics of planning, organising, and hand designing a BLSA RAG Monopoly Board from scratch (including a currency design!), my September was almost entirely revolved around the success of this event. I had something to prove, and I wanted to show that the BL family was as giving and supportive of RAG as it has ever been.

This was not going to prove an easy feat, and I had a handful of hiccups along the way (or, y’know, I guess you could say a bucket load of them).

But, whilst this might give you a dreary outlook on the prognosis of this event, shockingly, it went off without a hitch and we did it- BL RAISED MONEY FOR CHARITY! Now, I can’t lie, it wasn’t an extortionate amount of money, but it was more than we started with, and I can only be proud of that.

I have to thank my truly brilliant RAG committee (no, seriously, they are the absolute best!) for helping me get through this event, along with my flatmates who had to deal with me at the peak of my stress-headedness (thanks for putting up with me M&Z).

We managed to raise a tidy sum of money for our RAG charities through this event – but even more than that – we are raising awareness for the most in need amongst us. The third sector has been one the most heavily hit groups during this pandemic, and it is a societal responsibility for all of us to support charity as much as possible.

 I’m not asking you to make £50 donations on your own, but I can guarantee you know at least 4 other people. If you all donated £2 we would have £10. And if everyone you asked donated another £2 we would reach the £50 goal in no time. The BL FAMILY is not a name I take lightly, I am extremely proud of being a member of it. And I know that when we band together we can do this and help those who need it.

So how can you help?

 ·       Buy tickets for our events. RAG events will be held as often as possible during this year, and we always donate 100% of profits to charity. Even if you can’t come to the event, let me know and we can use your ticket money as a donation!

·       Follow/like us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up to date with the events we’re hosting, as well as learning about the amazing charities we are helping this year.

·       Join RAG committee. If you want to help me with the actual organisation of our events, keep an eye out as we will be holding a recruitment drive soon.

·       Keep talking about RAG! Tell all your friends and flatmates about RAG. Make them aware of the struggles of the third sector.

·       Don’t be disheartened by the situation we’re in. It’s going to be hard, but we’re not going anywhere – if a global pandemic hasn’t stopped RAG yet, you can be assured that very little will!

 

Wishing you all the best,

Your 2020/20+1 RAG Officer,

Numa 😊

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BLSA Bulletin 10/11/20

Hi all,


With the start of the second week of November now, I'm happy to announce that the QMBL Movember network have already managed to raise over £7,500 for charity.

Since 2003, Movember has funded more than 1,250 men’s health projects around the world - let's make sure we add to this total!

I've also decided to take you along on my tash-growing journey by posting photographic updates every week as part of the bulletin. Please make sure you donate to any of the teams or individuals taking part if you can! 

This bulletin will cover:

  • Connecting Practice Isolation Huddles

  • Islamophobia Awareness Month

  • Association Fund Now Open

  • BLSA 'Lockdown Antics'

  • International Student Game Night

November is also Islamophobia Awareness month. This campaign works to raise awareness of Islamophobia, the issues that it causes, and the impact this has on Muslims in the UK and at our university. It also celebrates Islam and the variety of contributions of Muslims to our society while supporting our Muslim students. You can find out more below and online.

I also wanted to reiterate that we as a Students' Union remain dedicated to supporting you all, even through the current national lockdown. Although we are having to limit our facilities in line with government restrictions, we are keeping open all we can with Covid secure measures in place to support you all whilst keeping you all safe.

Therefore, The Griff Inn will be open for takeaway only each weekday from 10am-3pm. Study spaces (study room and recovery room) in the BLSA building remain open, Mon-Fri from 11am till 6pm, for individual study only. The Multi-Faith Room also remains open at the same times for individual prayer only. By law, socialising is not allowed in these spaces. The BLSA Reception and Shop also remain open on weekdays from 11am till 6pm. I also apologise to those who tried to access the BLSA on Monday morning.  A last-minute staffing issue meant we couldn't open till 2:30pm but this problem should now be resolved. The Shield is closed for renovations until further notice.

We have also implemented special precautions, social distancing, cleaning rotas and one way systems in all of our spaces… Full information on our facilities can be found on our website.

FULL BLSA FACILITIES INFO

As well as keeping our facilities open where we can, we are also opening up our weekly Connecting Practice sessions to any students who are feeling isolated (more info below). We are also working with student groups to support them so they can stay active for you all and we are launching our 'Lockdown Antics' social media campaign where we'll be recommending regular tasks and activities for you to engage in that are all Covid secure and Lockdown compliant.

That's all for this week! Till the next one,

Mat Robathan,
BLSA President
(My pronouns are he/him)

Congratulations to the Dentists!

Afternoon everyone,

I hope you had a lovely weekend, congratulations to BL Water Polo for organising a very successful RAG fundraiser and to Liam's Mean Men for winning the tournament. In case you missed it our 2019/20 RAG charities voted by you are:
-British Heart Foundation
-Dreams Come True
-Fareshare

Last week I had a number of meetings regarding personal safety and security on campus. To make sure you are all kept in the loop I am putting pressure on the university about the following:

  • Whitechapel Library courtyard card access

  • Improve visibility of security at Garrod and make the second set of double doors card access

  • Commit to improving CCTV across all campuses

  • Increase the number of security staff based at each campus and have a supervisor at Whitechapel and Charterhouse Square around the clock

We are monitoring the efficiency of the patrols that the security team carry out on a daily basis and I am going to be sitting on a committee that discusses the above as well as things like improved lighting. If there is anything that would make you feel more safe please do contact me.

On a cheerier note, a few of us went down to St Pauls on Friday to get the ball rolling on Rites of Passage, 20th July 2020, a date finalists may well want to pop in their diaries.

My drop-in hours are 1-4pm this Friday, I will be in the BLSA building, if you want to speak to me another time just drop me an email.


Lots of BLSA love,

Meg

Advice for my BLoved:

"Always Have A Spare Joke In Mind"

What's on at BLSA

BLSA Building open 10:00 - 21:00

Black History Month Panel Discussion
Tuesday 22nd October 18:00 - 20:00
Clark Kennedy Lecture Theatre

Tables
Wednesday 23rd October
The Griff Inn

War of The Wards
Friday 25th October
Reynolds Bar

Annual Student Meeting
Tuesday 29th October
Mason Lecture Theatre, Bancroft Building

Bulletin Notices


1. BATLAA BLSA Dinner
2. BL Alpine Trips 
3. Peer-assisted learning society (PAL): Year 3 and 4 pre-ICA course tutor recruitment
4. Recruitment for Trainer in Basic Life Support and AED (Barts City Life Savers)
5. West Smithfield Library- Opening Earlier
6. Mile End Library Accessibility- student feedback wanted!
7. Reading List Workshop
8. Free SJT Preparation Course for Final Year Medical Students

Advert: The Hands-on Guide to Clinical Reasoning in Medicine

If you would like to include a message in the BL Bulletin, be sure to fill in this form. Please fill this in by Friday 12:00 for a notice to be included in the following Monday edition.

1. BATLAA BLSA Dinner
Friday 8th November 18:00-22:30, The Great Hall, Barts Hospital

We are revamping the dinner this year- this is going to be a celebration of all things BLSA. The dinner is taking place in The Great Hall, there are discounted tickets available for those who perform so let me know if you are keen to do so. In addition to this, the student group who has the most members present will receive £50 into their subs account. 

2. BL Alpine Trips
We are BL Alpine Club and we have space on our Halloween and Christmas trip for you! To sign up, please follow these two steps:

Step 1 - fill out your membership profile (you should receive an Alpine ID within the hour or so)

Step two - sign up to all the trips you can make:

It is a great chance to step outside London. We offer a range of activities through the day, including hiking, scrambling and climbing. In the evenings we all get together for a lovely dinner, board games and drinks, and of course there is always cheese and wine!

We look forward to seeing you on trip

Alpine Love x
 

3. Peer-assisted learning society (PAL): Year 3 and 4 pre-ICA course tutor recruitment

YEAR 3 CRASH COURSES: TUTOR SIGN UP (Finalists/Year 4/ Intercalating post-year 3 students)

We are recruiting for those who would like to teach Year 3 students in the run up to their ICAs (25th-29th November evenings) This is a fantastic opportunity to add to your portfolio and get more experience in teaching. Please sign up here.


YEAR 4 CRASH COURSES: TUTOR SIGN UP (Finalists/Intercalating post-year 4 students)

We are recruiting for those who would like to teach Year 4 students in the run up to their ICAs (18th- 22nd November).We will also provide learning objectives and past presentations that you can modify to use. Sign up here.


4. Recruitment for Trainer in Basic Life Support and AED (Barts City Life Savers) 
Deadline for applications is Friday 15th November 2019
Barts City Life Savers is an organisation that delivers adult, baby and child BLS and AED training to members of the public and healthcare professionals. We are recruiting for trainers who are medical student in year 1,2 & 3 (or GEP year 1 & 2). If your application is successful, you will receive a £50 reward on completion of our competency-based training programme and a minimum of £14 per hour for any training delivered after qualification. This is a great opportunity to develop your teaching, presentation, communication, leadership and many more skills. 
For more information and an application pack contact: info@bartscitylifesaver.org. 

5. West Smithfield Library- Opening Earlier
The library will be opening early in a pilot this term. It will now be open 10:00-20:00 Monday to Friday for the whole of this term.

6. Mile End Library Accessibility- Student Feedback Wanted!
QMUL are planning construction works for Mile End library and want to know what aspects of the library are currently less accessible for students with disabilities, so that they can address these issues with the new construction works. If you have any feedback regarding any accessibility issues with Mile End library, please email Jack, BLSA Disabled and SLD rep disabled@bartslondon.com so feedback can be collated and sent over to the architects for consideration in their planning.

7. Reading List Workshop
Thursday 7th November 13:30-14:30, Library Seminar Room, Ground Floor, Mile End Library
We want to hear from you!
We are interested in hearing your thoughts about reading lists and what we can do to improve them.
We would like to hear from taught students and are arranging a workshop to gather feedback.
Each student who attends will receive a £15.00 Amazon voucher for participating.
If you are interested, please register here to let us know you will be attending.
Looking forward to meeting you!
Paula Funnell 

8. Free SJT Preparation Course for Final Year Medical Students
Friday 25th October 18:00-21:00, Barts Hospital
As part of a nationwide group of courses, Prepare for the SJT are offering a free course for a all fifth year students prior to their SJT next Friday (25/10) at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Meet in central square at 6pm.



Advert: The Hands-on Guide to Clinical Reasoning in Medicine

The Hands-on Guide to Clinical Reasoning in Medicine is the perfect companion to your time on clinical placements, providing an easy-to-read, highly visual guide to help develop your clinical decision making skills, and transfer your knowledge into practice. Packed full of useful tips, key boxes, exercises and summaries that are designed to help you apply the knowledge gained in clinical practice.

Divided into the common clinical placements that you would find yourself in: Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Neurology, Geriatrics, Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Endocrinology and Rheumatology, each chapter covers the diagnosis of common clinical conditions, as well as decision-making in their investigation and management.

Applications for 2019/20 RAG Committee Now Open!

As we near the start of the New Academic Year, we are in need of a new RAG committee!

RAG stands for Raise and Give and is the group involved in raising money for charity at BL. We plan events such as Take Me Out, I'm A BNOC Get Me Out Of Here, RAG show as well as being involved in many other staple BL events.

We are looking for around 6-8 students to join the RAG committee this year. These committee members will:

- Help organise our events

- Help run our Freshers Fair stall

- Advertise events

- Create marketing materials

- Liaise with student groups and students to help engage them in RAG

- Suggest new RAG events to run in the name of fundraising

- Keep track of finances and suggest mew ways to improve fundraising

- Be creative in coming up with new fundraising techniques

Want to help us keep pushing boundaries with RAG again this year? Then express your interest to join committee by emailing rag@bartslondon.com. Feel free to also suggest what role you may want to have.

 
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