Imperial News

Wellbeing Fair shows support to new students in Life Sciences

by Emily Govan

Life Sciences held Wellbeing Fairs in South Kensington and Silwood Park this month as a way to show the range of support available to new students.

The fairs aimed to remind students of all the Wellbeing support that is available in the department and across Imperial, putting faces to names should they wish to interact with any of the services in the future. 

South Kensington Wellbeing Fair

On 11 November Life Sciences held a Wellbeing Fair for all first year undergraduate students, as part of the Life Sciences Wellbeing events programme. Students were given a Wellbeing card and were able to collect stamps as they interacted with the different stalls, meeting friendly faces along the way.

Stalls included Ethos the gym, the medical centre, departmental pastoral support representatives, financial support, careers services and much more. Collecting eight stamps earned them the chance to collect a Life Sciences goody bag and be entered into a prize draw for Amazon vouchers!

Our Instagram reel about the South Kensington Wellbeing Fair. 

Silwood Wellbeing Fair

Silwood Park held a lively Wellbeing Fair on 14 November, where there were eight stalls from areas across Imperial including Silwood Sustainability who ran a Climate Cafe, Move Imperial, Imperial College Union, the Student Wellbeing Advisor who ran a gratitude wall, Library services and the Chaplaincy. There was also a craft zone and a raffle.

The event brought students and staff together to talk about Wellbeing and socialise with fellow Silwoodians and visitors.

The event was a great success and goody bags were handed out to all students!

Wellbeing resources for students

University can be an overwhelming experience sometimes. The Life Sciences Senior Tutors, Professor Stephen Brickley and Professor Stuart Haslam are the primary point of contact for undergraduates and always ready to offer advice.  

The Student Wellbeing Advice (SWA) Team are also here to offer support and the Life Sciences representative is Syeda Razzak (s.razzak@imperial.ac.uk).

Students can discuss anything affecting their personal and academic life with the SWA team – including things like stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, relationships and more. They offer confidential, non-judgemental advice and can act as a first point-of-contact for when students are unsure about where to go or what to do.

There are also mental health services at the wider College level. These are a good place to start in terms of regular therapy sessions, getting a study mentor, or attending mental health workshops.