Category: KCLSU

Everything You Need to Know About the Positive Peers

20th October 2020 / / 0 Comments

Post contributed by Helen Kursten-Holmes, Positive Peer Supervisor

The Positive Peers are a student-led volunteer group that sits within KCLSU Wellbeing. We aim to enhance the personal and collective wellbeing of King’s College London students by giving evidence-based information to improve student mental health and wellbeing, sharing experiences and connecting each other with helpful resources. We organise a variety of interactive events and workshops throughout the year that all students can participate in. Through our projects and events, we seek to promote, support and celebrate the wellbeing of students at King’s and to create a healthier and happier community. The Positive Peers team is divided into 3 main strands, each led by Positive Peer Supervisors. The strands comprise of Peer Run-Support, Peer Health Education, and Engagement and Online Support.

The Peer-Run Support strand delivers one-to-one and group support for students experiencing mental health difficulties. This includes Positive Minds, a 4-week course to support students experiencing low mood and mild depression. We will be launching this course in November, so if you’re feeling a bit low and finding university difficult, you can attend our peer support group Positive Minds or reach out for a one-to-one chat with us. Alongside this, we also offer wellbeing checks where we interact with new students to support their transition to university and to highlight KCLSU Wellbeing resources and other essential services. During Welcome 2020, the Positive Peers spoke to over 100 new King’s students in our one-to-one virtual King’s Check-in sessions. These sessions were offered to new students to make sure that they had everything they needed to get started and thrive at King’s.

The Peer Health Education strand leads on education and outreach through delivering workshops and facilitating initiatives about mental health and wellbeing, online, on campus, in residence halls, and for specific student groups. This strand’s activities include wellbeing checks, Cooking and Conversation, which is a cooking workshop in partnership with King’s Residences where students learn a new healthy recipe while getting to know other students, and our 3 part programme, Thrive. This 3 week course gives students the support to learn strategies that can promote positive wellbeing and equips them with the tools and activities that can be included in their daily routine so that they can flourish. Thrive is one of our most popular courses and in light of the pandemic, we have been delivering it virtually. To join our next Thrive programme starting in November, sign up for it using our Eventbrite page.

The Engagement and Online Support strand runs the team’s digital outreach by creating accessible communications for all students (including those not on campus) to improve their wellbeing and promote the team’s activities. The digital team also creates the monthly Positive Peers newsletter, detailing our recent news and campaigns, upcoming events and wellbeing tips. You can read our October newsletter by clicking here. The team also writes blog posts for the KCLSU website and each blog post delves into a variety of wellbeing topics, tips and themes, our most recent one is Settling in at University. In addition to this, we have a podcast and lots of content on social media to help boost wellbeing and increase awareness of mental health and wellbeing events and concepts. For Wellbeing Week (2nd November – 6th November), we are organising a Positive Peers Instagram takeover of Project X’s Instagram and collaborating with Big Pitch Energy on a competition that will be open to all King’s students, staff and alumni, where you can win £50 and be featured on our newsletter. So, make sure you keep an eye out on our socials for more information about how you can take part!

We hope to see you at our upcoming events and if you have any questions, our inbox and social media are always open so feel free to get in touch.

Visit our website: www.kclsu.org/help/wellbeing/positivepeers

Email us: positivepeers@kcl.ac.uk

Connect with us on social media:

Try It … Take Time Out In Residences

3rd May 2019 / / 0 Comments

Your Wellbeing Break Space During Exam Time!

Exams season is an important and often stressful time for all those taking part, but to get the best out of your studies we also encourage you to try and enjoy the present by taking a break, and savouring the small things in life!
Hopefully you’ve already made time to visit the Take Time Out tents on campus and enjoy the different activities happening there and other locations around campus.
The campaign runs from 29 April to 10 May,  so unwind for an hour or two and enjoy free smoothies, games, conversations and the possibility to win prices. Good luck!
Head over to the KCLSU #taketimeout website to find out more about the campaign.

Don’t forget we also have extra events happening in Residences too!

Your Community Facilitators will be hosting activities in your common room or courtyards (weather permitting) – so join them and give yourself a well-earned break!

Activities are free to attend – Just turn up and enjoy!  Please note booking is required for Cooking & Conversation sessions.

See the schedules below or click here.

We’re Taking Mondays Back !

21st January 2019 /

 

 

It is quite common to feel a bit down in January. The festivities are over, the decorations are taken down, and it’s back to reality. For some of you, it has been full on with exams and deadlines.  There is a particular day of the month considered the most depressing and unsurprisingly, it’s a Monday. Boo.

Dubbed ‘Blue Monday,’ it typically falls on the third Monday of the year. This year January 21st bears the brunt of this dreaded title.

The concept was first publicised as part of a 2005 press release from holiday company Sky Travel. Dr Cliff Arnall claimed that due to some factors including weather, debt and time since Christmas, ‘scientifically’ this time of year is quite depressing for us in the northern hemisphere. He even came up with a formula to calculate the date. Since then, this January Monday has been lumbered with negative and miserable connotations.

However, In a recent interview for the Independent Dr Arnall has said that it was not his intention to make this a negative day but in fact  to ‘ encourage people, where possible, to take a positive outlook on the time of year as an opportunity for new beginnings and change.’

So we are taking back our Mondays and making an intentional effort to make the 21st January the best Monday of the year so far!

 

Here are our five ways to beat the Monday Blues:

1. Express Gratitude

Starting your day by listing the things you are grateful for is quite literally one of the best ways you can start any day. Doing this first thing on a Monday morning will remind you of all of the great things in your life and give you a whole bunch of reasons to get on with your day.

2. Get moving in the sunlight

Natural sunlight increases our Vitamin D level which in turn boosts serotonin. So why not go for a lunchtime stroll to soak up some of those sun rays and boost endorphins? Leaving you feeling calmer and happier.

Check out what sports activities are happening on the BeActive Timetable.

3. Watch your favourite film

Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of your day by planning an evening snuggled up with your favourite blanket and your favourite movie. You could even invite some of the other students living in your residence to join you. Lose yourself in the story of some of your favourite characters.

4.Sing The Blues Away with KCL ResiLife

Singing in a group can be a great way to reduce stress. Along with the socialising aspect, singing has been known to lower blood pressure due to specific breathing techniques similar to yoga methods.  So why not spend your evening destressing by singing some of our favourite uplifting songs.

Singing The Blues Away

5. Burgers and Board Games KCLSU events

Get to know some new people and eat some good food to start your week off right. Head over to Guys Bar from 5 pm every Monday for their Burgers and Board Games event.  Play any of their board games, and the winner gets a free Pint! (T&C’s applied! One Pint per game/hour).

Burgers+Board Games

 

So whatever you choose to do today, make this Monday a happy Monday!

 

Words by Keira ResiLife

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Girl Can Week

20th November 2017 / / 0 Comments

20-24 November 2017

This Girl Can is a celebration of active women who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets!

To celebrate active women, King’s Sport and KCLSU are coming together to deliver a week of amazing free and fun sports sessions and events.

Click on the link for all event details and get involved and try something new!

 This Girl Can Week

Share your ‘This Girl Can’ experience, stories and pictures on social media throughout the week by tagging @kclsu  and @kingsresilife and using the hashtag #ThisKingsGirlCan  #kingsresilife

For more information and inspiration check out the This Girl Can website:

The Girl Can

Getting Active at King’s

16th January 2017 / / 0 Comments

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There’s no need to spend money on an expensive gym membership or fancy London yoga glasses. As a King’s student and resident you have access to a wide range of sports and activities run by professionals, and most of them are free! Keeping active helps you stay stress-free and more productive, so it’s the best way to procrastinate this exam period.

BeActive_Yoga

BeActive Halls

BeActive Halls is a social sports programme open to all residents. Run by King’s Sport and KCLSU, the programme has a range of activities including yoga, football, boot camp and more! Each activity is based at a different residence, so you’re bound to find something right on your door step.

As a resident, you also have free access to the regular BeActive timetable, which is open to all King’s students. This programme has just launched a ‘how-to’ timetable, where you can try a sport/activity that you haven’t experienced before.

You can watch a video here and you can find the new spring timetables here.

giphy (7)KCLSU Sports Clubs 

KCLSU has over 50 sports clubs to choose from, all at a variety of levels. Whether you consider yourself a pro athlete or you just want to try something new, there’s something for you.

You can find a full list of clubs here.

King’s Sport Gyms

King’s Sport run residence gyms at Great Dover Street and Champion Hill. If you live in these residences you can visit your corresponding gym for free (it’s included in your fees), simply ask at reception.

King’s Health and Fitness centre is run by King’s Spot at Stamford Street, Waterloo. All Stamford Street Apartment residents can attend the gym for free! All other students have access to a very affordable membership.

The gym is fully equipped with cardio equipment and weights, and also has a full range of classes available that are included in your gym membership. Find more information on their website here.

GDSAGYM

 

Meet Ben Hunt, your KCLSU President

20th September 2016 / / 2 Comments

Hi – I’m Ben HuKCLSU_Bennt, KCLSU President.

I’m a Philosophy student, was Vice President for Education (Arts & Sciences) last year and am your elected President for 2016/17. As part of the Student Officer team, my job’s to lead KCLSU (our Students’ Union), represent your views to the university and make sure your student experience at King’s is the best possible.

Our Union’s where we can get involved in university life outside our courses, make a difference for ourselves, each other and the world around us, socialise and connect with one of the most diverse networks of people in the world and access support when we need advice or help to make the most of our time at King’s.

King’s students are an incredibly diverse group – we study different subjects, at different levels and we all have different backgrounds and identities, so we all need different things. Leaving with our degrees is of course a huge priority, but we’re also here to build memories, meet people and explore the interests that make us who we are.

Together, we’ve done incredible things to improve the lives of our fellow students, at King’s and beyond, as well as for our communities. Here’s just a tiny snapshot:

  • Ensured the University would act as rent guarantors for International students. Previously, International students were struggling to secure accommodation.
  • Put Kosher food on the menu in KCLSU and University spaces.
  • Worked with disadvantaged communities in outreach projects, inspiring young people to pursue Higher or Further Education.
  • Made sure free sanitary products were available for free to students in our Student Centres.
  • Raised hundreds of thousands for charity, every year.
  • Campaigned against cuts in the NHS.
  • Reduced the number of redundancies made in the Health Schools.
  • Campaigned for microwaves in our spaces so we can eat our own food.

If you’re planning to work while you study, you could work with the Union. All our staff earn the London Living Wage – something we campaigned for and won. There are usually jobs going in our venues, Student Centre and in the offices, but check out kclsu.org/workwithus to see what’s available.

You’ll find us on campus, online and we always want to hear from you!

Ben

KCLSU President 2016/17

kclsu.org/studentofficers

 

 

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