Volunteers raise over £1000 for local cancer charity


Fifteen University of Cumbria students from Hong Kong raised over £1000 for local charity Cancer Care by packing shopping bags for customers of Marks and Spencers in Lancaster.


On 31 March, the Chinese students packed bags for shoppers and were able to raise £1020.94 in just six hours. The event was organised by University of Cumbria Students’ Union Volunteer Coordinator, Emma Egglestone and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Senior Lecturer, Krista Court. The event had an educational angle too as it gave the students the opportunity to speak to local people and practise their English.


During the bag-pack, the students also handed out flyers and signed up sponsors for ‘Starwalk’ (www.starwalk.org.uk), a sponsored 16km walk around Kendal by women at night on 8 May to raise funds for Cancer Care in Lancaster and Kendal. Three members of the University of Cumbria Students’ Union staff will be taking part; Emma Egglestone, Trish Lee (Student Advisor) and Paula Shallcross (Retail Assistant). If you’d like to sponsor them, please log on to: www.justgiving.com/ucsu


The Chinese student volunteers


All the students are currently studying on a 15-week semester abroad programme at the University of Cumbria, during which time they take a variety of academic modules and spend a day a week observing classes in local primary and secondary schools. They live with host families while in the UK and also visit places of historical and cultural interest. They are all from the Hong Kong Institute of Education, where they are studying a BA in Contemporary English and Education.


The students really enjoyed the day, with one saying “The volunteering event was fun and meaningful,” while another added, “It was one of the highlights of my stay!”


Helen Hartin from Cancer Care, was extremely grateful and absolutely delighted with the amount raised. She said: “This was so much more than we expected, it will make a huge difference to Cancer Care.”


Emma Egglestone said, “The students were fantastic; they worked really hard all day and enjoyed chatting to the customers. It would be great to work with other tutors and their student groups on future community events.”


For more information about volunteering at the University of Cumbria, please call Emma Egglestone on 01524 526577 or email: emma.egglestone@cumbria.ac.uk


Enjoying life at the University of Cumbria


Students from around 15 different countries have joined the University’s recently launched International Student Society (ISS) at the Fusehill Street campus.


Karen Shaw, LISS senior adviser – Academic Liaison (International), says: “The Society aims to focus on bringing people together and celebrating diversity along with developing a range of activities and events for new and existing international students and of course, to provide a warm welcome to Cumbria for new international students, organising everything from social events to induction programmes for new arrivals. Students from other campuses are welcome to join—we hope to set up an international society on each of our main campuses.”


(L-R) Shibu Augustian and Camilla Steskow at Fusehill Street campus


ISS Chairman, Shibu Augustian from India, has been in Carlisle for seven months studying for an MBA. Shibu said: “I’ve really enjoyed my time in Cumbria. The people have been great and life at the University is good. The only problem has been the weather!


“We have about 15 different nationalities represented at the moment, with 39 members in total. Everyone is very busy with their studies, but we are looking at arranging some good social events for when the exams are over!”


Camilla Steskow, from Denmark, is the ISS secretary. Camilla, who is studying business studies, said: “I think it’s good to have a group in place which helps people coming to a new country. It can be quite daunting for some people. I’ve really enjoyed my experience since moving from Denmark.”


The ISS was formed in January and has met several times, organising a fundraising evening, a tour of Carlisle, a trip to Manchester, a Valentine’s party, and an International party at the Calva Bar.


The ISS welcomes new members, both UK and international, and is seeking ideas for future events – post your suggestions on our Facebook page.


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