Barts
The current president is Venus, and you can e-mail her at medsin_bl@yahoo.co.uk
SEXPRESSION:
At the moment BLsexpression is in the process of organising teacher training for sexpression members as we have contacted Leyton college who is interesting in having us to teach SRE on Wedensdays.
This teacher training is accredited and is comprised of a total 30 hours of training. Once we have organised everything we will contact all members and arrange for them to be trained, and recruit new members who will be interested.
There's been a long dry patch for sexpression but things are picking up now. Hopefully we will be up and running by September 2008.
SKIP BL:
SKIP BL has expanded vastly. We have many new recruits as well as an extended enthusiastic committee incorporating important roles such as a fundraising sub-committee, equiptment/supplies officers, press/media, extra-curricular officers etc.
New members attended the SKIP national annual conference in Birmingham.
Fundraising has been a strong point. We raised around £4000 from RAG bucket collections (2006), £200 from speed dating event (2006) and £300 from the speed dating (2007) event - always a great success - and around £200 from the skip cake sale (2007). 2008 saw more success and the total figure raised is currently being calculated.
STOP AIDS:
This year we have carried out a campaign to help providers such as MSF get new and second-line treatments to those who need them, we’ve been lobbying the government and the pharmaceutical companies throughout the year to get them to make a plan at the upcoming G8 summit for the funding for the 2010 promise.
We started this campaign in Fresher’s week getting 200 hundred campaign cards signed and sent off to MPs and Tony Blair.
For the first time at Bart’s and The London we hosted the Unite to Fight AIDS Speaker Tour in October, we had four dynamic young activists from three different continents speaking, the evening was a great success.
We continued the campaign with a successful World Aids Day on 1st Dec, where we held a cake stall and an information stall through out the day. We raised £250 for the Terrence Higgins Trust. Then we ended the evening with a Salsa night with proceeds going to Terrence Higgins also.
Following World Aids Day we were involved in a week of sexual health promotion throughout the university named S.H.A.G. week (Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance).
Our society was involved in a Stop Aids Day of action on March 20th, over 75 Student Stop AIDS Campaigners took part in a mass lobby of parliament and put pressure on Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for International Development, before the G8 Development Ministers’ Meeting in Berlin on March 26th and 27th. We then presented MPs with a call to action asking them to take steps to ensure that the UK government does all it can to ensure that AIDS is prioritised at this year’s G8 and that the promise of Universal Access to Treatment by 2010 is realised.
MARROW:
- 2008 clinic on March 12th - 18 people joined the register.
Friends of MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES:
We are excited to have set this up, and had it met with huge enthusiasm. Our inaugural lecture, by Rose Ansorge was an introduction to MSF and a description of the critical situation in refugee camps of Eastern Chad. Our lecture hall was bursting at the seams and people had to find room to sit on the floor!
In Autumn term (2008) we shall be screening the film "Invisibles" by Javier Bardem.
Scope-IFMSA
- This exchange scheme was set up at Barts last year. We are looking forward to welcoming 9 foreign friends to Barts this August. They are from Brazil (2), Peru, Thailand, Jamaica, Canada (2), Mexico (2).
KENYAN ORPHAN PROJECT:
- The KOP group at Barts is doing well. From the beginning we jumped headfirst into raising money towards our project, with fail-safe charity events such as cake sales.
- February 2008: Cake sale raised £260.
- March 2008: 'Evening with KOP' - pics and video of trip.
- Other fundraising ideas to hopefully take place next academic year:
- * "Safari night" @ BL student union
- * KOP walk around London
- * Long distance bike-a-thon
- * Money for KOP through RAG week events (this money will go towards individual funds that each student needs to raise for the project in order to travel to Kenya this summer).
This year KOP was voted "best society 2008" by the Barts and The London Student Association.
The new committee look forward to adding new ideas, and everyone is keen to raise the success KOP has already had in Kisumu, Kenya.
UNICEF:
- This project has just been set up. Fundraising events and lectures are planned for the Autumn term.
British Sign Language CLASSES:
A slight diversion from traditional medsin activities. This was started in Autumn 2007. Two BSL classes ran on Thursday evenings. Each one hour long, with approximately 16 students.
We now run FOUR classes!
Our external teacher is very experienced - and we've had enthusiastic and positibe feedback from the students.
Barts & The London Committee
- Venus Ameen - President
