Welfare at Hild Bede
College Student Support
Laura Todd, our Vice Principal, and Elaine Franklin, our Assistant Principal are available to offer advice, support and signposting on issues relating to academic and pastoral matters. Their offices are located in the Rook building. To schedule an appointment, you can contact Laura or Elaine directly via email. Equally, you can email or drop by the Student Support Office and speak to one of our lovely Student Support Administrators, Joanne and Helen.
Joanne and Helen are the first port of call for all matters relating to your student life (such as course registration, exam concessions, student loans, reporting illness, and obtaining hardship forms) and can be contacted at hildbede.college@durham.ac.uk. Professor Simon Forrest, our Principal, is similarly more than happy to answer any queries or concerns you might have. Our Student Support Team are also contactable via a dedicated email address.
Student Welfare Team
Hild Bede's SRC provides a non-judgemental listening and signposting service and plans regular events throughout the academic year, especially during particularly stressful times such as exam season.
The welfare team are students themselves; they are here to provide peer support for you and a link to other forms of help within the College and University.
They can also provide free sexual health supplies, period products, and pregnancy tests. These can either be collected from drop in sessions or direct contact (e.g. email or DM) with the Welfare Officers and collected from a pigeon hole in college. There is also a permanent box with these supplies in College (currently in the cupboard in the Welfare Room and JCR respectively.
You can contact the Welfare Team directly via their Instagram or email.
Mentors
You, as part of a group of fellow students, will be assigned a College mentor - usually an alumni, member of College Staff, or another individual with a special and sustained link to Hild Bede - responsible for providing another level of pastoral support whilst you are a student here.
Alongside a 'Meet the Mentors' event in Fresher's Week, each mentor is given a small amount of money by the college to spend on you. The way they perform their social obligations varies immensely: some invite people for dinner, others will take you out, and some may get drinks at the bar.
It is a brilliant scheme in so many ways, giving you an extra source of pastoral support should you need it, as well as the opportunity to meet fellow students and, sometimes, have some free food and drink!