Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Blog Page 451

Oxford blood donations cancelled for COVID-19 plasma trial

Abigail Howe
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Oxford blood donations cancelled for COVID-19 plasma trial

Oxford is cancelling some blood donations over the next few weeks in order to divert resources to COVID-19 trials. The blood donation resources will be used to support a national plasma trial, led by Oxford Professor of Haematology David Roberts. 

This trial was announced by the Department of Health and Social Care on 25th April and aims to investigate whether plasma transfusions from patients who have recovered from coronavirus could be an effective treatment. It is believed that this plasma may contain antibodies which would fight the disease, potentially increasing a patient’s likelihood of survival and speed of recovery. 

Speaking to the Oxford Mail, Roberts said that “in previous flu and coronavirus epidemics, some reports suggested antibodies from donors who had recovered from the disease could be used to treat acutely ill patients… [This] is an exciting development as there is no proven treatment for COVID-19.”

NHS Blood and Transplant has collected over 400 plasma donations so far. Potential donors can give their details here.

Preliminary studies in China have been hopeful. Ten patients received a 200ml dose of plasma and researchers argued that all symptoms subsided within three days.

Prof Sir Robert Lechler, the president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, spoke to The Guardian, saying: “Convalescent plasma transfusions are not a silver bullet solution for the coronavirus health crisis; however, they do have the potential to be hugely beneficial. The US has charged ahead with this. They have already treated 500 patients with convalescent plasma, and although it is much too soon to know the results, anecdotally it has helped patients recover.”

A potential advantage to plasma treatments is plasma’s longevity. According to Scotblood, “blood has a shelf life of 35 days and platelets can only be used for up to seven days, while fresh frozen plasma can be kept for up to three years”. Plasma could then be stored and used in the event of a second wave.

The short shelf-life of blood does mean that this strategy culminates in risk. Freeing up appointments in donation centres requires cancelling blood and platelet donation appointments. Blood and platelets have shorter shelf-lives than plasma, so there is the risk that supplies will run low. 

While a drop in blood and platelet supplies would typically culminate in concern, the drop in non-urgent surgery creates a similar drop in demand. An NHS Blood and Transplant spokesperson insisted supplies of blood would still be available for those in need and clarified the policy change: “We are still collecting blood and platelet in Oxford so please keep making appointments to donate. Donation saves lives.

“This new trial is part of the national research effort against the coronavirus and we hope people understand if we make any changes to your appointment… If your appointment is cancelled until another day it means we have good blood and platelet stocks, and the appointment time can be used for someone to donate plasma to a seriously ill COVID-19 patient.”

Appointments can be re-booked by visiting blood.co.uk, using the NHSGiveBlood app or calling 0300 123 23 23.

Image Credit to: fernandozhiminaicela/Pixabay

Oxford City Council set to lose £24m from coronavirus

Matthew Schaffel
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Oxford City Council set to lose £24m from coronavirus

Oxford City Council stands to lose £24 million as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This marks a sharp change in economic fortunes for one of the few UK councils to usually return money to the Treasury. 

It is predicted that the Council will also lose a further £11 million in the next year, with an extra cost to the public of £1 million. This is despite the recent payment of £1,511,436 to the Council from the Government, with an additional £110,247 also provided in April. 

In a letter to the Communities and Local Government Secretary, Leader of the Council Susan Brown explained the reasons for the shortfall: “This is in part due to the city forming a focal point for some of the most difficult challenges, such as housing rough sleepers and targeting assistance across diverse communities. In the main, however, it reflects our longstanding reliance on generating income.” 

She noted the particular effect on incomes “from our historic city centre retail property portfolio, from car-parking, and from commercial earnings generated by our wholly-owned direct services company ODS and our housing development company OCHL.”

The Council Leader also outlines the steps the Council has put in place to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, all of which have impacted the Council’s financial plans: “We’ve delivered food, medicine and other support to 1,500 vulnerable households across the city, rented more than 120 hotel, college and hostel rooms for homeless people to social distance, and facilitated more than £75 million of immediate financial support to Oxford’s businesses.”

While welcoming the support the Government has given Oxford City Council, Mrs Brown explains that this is not currently sufficient: “The City Council is significantly more exposed to these financial impacts than some of our neighbouring councils… you will see that the allocation covers just 13 percent of our total funding gap.”

The issue of how the funding has been distributed between councils was a key point of the letter to the Communities Secretary: “I note the allocations were made across the country on a per capita basis, which does not take into account the more challenging position for city-based local authorities such as Oxford. I am afraid it falls a long way short of our needs to deal with the immediate impacts of the Coronavirus, let alone its full financial impact longer term.”

The Council has suggested that more flexibility is required with the rules governing its budget, with the request that the capital budget (reserved usually for long-term building projects) be made available to coronavirus-related services. There have also been calls to lift a ban imposed in the spring budget from borrowing money from the Public Works Loan Board.

Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said: “The Government is penalising those councils who are going the extra mile, which in my mind is exactly what we need from our local authorities right now. Robert Jenrick thinks the funding already announced is ‘more than enough’ – well the letter from all of Oxfordshire’s council leaders to him last month shows he’s incorrect.

“I’m calling on the Government to reverse this decision and give councils the funding they need to survive this crisis. They’re on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus and deserve better than Whitehall abandoning them.”

Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East, said: “Oxford City Council have been working hard to support Oxford’s residents during this crisis. While I welcomed the government’s announcement of additional funding for local authorities, we need to ensure that it fills the financial gap that our councils are facing, including direct costs and foregone revenue. 

“I have raised this with the Chancellor and will continue to push on this to ensure our councils can continue to provide their essential services during this crisis and beyond.”

Image Credit to: sidharthbhatia/Unsplash.com

Oxford student launches app to help social distancing

Florine Lips
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Oxford student launches app to help social distancing

An Oxford doctoral student has co-designed an app to help users practise social distancing by locating crowded areas in their neighbourhood, which can then be avoided. 

The app, Crowdless, uses real-time data, both crowdsourced and taken from existing sources such as Google Maps, to provide information on how busy they are. It aims to encourage safe social distancing by advising the public on when to visit supermarkets and other public places.

Launched on 20th April, the app was developed by Lanterne, a UK-based social enterprise co-founded by Sebastian Müller, Yohan Iddawela, and Alex Barnes, a doctoral student at Oxford. 

All three specialise in conflict technology, and the app had originally been conceived as a way of helping those living in conflict zones avoid danger, but the COVID-19 pandemic led them to shift their focus towards encouraging the public to safely follow government regulations. 

The highest number of users are based in Germany and Spain, and they aim to reach 100,000 weekly users around the world within the next three months.

The app was developed with the support of Oxford Foundry, an organisation set up in 2017 with the aim of supporting Oxford students and alumni in their entrepreneurial endeavours. Last year, Lanterne won the best post-graduate idea award at the Foundry’s All-Innovate competition, and in March of this year the enterprise was presented at the Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Forum. 

Lanterne has been featured on the Foundry’s website as one of 13 ventures who are actively responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of whom are being supported as part of the Foundry’s OXFO COVID-19 Action Plan. 

As a GDPR compliant app, it does not collect users’ personal information and adheres to data privacy protection standards. The information provided is collected on an opt-in basis, using only the most relevant results. The enterprise works closely with Adapt to ensure that data protection standards are met.

Alex Barnes said: “Our plans to roll out our core product — an app to help people navigate safely in conflict areas — were heavily disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak. We were keen to see what we could do to help in the current circumstances, and we came up with Crowdless. We think it will be extremely useful for people who need to travel to shops and grocery stores but are trying to do social distancing effectively to protect themselves and the wider population.”

The app is available for free on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. 

Image courtesy of Lanterne Ltd.

Oxford colleges provide meals for the vulnerable

Isabella Colletta
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Oxford colleges provide meals for the vulnerable

A number of Oxford colleges have joined forces to assist with an Oxford Mutual Aid (OMA) project to make and deliver hot meals to the vulnerable in Oxfordshire.

University College announced they would be re-opening their kitchens on 1st May to help provide hot meals to restart the meals delivery service, in partnership with OMA, Dementia Oxfordshire, and AGE UK. The pilot scheme, named “The Kitchen Collective”, was launched by OMA following cuts to the home meals delivery service because of social distancing measures.

Since launching the scheme at the beginning of May, a small team of volunteers, including the University College Head and Sous Chef, have been working to continue to expand the programme. Between 6th May and 8th May, the number of meals provided as part of the initiative grew from 170 to 350 hot meals.

Image by Paul Moloney – University College

Jesus and Wadham College both announced recently that they would be supporting and up-scaling the project by providing University College, with further funding to continue meal production and to ensure the sustainability of the scheme. 

Angela Unsworth, University College Domestic Bursar, expressed in a statement to Cherwell that: “University College is pleased to be able to support vulnerable people in our wider community at such difficult times. We are grateful for the collaborative efforts of Wadham and Jesus Colleges in assisting us in doing so.”

Ruedi Baumann, Director of Accommodation, Catering & Conferences at Jesus College, explained the colleges’ decision to contribute to the project saying: “We were initially approached by OMA, who were asking colleges if they could support any of the wide range of projects they’re running to help vulnerable people during the pandemic. This initiative, instigated by Univ, is a wonderful way to collaborate with other colleges in order to support the community and one we are very happy to be a part of.”

France Lloyd, Domestic Bursar of Wadham College, further added that “Wadham was keen to help OMA after hearing about their pilot scheme. This initiative is a wonderful way to collaborate with other colleges in order to support our Oxford community.”

Meals are given to Dementia Oxfordshire and AGE UK home service users, including those suffering with dementia and the elderly, families who receive free school meals vouchers, and other food insecure people within the Oxfordshire community.

A spokesperson from OMA expressed the importance of the College’s support for the project, stating to Cherwell: “We are delighted to have had donations and other offers of help from many different colleges, including Christ Church, Wadham, St. Catherine’s, Jesus, Merton, St. Anne’s, and Univ.”

Pointing to the importance of the project, OMA said: “Given the uncertain times ahead, we must all work together to ensure that no one in our community is going hungry.

“The colleges play a unique role in city life, and it is wonderful to see such a clear and unequivocal show of support. Many Oxford Mutual Aid volunteers are students and post-grads, and we all think that the involvement of the colleges has helped cement the idea that we are all in this together.” 

Image Credits: Paul Moloney from University College

Trinity College chef shares recipes for students on Instagram

Florine Lips
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Trinity College chef shares recipes for students on Instagram

Trinity College’s Head Chef, Julian Smith, is helping students recreate their favourite college meals at home by uploading detailed recipes online. So far, eight recipes have been published on the college’s website and Instagram page, subject to request and popularity. 

The recipes consist of step-by-step instructions, complete with pictures showing every stage of the process. Recipes have included restaurant-standard dishes such as ratatouille bruschetta and crème brulée with sorbet.

Julian Smith said on the Trinity College website: “I have initially struggled but after three weeks of family isolation I have finally got some structure to my daily routine. On Sunday I plan the dinner menus for the coming week, incorporating at least two dishes to write up with pictures for our students.

“Around 6pm most days I will make preparations for dinner, this has now turned into the main event of the day! In our small family we have one gluten-free pescatarian, one lactose-intolerant vegetarian and an eleven month old baby – so just like a smaller version of Trinity!”

Students can request certain recipes they’d like to try, and find them under #CookingWithJules on the college’s Instagram page @trinitycollegeox. 

View this post on Instagram

Another request for a #CookingWithJules recipe, this time from Twitter asking for his delicious lemon posset!! @trinitychefjules LEMON POSSET WITH SHORTBREAD ** Ingredients *** For the posset — 650ml double cream — 150g caster sugar — Grated zest and 100g juice of unwaxed lemons For the butter shortbread — 255g plain flour, sifted — 170g salted butter, diced and kept cold — 125g caster sugar, plus extra to dust *** Method*** — Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/gas mark 3. Heat the cream and sugar to scalding point, not boiling, in a small saucepan. While still on the heat, whisk in the lemon zest and juice and bring to the boil for 30 seconds, whisking all the time. — Remove the pan from the heat and put to one side for the posset mixture to cool. When cool, pour into small (150ml) glasses, then refrigerate until set. This should take around 30 minutes. — To make the shortbread, whizz the flour, butter and caster sugar together in a food processor, until the mixture comes together. Alternatively you can do this with your hands by rubbing the mixture together between your fingertips and then lightly pressing it together to form a ball – don’t overwork the dough at this stage. Turn out on to a sheet of non-stick greaseproof paper and roll out to ½cm thick using a floured rolling pin. Using a 5cm round pastry cutter, cut out rounds of dough and carefully transfer to a baking sheet lined with more greaseproof paper. Sprinkle with some extra caster sugar and bake in the preheated oven for 10–15 minutes or until lightly golden. Once out of the oven allow the shortbread rounds to rest for 10 minutes. — Serve the posset chilled, accompanied by the shortbread. #recipes #recipe #homecooking #homebaking #recipeshare #shortbread #lemonposset #lockdown #lockdownlife #trinitycollegeoxford

A post shared by Trinity College, Oxford (@trinitycollegeox) on

Other college chefs are using similar methods to engage with students, such as Simon Robinson, Head of Catering Services at Hertford. In a video on the college’s YouTube channel, Robinson outlines his “Top Tips for a Hertford Dining Experience at Home”, which includes advice on meals, drinks, and after-dinner entertainment.

Image Credit: Julian Smith, @trinitycollegeox

Oxford Living Wage Campaign and UCU express concern over ‘paternalistic’ Hardship Fund

Christina Kirk
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Oxford Living Wage Campaign and UCU express concern over ‘paternalistic’ Hardship Fund

Oxford University’s Human Resources Department established a Staff COVID-19 Hardship Fund, intended to alleviate some of the financial stress brought upon its employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The site explaining the details of the Fund, accessible on the HR webpage – notes that Department Heads of Administration and Finance should apply on behalf of individual employees. Applicants may write directly if they wish, but they must get a supplementary letter of support from the Head of Administration and Finance.

In the application, employees must include their name, employing department, grade and salary including length of service, income and expenditure details, and sufficient detail to support the application and whether financial hardship has been demonstrated. Oxford HR also recommends that applicants include “specific requirements” for financial assistance brought on by the pandemic.

The Oxford Living Wage Campaign told Cherwell: “This is yet another inadequate response to the current crisis from the university. It is an unnecessarily intrusive and bureaucratic process, and exposes Oxford’s typically paternalistic approach to its workers. We are concerned that this hardship fund will be much harder to access for those lower down the pay scale, and those who do not have cosy relationships with their heads of division. Oxford should not be turning the demonstration of hardship into a competition, and should not make financial support conditional upon workers disclosing the intricacies of their private spending. You do not rescind your right to a private life at the workplace door. We again repeat our demand that the university and all its colleges guarantee job and immigration security, with 100% pay (with a ‘hazard pay’ uplift to 125% for those unable to work from home) for all workers on all contract types during and after this crisis.”

In a statement given to Cherwell, a spokesperson for the University said: “The Hardship Fund was established to support the existing Littlemore Trust staff fund in recognition that the Covid-19 crisis may have a significant financial impact on some staff and their families. This is one of a number of measures the University has brought in to support the health and well-being of our staff.  

“The fund is aimed at helping staff and students who are experiencing financial issues which may be resolved through a grant or, occasionally for staff, an interest-free loan.

“As with all organisations and businesses, the economic implications of the Covid19 crisis will be significant for the University. All our work throughout this difficult period is being done in our usual collaborative way, in discussion with Divisions, Departments, the Colleges, the University Administrative Service and the Gardens Libraries and Museums.”

The Oxford Living Wage Campaign and the Oxford University & College Union have posted critical statements in recent weeks about the University’s responses to the impact of COVID-19 on employee welfare. For instance, the UCU has petitioned the University to pause redundancies and disciplinary procedures during the pandemic.

When asked about the Oxford Living Wage Campaign’s statement regarding the Staff COVID-19 Hardship Fund, Marina Lambrakis, co-Vice-President of the Oxford UCU said, on behalf of the Oxford UCU: “It is good to see the University recognise that staff are facing hardship and unprecedented challenges at the moment. This fund could be a step in the right direction – but it is currently not at all clear how it will work: how applications will be evaluated or by who, how much money is available, or how it will be allocated. Having to disclose a huge amount of very personal information through your seniors to a generic email address, with no transparency about who will have access to that data, is deeply concerning to us and to many of our members. The Living Wage campaign are right to call this intrusive and paternalistic. We already know of staff feeling unsafe and pressured to return to work, and the University refuses to pause redundancies and is ploughing ahead with business as usual. It’s hard to say how much of their communications we can take in good faith. 

“The Oxford UCU branch are currently looking into setting up an independent hardship fund for members who have been adversely affected by Covid-19, following the model of Warwick Anti-Casualisation. We shouldn’t have to be doing this, but staff at the University are being let down – and not just our members. We encourage anyone interested to get in touch on [email protected] if you are keen to get involved in some way – and remember, postgrads also get UCU membership for free.”

Image Credit to: Tetiana Shyshkina/@shyshkina/unsplash.com

University announces vaccine partnership

Catherine Dema
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University announces vaccine partnership

On 30 April, the University of Oxford announced a partnership with biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for global development and distribution of the University’s potential recombinant adenovirus vaccine aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection from SARS-CoV-2. The partnership aims to bring the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine to patients if the vaccine becomes distributable. The vaccine candidate is being trialled by the University’s Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group. The coronavirus vaccine development began in January 2020.

If the University’s vaccine candidate is successful, AstraZeneca will be in charge of development, global manufacturing, and distribution of the vaccine. AstraZeneca will work to make the vaccine available in conjunction with global partners – with a focus on making the vaccine available and accessible to low- and medium-income countries. 

Both AstraZeneca and the University have agreed to operate on a not-for-profit basis during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Oxford University announcement states: “Oxford University and its spin-out company Vaccitech, who jointly have the rights to the platform technology used to develop the vaccine candidate, will receive no royalties from the vaccine during the pandemic. Any royalties the University subsequently receives from the vaccine will be reinvested directly back into medical research, including a new Pandemic Preparedness and Vaccine Research Centre. The centre is being developed in collaboration with AstraZeneca.”

The partnership is to be the first of its kind since the government launched a dedicated Vaccines Taskforce – aimed at finding, testing and delivering a new coronavirus vaccine. It comes alongside £20 million in government funding for the University’s vaccine research and clinical trials.

In a comment to Cherwell, an AstraZeneca spokesperson said: “The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca have a longstanding relationship to advance research and scientific understanding of complex diseases. By partnering we want to combine Oxford’s world-class expertise in vaccinology with AstraZeneca’s global development, manufacturing and distribution capabilities. Our hope is that, by joining forces, we can accelerate the globalisation of a vaccine to combat the virus and protect people from the deadliest pandemic in a generation.”

The spokesperson continued: “As COVID-19 continues its grip on the world, the need for a vaccine to defeat the virus is urgent. The Jenner Institute proved in previous trials that the same vaccine platform had shown promise in early clinical trials. This means they have been able to develop the potential COVID-19 vaccine and advance to clinical trials more quickly. AstraZeneca will be working closely with the University, governments, health authorities and CMOs over the coming weeks and months to ensure we can accelerate the development and manufacturing as quickly as possible.”

The partnership aims to increase the speed with which the vaccine  – if successful – could reach patients worldwide. 

In AstraZeneca’s announcement, Professor Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, said: “Our partnership with AstraZeneca will be a major force in the struggle against pandemics for many years to come. We believe that together we will be in a strong position to start immunising against coronavirus once we have an effective approved vaccine. Sadly, the risk of new pandemics will always be with us and the new research centre will enhance the world’s preparedness and our speed of reaction the next time we face such a challenge.”

The partnership will prepare for future pandemics and attempt to increase the speed with which such challenges are addressed. By creating the framework for future development, the University and AstraZeneca hope to improve responses to future pandemics.

Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, said: “The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca have a longstanding relationship to advance basic research and we are hugely excited to be working with them on advancing a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 around the world. We are looking forward to working with the University of Oxford and innovative companies such as Vaccitech, as part of our new partnership.”  

Oxford University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson, expressed her excitement about and approval of the AstraZeneca partnership. “Like my colleagues all across Oxford, I am deeply proud of the work of our extraordinarily talented team of academics in the Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group. They represent the best tradition of research, teaching and contributing to the world around us, that has been the driving mission of the University of Oxford for centuries. Like people all across the country, we are wishing them success in developing an effective vaccine. If they are successful, our partnership with AstraZeneca will ensure that the British people and people across the world, especially in low and middle income countries, will be protected from this terrible virus as quickly as possible.”

Image Credit to: fernandozhiminaicela/Pixabay

Oxford provides online learning resources for school students

Lucy Tansley
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Oxford provides online learning resources for school students

Oxford University is providing resources to help children learn while schools are closed. The Department of Education is providing online home-schooling resources and Oxplore, a digital learning portal, has seen significantly increased traffic. 

Oxford’s Department of Education aims to “contribute to all phases of public education in the UK and internationally” with its research and services. It has collated a large selection of materials to help parents home-school their children during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Their website, which brings together over ninety links for helpful websites and learning tools, echoes efforts from around the university to provide support for those working from home. Balliol have created a set of similar resources and guides for educators to help them with online teaching, as well as advice for parents.

Oxford University Press has also created an online portal for those in all stages of education in lockdown, aiming to provide “expert advice, resources and tailored guidance to support children’s learning”. Its “Oxford Owl” service offers activities and material for teaching primary school age pupils in particular. 

Oxford University runs a digital outreach portal Oxplore, which offers an accessible look at “Big Questions” aimed at 11-18-year-olds through quizzes, exercises and activities. Questions include “Does a god exist?”, “Can war be a good thing?”, “Does it matter who you love?” and “Should healthcare be free?”. Although designed for use by young people, Oxplore has produced resources for parents hoping to engage their children in lockdown, and is running livestream events to discuss new topics. 

The University states that visits to the site had increased by 43% in the first weeks of lockdown, and that more than 8,900 of these visits were from first time users. Since the start of lockdown, more engagement has been noted from rural areas, and more remote regions, such as the Isle of Man. 

Dr Samina Khan, Oxford’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach, commented in a statement: “We want to target these resources in particular to those students from disadvantaged backgrounds,” to offer support and guidance whilst learning from home. 

In addition to its existing resources, Oxplore has adapted to the current climate by expanding their content. In a post on their outreach blog, Sarah Wilkin, Outreach Officer at Oxford University, wrote that “in the next few weeks, the Oxplore team will be posting mini-challenges for 11-18 year olds to complete using oxplore.org”, with the aim that these activities will “give students the opportunity to practise key skills used in university study such as building an argument, summarising information, and producing a creative response to a source.”

Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay

Zoom library and Discord beer pong: Virtual college life takes form

Mark Robins
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Zoom library and Discord beer pong: Virtual college life takes form

Social distancing has not stopped students from continuing college life. Whilst buildings may be closed, Entz and welfare events have transitioned online this term. 

Exeter JCR has created a “Zoom library”, which students can join to study alongside each other. To recreate the library atmosphere, participants place their microphones on mute while working. Students wishing to have a break or chat with friends can join a breakout room, acting as a “virtual JCR”.

“At first the idea was a bit of fun,” said JCR President William Dobbs, “but then we thought having an online space where people could work alongside each other might make it more bearable.

“We planned on opening it only on weekday mornings, but it’s since taken off and it’s now open all day throughout the week. People come and go as they like and keep it on in the background while they work. It has only worked because everyone has responded so well and kept it busy.”

St Catherine’s Entz team has hosted social events on the video call application Discord. The platform allows users to join different ‘tables’, each with a small number of people, and switch between them, as they would do in the college bar. Different activities, including dancing, take place in each ‘table’.

For the first event, organisers encouraged students to wear fancy dress and make a cocktail from a suggested recipe. 

Entz Reps Laura and Benji told Cherwell: “We knew we wanted to carry on with Entz this term because it’s such a big part of Catz life. The Discord server worked really well, and people could chat and easily move between conversations like they do normally at Entz events.”

The event was Pride-themed and over 50 people attended. The Entz team gave out awards for best outfit and drink. They added: “The highlights would probably be the ‘dance floor’ room where music was playing pretty loud and there was also a virtual beer pong game going on in one room with people coming in and out. We are really excited for the next one.”

Meanwhile, University College Music Society has organised open-mic nights via Zoom.

“Open Mic Reps” Guy and Memoona said: “We’ve already had two which were very successful, family members have been getting involved and the reception has been great. We have people perform covers, original music, poetry, and stand-up comedy. We’ve actually had a turnout that’s better than some of the in-person events.

“The highlights have to be when people get their families involved. We’ve had someone perform a duet with their father on accordion, someone’s mother read out some poetry, and had a brother-sister singing duet.”

Several colleges are using video calls to continue welfare support during lockdown. This includes Mansfield College’s weekly welfare teas, run by Chaplain Sarah Farrow. 

“It’s a way to reconnect with the Mansfield community –   to remember that you are part of something bigger,” said Rev’d Farrow. “If you’re feeling ‘stuck’ – at home, in college or wherever you are –joining the online welfare tea is a good way to get outside of one’s own situation.”

Elizabeth Li, Junior Dean, added: “Our hope is the welfare teas will help students to continue to feel part of the Mansfield community even where they’re not here physically. It’s helpful for students to see that everyone is experiencing similar feelings and challenges.”

Mansfield has also produced an e-magazine called “Virtual Quad”. It gives information about where to find support and welfare tips from staff and students.

Image Credit to: Vadim Sherbakov/@madebyvadim/unsplash.com

Oxford, Reviewed

Sophia Cerullo
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Oxford, Reviewed

The Radcliffe Camera

The pièce de résistance, the joire de vivre, the petit filous, the jewel in Oxford’s mighty, mighty crown. You’ve posted the shit out of it on your story, WhatsApp’d pictures to your dad so he can say how proud of you he is again. You’ve coerced friends into making a ‘little detour’ on the way back from Bridge so you can make a profound speech about how lucky you are and that these are the best days of your lives.

Other than stalking someone you know will definitely be in there (trying to do a nonchalant lap of the upper camera is no mean feat), what else do you actually do in the Rad Cam? Get a book? Actually do your work? Your library companion appears to know every single person sat in there – ‘oh, you know, Neave from OxWib!’ You spend your time desperately needing the loo (you’ve decided to go up the windy stairs which means it’s a 40 minute walk to the nearest lav and quite frankly you can’t be arsed), staring over the shoulder of some really quite old gentleman working on some sort of research and wondering if that’s what you would end up looking like if you did a panic masters. 

Finally, is the variety in chair type quaint or extremely jarring? 

The Bodleian Library 

For the first few weeks (term… year) of your degree you think this is just the square bit, but actually when people refer to ‘The Bodleian’ they mean the rad cam as well. And the glink, apparently. 

The square bit (does it actually have a name? please let me know) tiptoes the line of enjoyable and incredibly stressful– you think you know the route to go for a wee/fill up your Chilly’s/find a friend, but when you turn the corner you are actually in somewhere completely different to where you thought you were. Only to be smirked at by a fourth year linguist, you surreptitiously dial your lost pal: ‘right so if you look forward you should see the Rad Cam. And you’re in the lower reading room?’ ‘Yeah obviously, I’m not stupid.’ You look out the window ahead of you to see the Weston Library and the lift door which says ‘upper reading room.’ You sack off this whole charade and head back to the Rad Cam; at least there you know vaguely where you’re going.  

The Bridge of Sighs

You mistakenly refer to Oxford’s masterpiece as the Bridge of Spies to a group of Year 12s on an access tour; they write on their feedback form, ‘Hertford was nice, but I didn’t get to meet Tom Hanks or Mark Rylance.’ Do people actually use the bridge? Or is it just fodder for Hertford’s admissions brochure? You’ve got a ball/matriculation pic there sure, but the angle required to get both you and the bridge in the image results in an unfortunate double chin. Upon smattering your facebook with the pictures you receive comments (and the odd direct message!) from Italian relatives accusing your university of stealing its architecture from Venice.

Christ Church Meadows

Really nice, summery. Bit of a schlep but quite good for welfare and Summer Eights, which is essentially a day of screaming louder and louder as you have more and more Pimm’s. Stumbling back towards college at 5pm, sunburnt and with red and blue face paint stinging your eyes, you spy Keble M1s who you recall were in the bid to win: ‘GO ON BOYS!! KEBLEEEEE! KEBLEEEEEE!’ Before breaking into a slurry rendition of ‘Angels’, you are met with the cox’s stony expression: ‘the race is over ladies.’ You hiccup though a smile and walk away, tail between your drunken legs.  

Jericho

Dubbed ‘Trendy Jericho’ by I imagine many, many groovy and hip youngsters. The threshold for trendy Jericho is probably Gail’s, or if needs must Taylor’s at the top of Little Clarendon Street. Upon entering Jericho you can adopt your Trendy Jericho walk, which is essentially a slow-placed, laid-back rhythmic saunter, a ‘sway’, letting your knee-length leather coat flap in the breeze. 

Probably will only enter if you have a GP appointment or going to bday drinkipoos at Freud (Freud’s? Frevd?), in which you spend a terrible amount on tiny little cocktails and humiliate yourself by over-enthusiastically throwing shapes to DFO whilst everyone else is making do with a subtle knee bend and one arm in the air.

The Ashmolean

You’re either a CAAH/ Arch & Anth student, or any humanities undergrad having your 2nd year crisis of intelligence. You need to be more cultured, take advantage of this wonderful university to happen to find yourself in. ‘I’m just going to take myself to the Ashmolean this afternoon’ you announce mid-sausage at Saturday brunch, only to receive confused looks and the odd giggle. 

After experiencing the ego-stroking thrill of flashing your Bod Card and getting in for free, you plug in some classical music (slash the soundtrack to Call Me By Your Name), and swan in, ready to have your cultural senses awakened. 15 minutes later you buy 2 postcards, one of a Raphael sketch the other of some very ornate, very niche Japanese sculpture, and head back to college via Najar’s to go and play table tennis in the JCR. 

Cornmarket 

As a mate, don’t bother. There’s the electric ‘Oxford hustle and bustle’ which comes to the fore at May Morning, and then there is the teeming fresh hell of Cornmarket Street. You should only have to look upon it at a safe distance, eg. when going to Tesco’s. 

Don’t get me wrong, nabbing a post-Parkers maccies is fine, but in the inky depths of night you are shielded from the atrocities of such a place. The following morning, deep in an inexplicably horrible hangover, you are carried in the swaying swarm from WHSmith to Pret a Manger, not knowing your arse from your elbow. 

Should only traverse when necessary, ie mid essay-crisis you want to be soothed by the unwavering constancy of Stand by Me, when you’re late for something down St Aldates, or need to nip to Westgate. But for the latter, surely, shirley, you could carve out a route down the high-street to avoid this claustrophobic hell hole? 

The Sheldonian 

Quite nice? I think? Quite a confusing shape. Will enter the actual building max 3 times: matriculation, graduation, and once for your friend’s first concert with OUO (‘Don’t worry, we’re only playing 4 symphonies’; thinking that a symphony is probably the length of your standard Ed Sheeran song you enthusiastically agree to show your support, only to sacrifice four hours of your Saturday night). Josh, you’re an extremely talented violinist and I very much enjoyed the performance. 

Uni Parks

Quite a useful one to have in your arsenal, especially for the northern Oxfordian. ‘Going for a welfare walk’ can be used to procrastinate, inadvertently ask someone on a date, or to go and stare at rugby boys for half an hour (obviously I’ve never done that). The space also seems to have its own unit of time: ‘how long will you be?’ ‘2 laps of uni parks’. 

Covered Market

The culinary Bodleian library, if you will: excellent and aesthetically-pleasing in theory, but in reality a panic-inducing nightmare. Structured like the final maze of the Triwizard tournament or similar. Stifled by ornate jewellers, ice cream shops and independent cafes, you try to remember the name and location of that exotic eatery to impress your friend from home before throwing in the towel and getting pesto pasta from Taylor’s (again).   

North Parade 

Again, fine. Quite a frosty response when you ask your friends from Magdalen if they want to meet there: ‘are you clinically insane?’ You take the college family to The Rose and Crown for adorable family drinks at the start of Hilary, but it’s only when you say to the kids, ‘get anything you want, it’s on us!’ you remember its 8 pounds for in all honesty quite a crap gin and tonic. But at least the outdoor bit with the lights looks nice. 

Broad Street/Catte Street Roundabout

You thought Cornmarket was bad. ‘Oh, a key location!’ you think, ‘The King’s Arms to the left of me, Blackwell’s to the right of me!’ But let me ask you this, have you ever felt safe, truly safe, traversing that roundabout? Your corporeal existence on earth is in the hands of either an unsettlingly clean BMW wanging round it at high speeds (when they were filming The Crown in Michaelmas you’re sure you saw Olivia Colman give you a little wave through a blacked out window), or an unruly cyclist, no helmet and riding his bike standing up to demonstrate a command of the road, calling you a fuckwit and screaming at you to get out the way. ‘It’s Oxford, not the Tour de France!’ you shout back in an attempt to disarm them, only to no avail: they’ve already got to the high street and you just get weird looks from passing tourists. Yet again you’ve risked your life to go to the library, but such is the dynamic Oxford lifestyle. I’m sure we’ll be back before long. 

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