Student

✩ March 2025 ✩

March has been such an exciting, jam packed month! This month, so many different events and activities have taken place such as Big Green Week with the Clothes Swap Shop event that took place, SHEAF International Women's Day which was a huge, incredible event where students had the opportunity to be mentored, and new clubs and societies open for any students to attend. Also, there is new sports enrichment available for students to participate in, plus opportunities such as what upcoming events and projects you can get involved in and create impact. Concluding the Mental Health campaign which has been running since February cross campus was another incredible experience, the final event for this taking place at Pennine Five Campus. There have been more Student Rep meetings taking place this term in order for students to provide feedback on how we can positively impact our college, as well as National Career's Week with a Health and Social Care Showcase Event that many students engaged in and the SU were visible for.

Easter Break is just around the corner, so I hope that you all enjoy it, and there's so much coming up to look forward to that will be taking place around college once the break has came to an end!

✩ Clothes Swap Shop ✩

Big Green Week

Monday 17th March - Friday 21st March

Running from the 17th - 21st March, Big Green Week has been taking place across Sheffield College, with the Clothes Swap Shop event running at City Campus, Hillsborough and Pennine Five. At the beginning of my role as Student Union President, I had to plan four campaigns for the academic year, the Clothes Swap Shop being the third that was ran by the Student Union, incorporated into Big Green Week.

We had an amazing day running the Clothes Swap Shop on the 20th March, where students and staff brought in a variety of different clothes for the event. Badges were provided for all students, highlighting the need to reduce fast fashion in order to positively impact our environment and lower the amount of waste from clothes. This was ran in the atrium area through the morning and ran throughout lunchtime, where students, staff and SU officers were a massive support in terms of the preparation for this campaign, resulting in making the event as eye catching as it was. Overall, we had such a great response, where on the day students and staff gave positive feedback such as how this idea is creative and engaging, and raises awareness on fast fashion and the need to upcycle clothes. It was great to see everyone making use of all of the items that everybody kindly brought in, making the day extremely impactful.

Look out for the fourth and hopefully successful campaign to come!

Katherine - Environmental Officer on Big Green Week:

After the conclusion of Green week, as a college we need to reflect on what we have gained from this week's events to then keep on progressing with our efforts to restore a healthy and safe environment on planet earth. From the 17th-21st events such as the smoothie bike, clothes swap shop and healthy eating have been introduced to promote ways we can improve our environmental action. This could be reducing our carbon footprint, going to charity shops and exchanging clothing, and reducing our processed foods to naturally grown produce from our earth. From this we can take actions for a healthier planet by: walking, biking to schools or leisure activities, eating more vegetables, throwing away less food, recycling plastics and clothing, turning off electricity when possible. If we keeping on pushing to improve our planet, this will reduce climate change and make our world a better and safer place. As environmental officer, I’m striving to keep on progressing with the college’s environmental aim to make the world a stable and healthier place.

Student volunteers are going to be running a donation drive this term for SheffCol Community Kitchen. The community kitchen collects donations and then distributes food packs out to students who need them. Items that can be donated are listed below and can be delivered to the donation boxes at the different campuses.

You can email communitykitchen@sheffcol.ac.uk if you need a food pack - no questions asked.

We are also looking to widen our team of student volunteers, which is a great opportunity to get some volunteering experience that is flexible and can fit around your course, while having a huge impact in the local community.

Volunteering as part of this project will look amazing on CVs or UCAS applications and will help you build the employability skills and experience you need to be successful in your progression and future career. You can do as little or as much as you want, every hour counts!

If you would like to get involved in volunteering in this project, please email studentvoice@sheffcol.ac.uk

SHEAF Mentoring Scheme – Fantastic opportunity for young female students to be mentored by local leaders

The college has collaborated with SHEAF (a local women in leadership network) and Sheffield City Council’s ‘See it, Be it’ to create a mentoring opportunity for young female college students. The SHEAF Mentoring Program is supported by a diverse group of professionals who are committed to guiding and inspiring young women in their educational and career journeys. Our mentors bring valuable experience, industry knowledge, and leadership skills to help mentees develop confidence, set goals, and navigate career pathways.

The key to this project is aspiration for students, allowing them to tap into the wisdom and guidance (both professional skills and ‘soft’ life skills) of our mentors.

This project is launching with three group mentor sessions – one a month in April, May and June – the dates of which are below:

Tuesday 22nd April 2-4pm at The Sheffield College City campus

Wednesday 14th May 2-4pm (venue to be confirmed)

Thursday 19th June 2-4pm (venue to be confirmed)

This is an amazing opportunity to connect with local leaders in Sheffield, and to learn from them. The sessions will be fairly informal, with lots of space for discussion and conversations. Any travel costs that may incur from attending the sessions, the college can support with, and we can help excuse you from lessons if necessary to attend.

The opportunity is open to students who self-identify as a woman or minority gender and are 16-25 years old. Please fill out the form below to sign up for the project!

Click here to sign up!

If you have any questions, please email rachel.yates@sheffcol.ac.uk

Clubs and Societies

Make sure to look out for our Clubs and Societies around college!

Please email the Students Union if you have any ideas for clubs you would like to see that will create a positive improvement to your college experience.

If you love reading, discovering new stories and want to grow your imagination, then join our new Book Club! This will be located at City Campus on Tuesdays in the LRC from 12:15-1pm every two weeks.

Wellbeing Spaces are now being ran across City and Hillsborough Campus! Find out more details about these below.

Sign Language club has been moved to every Monday, still taking place in the Innovation Suite from 12:30pm-1pm.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more about specific dates for clubs running every two weeks, then please contact studentsunion@sheffcol.ac.uk

Come to Well-Being Spaces for a quiet place to relax over lunchtime

These are ran by students, and the info below is from Emmanuel (one of the student's who lead on the well-being spaces)....

"This is a space where you can escape from the college population and experience mindfulness—a quiet space to mellow out. Run by a student, it was created to provide a place where students can take an hour to unwind and relieve the pressures of education. This initiative is part of the wider Youth Social Action program, aimed at promoting wellbeing for young people.

The Wellbeing Space at City campus takes place in the study room in the LRC 12-1pm on Wednesdays and at Hillsborough campus in room A017 12-1pm on Thursdays. We are also planning a tutorial session on exam stress and coping strategies, offering practical tips to manage academic pressure. If you're interested in attending or getting involved as an ambassador, you can contact studentsunion@sheffcol.ac.uk to express your interest."

LGBT+ Society at Hillsborough

Mondays in room A102

LGBT+ Society at City

Fridays in room T211

Want to find out more or have any suggestions? Email us at studentsunion@sheffcol.ac.uk

Sport Enrichment Sessions

1625 Outreach are holding drug and alcohol advice drop-ins across the college.

You can come and talk to us about anything drugs and alcohol-related, no matter how big or small. Whether you’re worried about yours or someone else’s drug or alcohol use, or just want to pick up some anti-spiking resources.

No need to book, just come for a chat.

City Campus - Student Central: