PPE and First Aid Kits for the Liverpool Vet Hockey Team
The Liverpool Vet Hockey Team were awarded the Alumni and Friends Fund Grant to purchase essential PPE and sanitising equipment which will allow them to continue practising in a COVID-safe environment and in accordance with AU and England Hockey guidelines. Team Captain Carrie described the importance of hockey: “a lot of our team, including myself, rely on hockey as an outlet from the heavy workload that doing the Veterinary Science degree entails. This year especially with the introduction of online learning and the rule of 6 it has been very difficult to socialise with anyone outside of your immediate household, something many people are struggling with.”
“Many thanks go to the Alumni and Friends Fund supporters, without whom we could not play safe and COVID compliant hockey this year. You have without doubt helped prevent a decline in mental health amongst our players and allowed us to keep some form of normality in our University lives this year. We cannot thank you enough as a team and hope you are proud of what your funding has allowed us to achieve. Thank you again, you have made running hockey among the chaos of coronavirus that little bit more manageable.” Carrie Symington, Liverpool Vet Hockey Team Captain
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Training Equipment for the Vet Rugby Union Club
The Vet Rugby Union Club was awarded the Alumni and Friends Fund Grant so that they could replace worn training equipment including cones, tackle pads, speed and agility equipment and a team first aid kit to support their training sessions. Club Treasurer, Thomas Penn explained how this funding would benefit the members of the club “these sessions really help with the mental and physical wellbeing of all members of the club. Currently, we just play touch rugby for 1:30 hours every week which is getting very boring and resulting in fewer people turning up for training every week. This is due to a lack of resources to do proper drills which could enhance our performance in Saturday fixtures and keep the interest of the boys in training, so they keep coming back every week.”
“We would like to say thank you so much for this funding, all the boys are so appreciative and excited to have some new kit to play with at training. It is the best news the club has heard in a while and has lifted many spirits in these trying times.” Thomas Penn, Vet Rugby Union Club Treasurer
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Coping with COVID Podcast
The Coping with COVID podcast was initiated as part of the University-wide response to COVID-19. The podcast provides students with practical ways to look after their mental well-being during the pandemic and features interviews with experts, providing practical evidence-based advice and signposting to support and resources, as well as interviews with students and recent graduates who share their experiences of working in the NHS and studying during COVID-19.
Recent podcast topics include resilience, COVID conspiracy theories, grief and bereavement, and mindfulness. The podcast team was awarded the Alumni and Friends Fund Grant so that they can continue to produce this resource for our student community. You can listen to the podcast here: https://pod.link/1514480448
“Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to the Alumni and Friends Fund. This funding will enable the “Coping with COVID” podcast to continue providing students with practical ways to look after their mental wellbeing during the pandemic. With this support we will be able to record more interviews with medical, nursing and AHP students, giving an insight into the challenges they have faced and the valuable contribution they have made to patient care. We are excited to see how the podcast will continue to grow and reach a wider audience with your help. Thank you for your generosity!” Dr Helen West & Dr Suzi Gage, Department of Psychology and Podcast Hosts
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Well-being Garden at Leahurst Campus
The Liverpool University Veterinary Society (LUVS) were awarded the Alumni and Friends Fund Grant to create a well-being garden on campus. The naturalistic, professionally designed garden will include edible and wildlife-friendly ornamental planting, providing both fresh produce and a contemplative, calming space to sit. The garden will provide somewhere to meet at a distance and hold events such as barbeques in the summer.
LUVS have many plans for the garden, including using the space for their ‘Well-being Wednesday’ sessions and for buddy families to meet. They also hope that the garden will allow students and staff will gain skills perhaps not otherwise available to them, learning sustainable gardening practices such as composting, water saving, seed saving and low intervention approaches. Except for tools and tool storage, all materials will be sustainably sourced, including peat-free compost and seats made from recycled plastic.
“We are absolutely thrilled that we have been granted this funding. Such support for the creation of a project that will be entirely for the benefit of physical and mental wellbeing is wonderful. Those working within the veterinary field have busy, stressful days and the garden will be an invaluable place for us to go to relax and get some fresh air.
This project simply wouldn't be possible without this grant, so we would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all who have contributed to the Alumni and Friends Fund, on behalf of the staff and students at Leahurst - now and for many years to come”.
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Biodiversity Pond on campus
The University of Liverpool Biodiversity Action Group were awarded the Alumni and Friends Fund to introduce the first wildlife pond on campus. The project will be run by the University of Liverpool Biodiversity Action Group, a part of the University’s Sustainability Board, and has been designed and conceived by University staff, students, and professional services staff.
The pond will be located next to the Chemistry Department and is set to broaden biodiversity as well as supporting staff and student learning and wellbeing. The public will benefit from this new addition to campus and will be encouraged to visit the pond when it is safe to do so.
“We are extremely grateful to the supporters of the Alumni and Friends Fund for your generous contributions and for your help. Your contribution will help us to shape a cleaner, greener and healthier University of Liverpool, and will allow students, staff and visitors to the University of Liverpool to learn from and be inspired by the natural world.” Dr Raj Whitlock, Senior Lecturer and Chair of the University of Liverpool Biodiversity Action Group
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The Formby Footprints Project
The Photogrammetry Team received funding to purchase 3 cameras which would allow them to carry out a new method of photogrammetry which is COVID-19 safe. Much of the team’s former museum and lab-based work has been disrupted due to the pandemic, and outdoor photogrammetry activities provide an opportunity for the team to continue their important research.
Dr Ardern Hulme-Beaman, described the benefit of this funding for the members of the Photogrammetry Team: “outdoor photogrammetry skills are particularly important for employability in the archaeological and cultural heritage sectors, therefore developing these skills are a useful next step for the Photogrammetry Team. To this end, we have identified the prehistoric footprints at Formby Beach as an excellent candidate for our skills development. These footprints formed in mud, which consist of human and animal prints dating between 8,000 and 4,000 years ago, are extremely vulnerable to erosion and only last for 1–2 weeks (less in rough winter weather) and as a result, our photogrammetry efforts are much needed for the preservation of these insights into prehistoric activity in Great Britain”.
The Formby project is expected to start in early 2021. The project will provide a clear student-driven research focus for the team’s activities and allow the team to gain valuable first-hand experience of research activities, while also providing a much-needed team activity in a time when remote working and isolation is having a real impact on student morale.
The Team were fortunate to receive funding from the Alumni and Friends Fund in 2019, which allowed them to expand their activities by purchasing additional camera equipment and in turn allowing more members to join.
“We cannot thank enough the Alumni and Friends donors and supporters (and coordination team) for your continued interest and support in the Photogrammetry Teams activities and development. Your support has been instrumental in the establishment of the Photogrammetry Team, which has directly contributed to the educational, and professional development of all members of the team as well as the impact the university has had on the field of photogrammetry in digital heritage. ”. Dr Ardern Hulme-Beaman
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Expansion of the experimental Archaeology Centre at the University’s Botanic Gardens at Ness
The Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology (ACE) has received funding to extend opportunities for practical tuition and experiment for students by kickstarting the development of the experimental archaeology centre at the University’s Botanic Gardens at Ness (Liverpool Experimental Archaeology and Research at Ness – LEARN).
The main aims of this project are to create a dedicated pyrotechnology workshop for the Centre and to build its public ‘presence’ with on-site signage and a portable stretch tent for off-site events. These facilities are set to expand the role of LEARN in the department’s teaching, enabling students to engage practically with the materials they are studying—not only pottery but also Egyptian faience and primary glassmaking.
This project will offer an immediate impact on student experience, enabling more intensive use of its facilities in several courses, both directly, as teaching spaces, and indirectly new momentum wheel, tools, a storage unit and an outdoors tent to better establish their presence at Ness Gardens thanks to the Alumni and Friends Fund Grant.
“We are extremely grateful to the Alumni and Friends for their generous contribution to our project. We feel it will really change our student’s experience of their course. During lockdown, we have tried to provide digital alternatives to the experience of hands-on artefact-based learning and research, but none of these stand-in solutions have been particularly successful. This project will allow us to ensure that all our students get the training they need in the short term and will provide us with the facilities necessary to develop new programmes of outreach and community engagement in the future!” Dr Peter Hommel, Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology
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‘Whose History?’ Pageant
The Whose History? is a pageant that celebrates the history of the University of Liverpool and its neighbouring communities. Organisers of the pageant in the Department of Irish Studies and English were awarded funding to run this event as part of the Culture Unconfined Festival taking place in July 2021. Whose History? will involve amateur, student and professional actors and production crew over a period of 10 months leading up to the event and will showcase characters from the past 200 years of Liverpool's history.
The development and delivery of this project will be embedded in the undergraduate curriculum in various disciplines and plans are being made to offer an apprenticeship open to students across the School of the Arts to gain hands-on experience of performance production and publicity.
“We are enormously grateful to supporters of the Alumni & Friends Fund: without your generosity, Whose History? simply could not take place. We hope that the university and it's past, present, and future members will be proud of this production, as we celebrate the rich and diverse history of our institution. We look forward to sharing the production with you, both online and in-person, in the months ahead.” Dr Eleanor Lybeck, Lecturer in Literature, Institute of Irish Studies/Department of English
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