27th March 2019
It’s been an interesting and insightful week for Religion, Philosophy and Ethics, as students have enjoyed hearing from a range of guest speakers on the subject of Social Action and Justice.
We Are Donors
Each day throughout the week, the College welcomed a diverse range of speakers; all with different stories to tell and viewpoints on social action and justice. Students were interested to discover more about the incredible work of organisations across the city; doing imperative work to help those in need and often going unrecognised.
The week began with a visit from the Crisis Ministries and representatives from the Wild Goose Café. The Crisis Centre Ministries is an award-winning Bristol-based charity which has been operating for over 30 years. The group is dedicated to helping those with life-disrupting problems, such as homelessness and addiction. One of the four projects of the Centre is their life-changing Wild Goose Drop-In Centre. The incredible scheme provides free hot meals, shower facilities, clothing and toiletries to those in need. The guest speaker explained to students how the centre not only provides the basic essentials but also offers medical clinics, advisory sessions and signposts counselling services too.
RPE students on Tuesday were lucky enough to meet a refugee who spoke about his traumatic journey to Bristol and shared his experiences of the city as an official City of Sanctuary. Bristol residents are often unaware of the fantastic work the city does as a place of sanctuary for refugees, and students were amazed to find out more. St Brendan’s itself is proud to be a College of Sanctuary and so it was especially interesting to see how similar work is rolled out across the city.
As the week progressed, students also heard from We Are Donors – a not for profit organisation aiming to increase the number of organ donors across the UK. The foundation is made up of university students, who give talks and run workshops in schools and colleges across the country to raise awareness about donation and transplantation.
Borderlands was the fourth visitor of the week; a fantastic organisation which often visits St Brendan’s to talk more about its life-changing work across the city. With an aim of tackling destitution and isolation, Borderlands works with asylum seekers and refuges through various projects; supporting disadvantaged and excluded people and helping to improve lives and personal situations. The incredible charity offers a wealth of opportunities and provisions to those in need including information and practical support, English classes, community spaces, food and accommodation opportunities.
