SHAG Week’s here

By Ciara Corcoran

Hi everyone!!

Hope you’ve all had a fantastic Physical Health Week and spent lots of time getting out and about and getting active. With the immense work put in by Tony in the First 7 Weeks hub Physical Health Week has been fantastic. All the events have been brilliant and I hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as we have. For those of who took part in the cycling and pedometer challenges, keep an eye on your emails as the winners will be contacted shortly.

Since the last edition it’s been busy as ever in the Welfare office. I’ve had lots of you in to see me with your queries, which is great. The Welfare Team have met again and we’ve been preparing for SHAG Week this week. I had meetings with loads of different people last week including PleaseTalk, the counselling centre, the Mid-Western Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Forum, and Governing Authority.

We also attended the launch of the University’s strategic plan where we presented Minister Jan O’ Sullivan with a letter calling for the provision of funding or resources for third level mental health services. We’re hopeful that this will be successful and we can get the best mental health care for all of you.

SHAG Week kicked off this week so be sure to keep an eye out for all the activities on campus. We’ll be collecting all of your embarrassing stories anonymously and making an ‘Awkward Sex Story’ wall in the Union, and maybe share them in the next edition of An Focal.

We’ll also be concentrating on contraception, STIs and consent. There are different types of contraceptives to suit everyone so take this week to learn about them and choose which is right for you. Take part in our survey, learn how to properly put on condoms in the courtyard, and test yourself with our STI matching game.

For the remainder of the semester the Gardaí will hold a Garda clinic in SU Room 3 from 1:30-3pm. This is where you can do everything from registering your bike to getting passport forms stamped.

As always, don’t be afraid to call into me or anyone in the Union if you have any questions. You can also drop me an email at suwelfare@ul.ie for any queries, if you want to get involved with the Welfare Team, or if you want to nominate a charity for Charity week fundraising.

Ciara