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LGBT+ History Month: Under the Scope

Start Date: 28 February 2024 3:00 pm

End Date: 28 February 2024 4:00 pm

Location: Online or Lecture Room C (WTS110), Time Square, University Centre Warrington

This event organised by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Chester, considers the LGBT+ community’s experience of receiving healthcare and also explores, from the point of view of healthcare practice, some of the issues and health inequalities many LGBT+ people still face today.

Debz Butler – Don’t fear the smear: LGBTQ+ people and Gynaecology

No one enjoys a smear test, but with studies showing that uptake is lower amongst the LGBTQ+ population, something needs to change. This discussion addresses differing health needs of the LGBTQ+ community within gynaecology and how those without a cervix can support those who do.

Debz Butler is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Chester. She has over 10 years of clinical experience in oncology, including gynaecology oncology. Her research interests include how we meet the needs of oncology patients from under-represented populations and how social media impacts oncology knowledge.

Please book your place:

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Chester Difference Award: Communication Section Masterclass

Start Date: 20 February 2024 5:00 pm

End Date: 20 February 2024 7:30 pm

Location: Careers and Employability Centre, Exton Park

This session is designed for you to complete the Communication section of the CDA in just a couple of hours with the support of peers and Career Development Professionals. 

The session will focus on key communication skills and offers you the chance to take part in a communication focused exercise in which you will be supported by the team to transfer that experience into a STAR example for the Communication section.

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Professor Lisa Oakley Inaugural Lecture: ‘Silence isn’t golden’ – changing the narrative of seeing no evil and speaking no good: Addressing abuse in religious contexts through partnership working

Start Date: 21 March 2024 6:00 pm

End Date: 21 March 2024 7:00 pm

Location: Binks 011, Exton Park

In the 2015 movie Spotlight there is a line that states ‘this was spiritual abuse’. There was recognition that abuse experienced within religious contexts could include coercive control with a religious rationale or justification. However, it was a little understood and under researched form of harm. In a cultural context of the silencing of survivors, there was a necessity to hear the reality of survivor’s experiences. To make a difference to identification, policy and practice this work needed to be underpinned with survivor focused evidenced based research. This was never a task that could, or should, be conducted by an academic psychologist working alone. Working in partnership with survivors, advocates and agencies stories of spiritual abuse emerged providing an evidence base as to how to respond well to disclosures, the training needed and how this should be developed.

The lecture will discuss the journey of this work and the challenges encountered. It will also include research conducted into other forms of harm and disclosures of abuse experienced in religious contexts. There will be consideration of power and positionality, asking questions about where power is held and by whom. It will consider trauma-informed creative approaches to research.

The lecture will consider how silencing works to keep stories of harm hidden but also to keep good practice in responding well and safeguarding from being identified and shared. The voice of survivors will be central throughout. The work has illustrated that to respond well and to prevent harm, there is a need to listen and hear stories of harm and to work towards creating healthier safer communities for the future.

Tea and coffee will be served from 6pm and a complimentary drink will be available afterwards.

You can attend this event in-person or online.

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Relaxation Session

Start Date: 14 February 2024 1:30 pm

End Date: 14 February 2024 2:15 pm

Location: Online

Would you like to find strategies to manage stress levels, improve sleep and relieve muscle tension?

Join us for the second of our series of relaxation sessions. In this 45-minute session we will look at implementing progressive relaxation exercises. 

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Nutrition Fair

Start Date: 7 February 2024 11:00 am

End Date: 7 February 2024 1:00 pm

Location: Small Hall, Exton Park

Join us for our annual Nutrition Fair.

Students are presenting live, offering healthy lifestyle advice, interactive games and top tips to help encourage people to think about ways they can lead a healthier life.

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Student Parent Essentials: Time Management

Start Date: 6 February 2024 1:15 pm

End Date: 6 February 2024 2:15 pm

Location: Online

For student parents, time is precious. Balancing study, parenting, work and other commitments can be super challenging and at times overwhelming. ​Mandy Urquhart, Senior Lecturer in Psychology (and former student parent) will be joining us to talk about all things Time Management and how to make the most of your time at university.​

This session is open to all students who want to learn more about time management. You do not have to be a parent or a member of the Student Parent Support Network to join. 

Click here for the link to join bit.ly/wbsession

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Creative Wellbeing Pop-up

Start Date: 30 January 2024 12:30 pm

End Date: 30 January 2024 2:00 pm

Location: First Floor, Time Square, University Centre Warrington

Did you know that being creative can reduce your stress and boost your mental health? Join our Student Wellbeing Advisers for a Creative Drop-In on the first floor in Time Square. Learn how to do mindful doodling and zentangles, or set some goals and try out your collage skills by creating a wellbeing vision board. 

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Job hunting: Stay safe online

It’s important to be able to spot the warning signs when a job opportunity is not legitimate when searching for jobs online.

Our Careers and Employability team review each job advertisement published on CareerHub to ensure, where possible, that jobs are genuine, lawful and non-discriminatory. Occasionally, however, a job may get through our rigorous checks or you might find something through a different website that you wish to apply for. So, it’s important to be vigilant when deciding whether to apply for a specific role or not.

Resist the pressure to apply quickly

Almost all vacancies which are advertised will have a closing date and you will need to apply before that date for your application to be considered. It’s important to note that some job advertisements may even close early if an organisation receives enough applications.

However, if you are feeling pressured to apply immediately, or there is perceived pressure to sign paperwork without the chance to read and consider it properly, this should be a warning sign. Look at the company website to check their advertised vacancies, calling them to confirm anything you may be unsure of if necessary.

Protect your identity

Be aware of the information that you are sharing with a third party. This could include an employer, a recruitment agency or even uploading your information onto a website. Your CV should always include basic contact information – your email address and telephone number; but it doesn’t need to include your address (although you may wish to add a general area e.g. Chester).

DO NOT include details such as your National Insurance number, passport number, date of birth or bank details in your CV. Genuine employers won’t ask for this information until you have a formal job offer and you shouldn’t disclose this information until you’re sure that the opportunity is genuine.

Avoid paying upfront costs

Don’t get tricked into paying any upfront costs for fake security checks, certification or training, or sending money in advance for interview travel, software or equipment. Genuine companies won’t ask you to pay in advance for any part of the recruitment process, although there may be instances where you are required to pay for your travel to attend an interview or assessment centre (some companies, and especially larger companies, may reimburse your travel expenses).

If a premium rate or international phone number is the only way to respond to a job advertisement, or you’re asked to call a premium rate number for a phone interview (usually starting with 0070 or 09), the job may not exist and the charge for the phone call can be very expensive. It is normal practice for employers to provide you with a landline number that you can call.

Check emails carefully

Fake email addresses can look convincing, so make sure to check the details carefully. It might look like an official email address but check for anything that doesn’t seem right – this could include a missing letter, slight changes to the name, spelling mistakes and poor grammar.

If a personal email address is being used rather than a company email address, you may want to check this out further. If you’re not sure whether it’s genuine, look at the company website or contact the employer to ensure it’s genuine.

If you receive emails about a job that you haven’t applied for then you should immediately be suspicious, especially if they ask for any personal information or bank details.

Be realistic – if it seems too good to be true then it probably is!

If the opportunity being advertised seems to be paying way above the market average, offering far more benefits than you would expect for the level of work or a large salary with “no experience needed”, then be on alert. We’d advise you to be careful and conduct some additional checks.

If you’re offered a role without any sort of application process, particularly if the next step is to pay for something in advance to be able to do the job, it’s likely to be a scam so do not apply!

Examples of scam jobs include (but sadly aren’t limited to) the following:

  • Any job that requires you to supply bank or financial information, passport or similar identification at the first stage of application is probably phishing. A legitimate employer might require these details, but only after a formal job offer is made to you.
  • Roles offering high pay for minimal work can sometimes use your bank account for money laundering scams so do not apply! There are serious legal consequences for employers for this type of activity.
  • Pyramid selling – these include roles where you’re recruited by a seller above you to buy stock with the intention of selling it on. Roles like this also expect you to make money by signing up new members to sell for you. 
  • Roles where you’re required to sell services or goods directly to all your personal contacts – the organisation may be after your sales leads and not your experience specifically.
  • Any job that expects you to pay for training. The small print may say that you pay for the course but there may be no guarantee of work at the end of it.

If in doubt…

  • Don’t apply for the job
  • Don’t sign anything
  • Don’t pay for any services on offer
  • Don’t reply to any contact made to you by the organisation
  • Don’t be reassured just because you see similar adverts across multiple websites. Some of these sites are connected or they make so much money quickly that they can afford to advertise widely before disappearing
  • Check it is a legitimate business by seeing if the organisation is listed on Companies House
  • Ask the Careers Service for a second opinion: careers@chester.ac.uk

Further help

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University of Chester Student Nurse choir performance

Start Date: 1 February 2024 10:00 am

End Date: 1 February 2024 11:00 am

Location: Chester Cathedral, St Werburgh Street, Chester CH1 2DY

Join our first year Pre-registration Nursing students for their Creative Health Choir performance at Chester Cathedral:

  • Thursday 1 February
  • 10am-11am
  • Chester Cathedral, St Werburgh Street, Chester CH1 2DY

Everyone is welcome and no booking is required. Refreshments are also available.

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Chester Students’ Union AGM

Start Date: 12 February 2024 4:00 pm

End Date: 12 February 2024 6:00 pm

Location: Binks CBK107, Exton Park or online

CSU’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) is your chance to vote on different agenda items for us as a charitable membership organisation.

To join online, please click here, and use the Meeting ID: 354 516 271 266 and Passcode: 4ZiBsX.

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