This week (6-10 November) is Talk Money Week. The aim is to encourage you to be more open about your finances with family and friends, as well as getting advice from experts if needed.

Blackbullion

We’re partnered with Blackbullion, a resource for students to improve their finances. Blackbullion has courses you can join and articles including how to build an emergency fund and top 10 money tips.

Help with budgeting

Your student maintenance loan only stretches so far and doesn’t always cover all the essentials. So, it’s important to make sure you’ll have enough money to see you through to your next instalment. Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert guru, has lots of advice and templates to help, check out here how to create a student budget.

As always, if you are experiencing financial hardship and budgeting just doesn’t cut it, please get in touch for financial support and advice.

Don’t get caught out

University students can be a target for criminals. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is:

• Money mules – recruiters may try to befriend you and ask you to transfer money between accounts for them, giving you a small cut for doing so. You may think you are doing someone a favour, but you could be transferring criminal money. If you get caught, you could get a criminal record. Find out more about money mules.
• Online scams – Protect yourself from online scams with these tips from Dr Jason Nurse of our award-winning Institute of Cyber Security Research Group.
• Be suspicious of unsolicited emails, texts or calls asking for personal information.
• Be cautious of messages that try enticing you into take some action (e.g. clicking a link or transferring some money).
• Be careful with what personal information you share online, using data from previous breaches fraudsters trick people into thinking it’s genuine.
• Use unique and strong passwords across online accounts – use a reputable password manager app to keep them secure.
• Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible and keep the software updated.

Additional resources and support around your finances

• Cyber security Moodle training for Kent students
• Cost of living support webpage
• Kent Union Advice Service
• Finance Team

Find out what’s on this week:

Monday 6 November: Writing skills workshops

Brush up on your writing skills with workshops from the Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS) on writing introductions and conclusions and paragraph writing. These are in-person workshops or online access on request. See more SLAS workshops.

Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) are running a support session for students affected by the recent terrorist attacks in Israel and ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This is a drop-in session taking place from 13:00-14:00 on Monday, upstairs in Locke Building near the Coop, staffed by a mental health adviser and counsellor from SSW. All students are welcome.

Tuesday 7 November:  Black Student Voices Summit and Go Abroad Fair

One year on from the launch of the Kent Union project Black Student Voices, Kent Union are hosting a summit to present the findings of the researchers and also celebrate the Black community on our campus. You’re invited to join for a full day of community building, learning and fun.

The Go Abroad Team will be joined by providers of Summer abroad opportunities in Nexus on Tuesday afternoon. Come along to hear about the opportunities and funding available for volunteering, internships and study abroad opportunities for Summer 2024.

Wednesday 8 November: Coco the Therapy Dog and pizza making session

Pause for Paws returns to Nexus in Templeman Library. Take a break with Coco the therapy dog, a certified Pets as Therapy dog. Coco is very friendly, calm and loves to be fussed over.

Join the ResLife Ambassadors for a pizza making session.  Chef Benjamin Elsbury will show you how to make a pizza from scratch! Places are limited so book on the Home at Halls app.

Thursday 9 November:  PGR Yoga/Writing Retreat and Cheese Tasting

If you’re a postgrad researcher, why not come along to this Yoga and Writing Retreat? The day starts with an hour of yoga to prepare the body and mind for writing. You’ll then be encouraged to work in blocks of 50 minutes on your thesis/project, with refreshments provided and a short, guided mediation after lunch.

On Thursday evening you can join the ResLife Ambassadors for cheese tasting in Sibson. Find out how cheese is made and learn how to taste cheese like a food scientist.

Saturday 11 November: Learn how to build an app

Join us for this one-day workshop when you will learn how to build an app in Bubble, with our Tech Entrepreneur in Residence Jon Carroll. You’ll also get a free lunch. This event is part of the Business Start-up Journey series by ASPIRE.

Sunday 12 November: Glass painting and colouring

Enjoy a relaxing Sunday afternoon of glass painting, canvas painting and colouring with the ResLife Ambassadors in Keynes.

See more student events.

Student opportunities

• The Canterbury Safer Streets Survey has been extended. The survey, run by Canterbury Christ Church University, is conducting research with students in Kent and Medway and aims to understand better the experiences of students in relation to a wide range of safety issues.
• Student art pass – a year of art and opportunities for £10. Your Student Art Pass lets you dive into culture on a budget with free entry to hundreds of museums and galleries across the UK and 50% off major exhibitions.

With adverse weather expected over the next 24 hours, we want to let you know that our Canterbury and Medway campuses will be open as normal.

Given potential travel disruption, it may be that some activity is moved online due to staff unavailability – your Division will be in touch if there are any changes. Check your emails or get in touch before travelling if you want to make sure. Similarly, if you can’t make it to campus please let your Division know.

Please take care when coming in and check the latest travel advice before you make the trip. Useful sites include:

• Plan Your Journey
• Met Office
• Travel During Adverse Weather

If anything changes, we will update you first on our Instagram stories.

Canterbury for Ukraine (C4U) is running a series of events to mark Holodomor – or ‘the Great Famine’ – the Russian induced famine which killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s.

As the current conflict continues, the commemoration takes on special importance as Ukraine continues to defy Russian aggression and affirm its commitment to peace and freedom.

The events at the end of November will include the showing of a landmark film, Mr Jones, which tells the story of Gareth Jones, a Welsh journalist, who travels to Ukraine in 1933 and uncovers the truth behind the famine in Ukraine.

The award-winning 2019 film, starring Edward Norton, Vanessa Kirby and Peter Sarsgaard, will be shown at the Gulbenkian on Thursday 23 November at 19:00. It has also been announced that students will be able to attend the screening free of charge thanks to a donation from Canterbury for Ukraine. To book your free student ticket, go to the Gulbenkian website. The ticket will show as £6 but once in the basket it will appear as £0 for students.

The commemoration will culminate in an inter-denominational service at All Saints Church, Military Road at 19:00 on Saturday 25 November. The service will bring together faith leaders, religious groups and many others from Canterbury and beyond to commemorate Holodomor but also to show solidarity with the more than 400 hundred Ukrainians who have settled in the area following the Russian invasion escalated in February 2022.

More than 6 million people have been forced to leave their homes as Russian forces have attacked major cities across Ukraine, including Berdyansk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, and the capital Kyiv. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights verified 9,614 civilian deaths to September 2023, but the number of civilian casualties in the occupied territory is as yet unknown.

Canterbury for Ukraine was set up in March 2022 to welcome and support the growing number of Ukrainian families being displaced to Canterbury and the surrounding areas.

Run and supported by local volunteers, supporters and businesses from both the UK and Ukraine, C4U has grown rapidly to provide a wide range of high-quality and much-needed services including a Welcome Hub, a Youth Hub, English language classes, a club for older age Ukrainians “Young Hearts”, the Canterbury for Ukraine Facebook group, a Choir, as well as awareness raising, public engagement and social events.

The Holodomor commemoration activities are a part of C4U’s continuing work to promote Ukrainian culture, language, history and heritage.

For further information please go to the Canterbury for Ukraine (C4U) website.