Life at Oxford is great – but it can be a life of ups and downs. Your Welfare team is here to make sure that you are well cared for during your time at St Hilda’s. Please contact your Welfare Officers Simon and Rosanna for any questions:
simon.phillips@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk
rosanna.forte@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk
Also, don’t forget to visit the Peer Support, LGBTQ and Faith pages.
College Families
The college family system is a great way to get to know people in other years in college and to get advice from someone who has been through it all before, you should have received a postcard from your parents in your freshers pack and they should contact you in the weeks after results day.
Hopefully you will have all heard from your College parents by the time you arrive. If you have NOT heard from them, tell a Welfare Officer AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Your college parents are students in their second year whose job it is to help you out with both academic issues and by being a helpful friendly face whilst you are settling in. At least one of your college parents should be studying the same subject as you, so they’ll be a mine of useful information (and lecture notes).
Peer Supporters
These lovely people are a group of students in college who receive training to listen to people, whatever the issue, big or small. Peer supporters will always be completely impartial and confidential. You will see their posters about during Freshers’ week so give them an email!
Members of staff
You may need to contact various members of staff during your time at St Hilda’s if you are having any problems – here are their contact details should you need them.
The Dean – Dr Margaret Kean – margaret.kean@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk, Hall 26
The Junior Deans (on call from 7pm-7am – Simon Hackett and Deeksha Sharma – simon.hackett@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk and deeksha.sharma@exeter.ox.ac.uk
The Chaplain – Brian Mountford – chaplain@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk
The Disability Fellow – Dr Lorna Smith – lorna.smith@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk, South 70 (or contact the University Disability Advisory Service)
Nightline
This is an independent listening service, run by students for students. You can call them anytime between 8pm and 8am with any issue that you need to talk about. You can ring nightline on 01865 270270, or, you can call free of charge from the phone in your room by dropping the area code and the first number (i.e. dialling 70270). Nightline runs from 0th week until 9th week every term.
Counselling Service
The University Counselling Service can be found at 3 Worcester Street. It holds individual sessions as well as group sessions and workshops and aims to see everyone within 5 working days. You can see a counsellor with any issue. You can contact them in many ways, either simply phone 01865 (2)70300 between 9.15am and 5.15 (again, from your room phone drop the area code and the digit in brackets) most weekdays, email them on reception@counserv.ox.ac.uk or access them via the website www.admin.ox.ac.uk/shw/counserv.ox.ac.uk.
Contraception
There are several condoms machines in college – there is one in each the ladies’ and gents’ by the bar in Hall Building, and one in the Wolfson ground floor corridor by the second set of stairs. These provide safex condoms.
You can also email a welfare officer (simon.phillips@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk or rosanna.forte@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk) and they will pidge you some. As well as condoms, they can pidge you dental dams, attack alarms and pregnancy tests. You can also be reimbursed for the morning-after-pill. All of this will be delivered discreetly and confidentially.
GUM Clinic
The GUM Clinic is the best place to go to get advice, testing and treatment if you have any sexual health questions or problems and can also provide emergency contraception.
The nearest GUM Clinic to college is on the Churchill Hospital site in Headington at OX3 7LJ, the website is:
http://www.sexualhealthoxfordshire.nhs.uk/default.aspx
The website gives details of how to get to the clinic via public transport and has a map to show how to get there from college, its quite a sizeable walk so for convenience sake it is best to take the Number 4 bus which stops on St. Clement’s St and will take you to Old Road where it is met by Churchill Drive to reach the clinic.
Family Planning Clinic
The Alec Turnbull Clinic is Oxford’s family planning clinic and can be found at First Floor, Raglan House, 23 Between Towns Road, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 3LX. You can either phone up for advice or go along in person. It is better to book an appointment first though not necessary. You do not need to be referred by your GP. The clinic supplies condoms and the contraceptive pill so you don’t have to go to a chemist to get them. They also provide the morning-after-pill, cervical smears, on-the-spot pregnancy tests and counselling for unplanned pregnancies.
College medical information
The College doctor is in two mornings a week: Tuesday 11.00-12.00 and Thursday 8.50-10.50. For an appointment you must sign up on the list outside the, room 47 in South (up the stairs by the dining hall, through the door on the left, past the IT Room and buildings office, along the narrow corridor and to the right). Outside these hours you can be seen at the Banbury Road Medical Centre, 172 Banbury Road, by ringing up for an appointment on 01865 515731. This is in Summertown so quite a trek but the number 7 bus from St. Clements runs there.
The College nurse is in on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons, and Wednesday mornings and can be contacted in advance, though these are drop in sessions.
Students can get dental treatment from StuDental, Helena Kennedy Student Centre, Headington Hill Campus, Oxford Brookes University, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP, and their phone number is 01865 484608.
HC1 forms provide students from low income families with free prescriptions and health care. If you think you are eligible, email a welfare officer and he/she will pidge you a form.
Getting involved
Nightline is always keen for volunteers. They also hold training sessions each term; for more info check out the web-site http://users.ox.ac.uk/~nightln/train.shtml.
Towards the end of your first year there is an opportunity for you to become a peer supporter. You will receive training which will equip you with necessary skills in listening and inquiring. Look out for an e-mail in Trinity Term which will tell you how to apply.
Taxis
Always arrange how you are getting home before going out. Stick with your friends and don’t lose control. Drunk, you’re an easy target. Only use a licensed taxi operator. Licensed taxis all display a licence plate with a unique number for each vehicle. Check that number and remember it in case of problems. All licensed taxi drivers will have, and should display, photo identification. Ask to see it.
There are two types of licensed taxi vehicles, private hire and hackney carriages (which are both traditional black cabs and other vehicles). Know the difference. Licensed private hire vehicles can only carry pre-booked passengers and cannot be flagged down in the street. If you need to flag a taxi, only travel in a licensed hackney carriage vehicle.
(Information supplied by Thames Valley Police, to know more go to www.thamesvalley.police.uk)
001 Taxis – (01865) 240 000
ABC Taxis – (01865) 77 55 77
City Taxis – (01865) 794 000
The Safety Bus
To use the service simply ring 07714 445050 between 9 p.m.–3 a.m. Monday to Saturdays and 9 p.m.–1 a.m. on Sundays. The bus will pick you up and deliver you to any destination within the ring road all for only £1 donation per trip. The scheme is available to OUSU and OBSU members. Priority will always be given to vulnerable people and individuals as the emphasis for the scheme is on safety. Please be aware that the bus depends on volunteers and so is not able to run on nights when volunteers are not available to help out. We advise that you take the phone number of a taxi company with you for such an eventuality.
Important Phone Numbers
St Hilda’s Lodge – (01865) (2)76884
Oxford Police Station – 0845 850 5505
Oxford Police – (01865) 266000
OUSU/OBSU Safety Bus – 0771 444 5050
OUSU Welfare – (01865) (2)88452 (or enquiries@ousu.org)
Banbury Road Medical Centre – (01865) 515731
Ennis Frankum, St Hilda’s College Nurse – (01865) (2)76822
StuDental – (01865) 484608
Oxford University Counselling Service (found at 11 Wellington Square) – 01865 270300 (or reception@counserv.ox.ac.uk)
Nightline – (01865) (2)70270
OU harassment advisors – (01865) (2)70760
OUSU Student Advice Service – (01865) 288461
University Disability Advisory Service – (01865) (2)80459
Alcoholics Anonymous – (01865) 242373
Cruse bereavement centre – (01865) 245398
Eating disorders association helpline – 08456 341 414
FRANK (drugs helpline) – 0800776600
Lesbian and gay switchboard – 020 7837 7324
Oxford rape crisis centre – (01865) 726295
Victim support – 0845 30 30 900
British Pregnancy Advice Service – 08457 304030
Samaritans – (01865) 722122
Sexual health information line – 0800 567123
Alec Turnbull Clinic – (01865) 45 66 66
Terrence Higgins Trust (formerly OxAIDS) – (01865) 243389
Oxford GUM Clinic – (01865) 231231
Crimestoppers – 0800 555 111