News and Announcements

Hey Hubbers, 

Still alive? We hope so. Whether you are in the middle of studdying for exams or just facing down those fifth-week-blues don't forget to take a breather and check what's going on on the ethical side of town.

No matter who you are there's an exciting reason to get involved and do something different. Thinking about a future after finals? Don't forget to join the Student Hubs Graduate Network for potential jobs and opportuntities. Facing exams? How about light relief with an ethical film screening, summer cocktail night or trip to Oxford's new eco-friendly cafe? Got some time and want to do something different? How about helping out in our library, getting on the comittee of a local action group, or get excited about social entrepreneurship. Whatever it is your interested in don't miss out... 

Hub love. 

Hello Hubbers, 

It seems to be that time of year; deadlines are looming, exams coming up, stress levels soaring, but don't fear the Hub has got a hundred and one ways to brighten up your week. Come to our House Party this Friday for an exciting Battle of the Bands, or do something different by listening to the stories of the homeless. Alternatively how about volunteering as a 'Book', or joining an exciting upcoming environmental cafe? Whatever it is we are sure it'll help you stress less, get out the library, and make a difference!

 “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

 

Hello Hubbers! 
Third week already, my does time fly!
But don't let those Trinity term blues get you down, as ever the hub is here to jam-pack your week full of doing-good goodness, and pack you out with reasons to get you out of the library. For a light start go for yummy treats with Cheese and Wine for Helen and Douglas House, or how about a Bake-off-without-Borders? Alternatively the Social Policy Discussions with the Hub look set to be really interesting, or whilst "Women and post-2014 Afghanistan: What is the West’s Responsibility?" looks set to pose some truely scintillating debate. Finally there is loads to get invovled with from Homless Action, become a Environmental Officer, or helping with the Climate Forum. Whatever it is you do, have a fantastic week. 

Hub love. x

Dear Hubbers, just a very quick note about an exciting opportunity to work with the hub. Wishing you all the best for a great week!

A big hello to all you Hubbers out there! 

This the week is fun-filled and jam-packed full of delights for you to enjoy, so go get stuck in! There's just so much going on! Join the Student Self Help Group in a Minute's Silence, get dinner whilst talking about Social Policy, offer Environmental Lessons, or even take part in our blog! Ever thought hard about what you eat? Join Peter Singer in exploring Eating Ethically. Interested in the private sector but want to do good? Neil McGregor is here to answer all your qestions. Finally prepare yourself for a "wild" night of conservation, asking wether animals like lions should be brought back to National Parks. Whatever it is you get up to, have a fantastic week.  
 

The sunshine is out, and as if anyone needed an excuse to get out the library we bring you a wopping great list jam-packed with opportunities and events! Get stuck in! 

There's absolutely loads going on this term, including fab talks on the Crisis in Sudan, How to Bag an Ethical Career, and even a 24 hour Organ-Marathon!!  Want to get invovled with something new? How about reaching out to other students to help Organise a Conference, Volunteering with Kids, and or even Helping Young Carers in Oxford?

With so much going on, whatever it is you're interested in, you're in the right place! 

Do you have an old mobile lying around in your room at home? Why not pack it in your bag before you leave to come back to Oxford and donate it to a good cause!

We are collecting old mobile phones – first/second generation 3G models, with chargers.

Helpful features are: a radio, SMS, built-in light, healthy battery and a charger. Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel, Samsung models are best. If unlocked, that’s preferable (please mark whether they are), but don’t worry if not!


These phones will be sent to the ‘Izu on the N’Komati Foundation’ in rural Mozambique where farmers are being trained to use them to get their produce to the local market in time, to stay in touch whilst in the fields, and to receive information on meetings and equipment/seed prices etc. Athabasca University in Canada is involved in developing a training module in new irrigation and cropping techniques, which eventually will be relayed by phone download.

So please, do one small thing that will make a huge difference. If you have a spare phone lying around (which many of us do), give it to your college RAG rep, pidge it to Emily Stewart at University College, or drop it in at the office upstairs at the Oxford Hub (above the Turl Street Kitchen).

Having been to the foundation personally, I know that these phones will make a MASSIVE difference to individuals’ lives. One was recently overheard saying that he would not eat for three days, just so he could afford a phone. Please - give what you can. The recent devastating flooding in Mozambique has meant that the need to get in touch with loved ones, colleagues, training and help is paramount.

For more information about the foundation or any questions, please email me at emily.stewart@univ.ox.ac.uk.

NB If you don’t have the charger, don’t worry – send the phone along anyway.

Hello Hubbits!

We might not have reached Week 1 just yet, but the glimpse of sun and the fact that I decided against wearing a scarf today can mean only one thing: Trinity term is here! The end of the year is getting ever closer, but it's never too late to get involved in some of the amazing ethical activities going on in this beautiful (and for now, not freezing) city of ours.

This week we have the chance to volunteer with Yellow Submarine, Oxford Students for Young Carers and Kids Company, as well as the opportunity to engage in social policy and social research. If you're planning ahead and thinking about what to do after the end of term, why not apply for a Masters in Sustainable Development or a paid Summer job?

Scroll down to see all the events and opportunities on offer, and remember to like the Oxford Hub Facebook page to keep up to date with all our wonderful goings-on.


Until next time,

Oxford Hub xx
 

Hi Hubbers!

Phew - well, here we are at the end of a jam-packed Hilary 2013. It's been a fantastic term for all things Hub. We've had the Oxford Climate Forum, Oxfid, Student Volunteering Week as well as Spotlight weeks on International Development, Environment And Sustainability and Social Enterprise.

It's been great to see so many of you at all of these events and more. But if you haven't managed to get involved, fear not! We couldn't resist sending you one more copy of The Week as, quite frankly, we had too many darn good opportunities to tell you about! There's the Social Enterprise Grants Programme closing this week, the Vice Chancellors Civic Awards to get your nominations in for, as well as several volunteering and internship opportunities. So do take a look, and keep Hubbing in your holidays!

Oxford Hub 

Hello everyone!

We're Phil Coales and Eileen Jacob, the Oxford Hub Librarians. It's our role to look after and manage the Library at the Oxford Hub and organise great activities like library chats and speaker events. Be sure to come by and investigate all the interesting titles - they span from fundraising to vegetarianism to international development - and register by emailing us so that you can take your favourites home. You can find us upstairs in the Hub, just next to the living room.

You can now hear about everything that's going on and everything that's coming up at the Library at our blog - http://oxfordhublibrary.blogspot.co.uk/. We'll be updating it with information about our resources and our drop-in sessions (when you can come in and chat to us, sign up for an account, etc.), so make sure to keep an eye on it if you want to know more.

We've also compiled a short survey to help us improve the Library - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SXVT37Z - asking about if/how you use the library space. We'd really appreciate you taking a couple of minutes to fill it in. We're making some changes to the Library set-up soon, and want to know what you want. Thank you!

Happy reading, and always feel free to get in touch!

Phil & Eileen
 

Hello Hubbits,

I’m Emily Stewart, Vice President of the Hub's student exec committee. I hope you enjoyed the jam-packed Student Volunteering Week – there was certainly something for everyone! If you were inspired by all things student volunteer-y and want to get involved, or you were just too caught up in 5th week and now have a devastating case of ‘fomo’, then please get in touch with myself, Will, the staff, or any of the capable Hub exec.

I’ve been on the committee for over a year now, and sadly, reaching my final term at Univ (Philosophy and Psychology), I am soon to be stepping down from my role. As VP I’ve been committed to the Hub’s long-term strategy – so just a few words before I go. I’ve seen some exciting changes occur on the Oxford volunteering scene over the past year or so. Not only has the university formally endorsed our collective strive to make change (through generous funding, vice-chancellor endorsement and social enterprise grants), but we’ve noticed continued growth and involvement across the Ethical Network and charity setting as a whole. Next, the big challenge is to deeply integrate what we do widely and sustainably with the local community. All our events at the Hub are open to the public, but we think that the entire student body can benefit from talking to locals, tapping into the array of committed, enthusiastic and knowledgeable local citizens.

It’s important, whatever your motivations for getting engaged, that you let us know how you want your Hub to look like. We’re here for you, helping to enable and support the fantastic drive and insight that’s present throughout the university. So please do, and if you haven’t popped by the Hub yet, what are you waiting for?! If the TSK’s cupcakes and teas alongside our glowing fires aren’t enough to tempt you, I don’t know what is...

It’s been an immense opportunity to be involved in such a self-motivated organisation, and I’d encourage anyone with the right spark of enthusiasm to apply for our upcoming exec vacancies.

Keep at it, Oxford,

Emily x

 

Hi everyone!

We are Alice McMahon (2nd year, French, Hertford) and Eleanor Lischka, (Postgrad, French, Lincoln) and we are the Environment and Sustainability co-ordinators at the Oxford Hub. 6th week this term is Environment and Sustainability week and we’ll be focusing on the theme of sustainable living.

Our aim is to focus attention on the decisions that we can make, as individuals, to best support the environment. Although we can sometimes feel small and powerless, we believe that the choices we make can and do make a difference. Oxford is full of talented minds and we also hope that by raising awareness of some of the issues, we can inspire people to go on and solve them.

We have some very exciting events happening this week, particularly our debate so read on below for more info!

We hope to see as many of you as possible this week! :D

Alice & Eleanor

Hello Hubbers,

This week is all about local action. It’s about improving the world where you are. Although the opportunities coming up in Student Volunteering Week are all based in Oxford, the basic principles of working with communities, individuals and the environment to create positive change are the same the world over. Through practical volunteering you’ll learn skills for life, skills you can sell and, more often than not, gain a new perspective on life.

No matter how little time you’ve got to give we'd urge you to volunteer some of it this week. The rewards usually outweigh the cost. Feel free to contact us if you have any queries.


Hub Love,


Ruolin & Szi Kay

The Local Action Team xx

 

Hi guys,

We are Joshua Powell (Queen's, PPE), and Sachin De Stone (St. Peter's, Maths & Philosophy, and an arch basket weaver and turtle rearer), and we are the Rights and Development Coordinators at the Oxford Hub. 4th Week this term at the Hub is Rights and Development week and we'll be focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa, following on from our successful Spotlight on the Middle East Week last term. We'll be putting on a range of events highlighting the politics, culture, and gastronomy of Sub-Saharan Africa, so we hope to see you at as many of these events as possible, which you can see below!

Rights and Development is a big part of what the Hub does. While we all live in comfort in Oxford, it is easy to forget that there are still almost 1 billion people in the world living on less than a dollar a day, and many more living in regimes which do not grant them basic freedoms. Although many of the problems surrounding issues of rights and development seem intractable, some progress has been made over the last few years, albeit fairly slow. Although we don't expect that all these problems can be solved by thinking about them in Oxford, there is such a diverse range of talented minds here that we believe that there are people here who can contribute towards solving these problems, and the more people are made aware of them, the more likely people are to do something about them.

Although the purpose of our week will largely be in raising awareness and understanding, there are many groups that are part of our ethical network with which you can make a difference. Whether your focus is on campaigning, or you would prefer to devote your summer to helping on a development project abroad, we can help you channel your interest into something productive, so please do get in touch if you want to find out more about what Rights and Development groups are operating in Oxford!

We hope to see as many of you this week as possible!

Best wishes,

Josh and Sachin

Hello everyone,

We are Joellyn Heng (St Peter’s, E&M) and Madeleine Ellis-Petersen (Magdalen, History & Politics), your Oxford Hub Social Enterprise Coordinators! This week is Social Enterprise Week, and as promised we'll be doing a short introduction about our SE team and our spotlight week.

The SE Team strongly believes that social entrepreneurship is a viable and sustainable means to solve social problems, and that Oxford is an incredible breeding ground to grow and translate creative ideas into social businesses - you just have to know where to look and who to talk to! So… our team aims to fulfil two goals this term: one, to connect interested students, social entrepreneurs and local community social enterprises with one another, and two, to build up a support network and a buzzing space that will aid in idea incubation.

The Social Enterprise Week is designed to be a smooth lead-up to the Oxford University Social Entrepreneurship Grants Programme. It aims to engage students with social entrepreneurship and to provide a glimpse of the opportunities, network and support available in Oxford. It promises to be a week full of exciting speaker events and panel discussions, featuring speakers from the Skoll Centre and local community social enterprises. The grants programme and The McKinsey Venture Academy will also be having their respective launches during the week.

Do check out the programme lineup for the week.

Our first event is a speaker event "Defining the 'Social' in Social Enterprise" with Michael Thornton, Aunnie Patton and Chad Anderson, and it is happening TODAY AT 3PM at St Peter's College, Miles Room.


Hope to see many of you at all the events!

Joellyn and Madeleine

Hello Hubbers,

I do hope you are enjoying this snow, and are engineering igloo palaces as I write. I want to welcome everyone to our Hub activities and invite you to enjoy a wonderful term of events and opportunities that the student committee has planned, including all the great items below from the Hub and other groups in Oxford. As the President of the Hub, I have had the great pleasure to meet and work with some amazing people in forming the coming weeks of this term. I am a Master’s student, studying Global Governance and Diplomacy and so will only have the opportunity to dive into the Oxford experience for one year. I am in St. Hilda’s, and have decided to be one of the few bike-less discovering Oxford.

In the coming weeks, each of the area coordinators will say a few words to introduce themselves and their spotlight weeks in this section. Spotlight weeks are being continued from last term as a way of focusing each week on one of our themed areas to bring awareness and inspiration in social enterprise, rights and development, local action, and environment and sustainability. I do hope you find the Hub an informative and inspiring space and please feel free to email me with ideas and questions.

Hub love,

Will


 

Hello everyone!

And so, in this never ending cycle we call Oxford, we've hit 1st Week again. But never fear, as there are some great events lined up to make January zip by. We have the amazing Oxford Climate Forum coming up, with this week being your last chance to buy tickets at the reduced Earlybird price of £12! There will be some great speakers there, so take a look at the website for more details. At the Hub, we have our Refreshers Fair for you to soak up all the charitable and ethical goodness you missed the first time round in the heady days of October, and you can sing and party your troubles away at our fantastic Open Mic Night and legendary House Party!

If opportunities are more your style, we've got plenty of those here too. This week, there's a lot on offer for those of you wanting to work with young people, either tutoring or in clubs, as well as the chance to join the Hub Exec as a Social Enterprise Coordinator or help organise the 2013 RAG Ball!

Until next time,

Oxford Hub xx

Hello Hubbers!


A big happy new year and welcome back from all at Oxford Hub! Don't despair at the thought of getting back to work *just* yet, however, as we have an action-packed 1st Week designed to postpone the New Year Fear and fill your heads with charitable loveliness and fun. It all starts with our Refreshers Fair on Monday of 1st Week, so drop by to find out a bit more about us and how you can get involved.



Until next time,

Oxford Hub xx