WAM

WELFARE AT MARY'S (WAM)

Charlie Harris (English Literature, 3rd Year), Assistant Male Officer, talks about his involvement with WAM.

At its most basic, Welfare At Mary's (WAM) is a student-led welfare initiative put in place to allow Marians a way of confidentially voicing welfare concerns either about themselves or their peers. However, this simplistic view obscures WAM’ s true importance and wider impact upon Mary ’ s College life. Comprised solely of students, WAM prides itself on being a friendly and accessible line of support for those going through difficulties. Whilst not as specialised or extensive as Mary's Student Support team or some of the University ’ s specialist support services, the WAM team holds drop-in sessions on a regular basis.

It is the integrity of this support to Mary ’ s welcoming environment which prompted me to become involved with the organisation. Upon first arriving in Durham I was amazed that there was a team of student volunteers there to listen to me if I needed it, and it was a great reassurance to know that I was part of a community which visibly cared about its students. I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of campaigns the team ran throughout the year, each of which working to raise awareness of different welfare issues.

After joining WAM I really enjoyed contributing to these campaigns, as well as running my own with the help of the WAM committee. Of all the different ones of which I’ ve been a part, my favourite is the annual body image campaign (this year excellently co-ordinated by our head officer Sophie Tice) which aims to fight the negative messages sent out by (social) media surrounding how we view our own bodies.

For two years I have loved being a part of WAM and I am really proud of the support which as an organisation it represents. Now, more than ever, it is so important that students feel cared for by their college and I hope WAM continues to be a large part of why Mary ’ s exceeds in fulfilling that obligation.