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Two female students chat over snacks in the Trinity JCR.

Your

Wellbeing

I am writing to you to express my immense appreciation for the support and assistance that you have given me and my family recently, during my mental health crisis. Thank you very much for going above and beyond to help me!

Anonymous undergraduate

Student

Wellbeing

Trinity College takes the wellbeing of its students very seriously. There’s a wealth of confidential support available, all you have to do is ask. 

Need to talk? 

Trinity’s Wellbeing Advisors provide individual wellbeing support, listening and signposting, for all Trinity students. You can talk confidentially and freely about any kind of social, emotional, personal, or psychological issues, without fear of judgement.

You can contact us at wellbeing@trinity.ox.ac.uk or book an appointment online

Who's who in college

In addition to the Wellbeing Advisors, there are a range of staff and peer supporters in college you can approach for support. You can see more about who they are on our Wellbeing Who's Who page.

Student Wellbeing

FAQs and Who's Who

You may find yourself needing support for a wide variety of reasons while you are a student, from financial concerns to mental or physical health problems to worries on behalf of a friend or flatmate. You can always book an appointment with a Wellbeing Advisor to discuss things, but we also have a guide to some common concerns experienced by students over the years. You may want to start here if you have questions or aren't sure of your options. 

Students

Helping Students

Sometimes you may want to talk to another student about what you are going through. That's why there are volunteers across the student body who would love to be there for you, or help you find the support you need. You can connect with them at wellbeing events or just email them directly. Please don't hesitate to reach out!

Both the JCR (undergraduates) and MCR (postgraduates) have welfare reps; these are elected students who provide general information about a whole range of welfare services. 

You can contact the current welfare reps by emailing them:

JCR Welfare Reps:

Katherine Baker

Keya Downward

Sam Dudley

Veda Dharwar

MCR Welfare Officer:

Mary Newman

College peer supporters provide informal, friendly and confidential listening. They are trained by the University Counselling Service and are there to listen but not to advise. They work within clear boundaries to signpost you on to advice or help if you need it.

Your Wider

Wellbeing Team

We would encourage any student experiencing difficulties to seek confidential help, as soon as possible, from any member of the wellbeing team; there are also a number of staff and peer support roles in college who are here to support you. You can learn more about the resources they can offer below.

Chris Cullen is a professional psychotherapist and the first port of call for students seeking college counselling. He is on the team at the University Counselling Service. Chris works one-to-one, and is currently in College offering sessions, both in-person and online, on Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings. 

Sessions with Chris can be booked by contacting him at  chris.cullen@psych.ox.ac.uk

The College Nurse can help with any of your medical concerns; she is available Monday to Friday during term times. Students can book an appointment online via the College Nurse Booking Form.

 

The Lodge porters are all trained first responders and should be your first port of call outside of Wellbeing hours.

Between the hours of 7pm and 7am you should call the Lodge on 79900 and ask for the on-call Junior Dean, who will also be able to offer support.

The Lodge can be reached at: lodge@trinity.ox.ac.uk; 01865 279900

Our Junior Deans are available 19.00-07.00 from 0th week to 9th weeks during term time. They are very willing to signpost and support you, with any wellbeing concerns you might have e.g., friendship, accommodation, personal, financial etc, so please reach out. 

A poster with images of all the Junior Deans and their names.

For advice, and to discuss whether or not you want to make a formal report of harassment, please contact the Dean, or one of the College Harassment Advisors.

Key college contacts

The Dean: dean@trinity.ox.ac.uk

College Harassment Advisors: The college has three Harassment Advisors who are part of the University's Harassment Advisory Network of confidential advisors across all colleges, departments and faculties. They are available to offer confidential advice and support around the procedures for reporting and resolving harassment issues. The current Harassment Advisors are:

Professor James McDougall: james.mcdougall@trinity.ox.ac.uk

Dr Maria Blanco: maria.blanco@trinity.ox.ac.uk

Professor Susan Perkin: susan.perkin@chem.ox.ac.uk

The University’s harassment advisor service can be contacted on harassment.line@admin.ox.ac.uk.

Key university resources

Information, support and advice from the central university for students who feel they have been harassed or bullied can be found here:

All Trinity students now have access to Health Assured, a confidential programme designed to help support you with personal, health and wellbeing issues and a dedicated app and wellbeing portal to supplement the resources available from Trinity’s Wellbeing team.

Health assured offers access to free sessions of counselling support - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by calling 0800 028 3766.

In addition to counselling support, advice and our app, we also offer a virtual library of wellbeing information. Our articles and self-help guides provide support on a range of health and advisory issues, as well as instant guidance to aid your physical and mental health.

To access the Wellbeing Portal, you will require the login credentials provided in your Wellbeing Weekly emails; this also gives you access to My Healthy Advantage, Health Assured’s health and wellbeing app. The app offers access to a range of features aimed at improving your health and wellbeing. These include:

  • Live chat and support
  • Personalised news feed
  • Weekly mood tracker
  • Four-week plans
  • Mini health checks
  • Breathing techniques
  • BrightTV – an exclusive series featuring well-known personalities sharing their personal experiences with mental health.

Oxford University Counselling Service

The University’s Student Counselling Service is situated in the city centre. You can self-refer to the central counselling services by emailing counselling@admin.ox.ac.uk

Oxford SU Advice Service

The Oxford University Student Union Student Advice Service is the only independent advice, information and advocacy service exclusively available to Oxford University Students. The service is free and confidential, and they have a team of friendly Advisors to help find solutions to any problems you might face, including academic concerns, accommodation, health, relationships, visas and mental health. 

Nightline

Nightline is an independent confidential listening, support and information service run by and for students during term-time. It is open to Oxford and Oxford Brookes students from 8pm-8am Monday to Sunday, 0th week to 9th week during Oxford University term time.

Togetherall

All students and staff can access the Togetherall platform 24/7 at no cost, for mental health and wellbeing support. Togetherall is an anonymous and confidential space providing tools, courses and a supportive community to help everyone to look after themselves, along with plenty of resources to explore. All you need is a university email address to enter.

Luke Rostill is the College's Equalities Fellow. He is the main port of call regarding issues of equalities and diversity (race, gender, culture, belief) within college. 

Trinity College and the wider University are committed to working towards an institution that is representative, inclusive, fair and welcoming to all of our students.

More information, support and resources can be found here:  

You can find out about the University's LGBTQ+ support and transgender support online; Oxford University also has a number of support networks for LGBTQ+ staff and students.

The University's LGBTQ+ Society is a student-run society that holds events and provides welfare support and advice and the University also has a Peer Support and Rainbow Peers network.

We are committed to supporting students and staff with disabilities, and work closely with the University’s Disability Advisory Service to ensure we offer appropriate support for students. Everyone at Trinity is committed to creating a fair and positive environment.

The College’s Disability Lead is:

Lizzie Shine (Head of Wellbeing) lizzie.shine@trinity.ox.ac.uk

Nicola Selway (Wellbeing Advisor) Nicola.selway@trinity.ox.ac.uk

Current students with a query relating to a disability should contact the Wellbeing Team.

Potential applicants to the College should contact Nicola Selway and any staff with queries relating to disability should contact Lizzie Shine. All conversations will be treated in confidence.

Disclosing a disability

You don’t have to disclose whether you have a disability. However, there are benefits to disclosing. If we are aware in advance of any particular difficulties you might encounter, we can provide you appropriate support and make reasonable adjustments.

If you did not disclose as part of the application process, you are strongly advised to do so once you have arrived in College by contacting either the College's Disability Coordinator or the Disability Advisory Service. All information you provide is treated confidentially and will only be shared with tutors or other members of staff with your permission.

If you think that you have a disability when already at College - including dyslexia or a mental health condition - you can also contact the University Disability Advisory Service, Disability Coordinator or, where relevant, the College Doctor.

If you register with the Disability Advisory Service they can arrange for a Study Needs Assessment (SNA), which will inform the support you can seek.

For more information about supporting students with disabilities, or accessibility needs while in college, see the Accessibility Support pages below.

Are you worried about your child?

It can be really hard to know that your child is having a tough time while they’re away from home at University.

If they contact you in distress, you can look at the rest of this page for ideas of whom you could suggest they contact. If you are worried about your child’s immediate safety, and they aren’t willing to reach out to support in Oxford, then you can call the lodge 01865 279900, or 999 if they aren’t living in Trinity.

If you contact the wellbeing advisors at wellbeing@trinity.ox.ac.uk; please be aware that we can’t discuss your child with you without their consent, but we would be very happy to hear from you. We can also, direct you to general resources about how best to support a student in distress, such as Students Against Depression or the Young Minds Parents’ Helpline.