Student leads Cambridge-wide student mental health initiative
Tuesday 3 January 2023
A St Catharine’s student has been appointed President of Student Minds Cambridge (SMC), the Cambridge branch of Student Minds, the UK's student mental health charity. Beatriz Vasconcelos de Sousa, a third-year History & Politics undergraduate, is working with the branch committee to empower students to look after their own mental health, support others and create change.
Beatriz commented, “I am thrilled to be SMC’s President this year. Earlier in my degree I struggled to find a non-academic cause that was a good fit and that I could get behind, but then I started to get involved with SMC: first going along to events like dog therapy sessions, and then signing up to be a blog contributor last year. If other students are interested in SMC, we are a very open community and there’s a variety of ways to take part: come to events, write for us, join the committee or even something we’ve not even thought of yet. We would love to hear from student societies who have ideas for new collaborations and are keen to shape SMC’s activities to meet the needs of students – so just reach out for a chat!”
“Our current committee is entirely new after the previous group of students stood down after graduating. While we’re still planning our longer term priorities, we had a great with a new dog therapy session, a social with the Bubble Tea Society and an amazing discussion of men’s mental health led by Catz alumnus and former SMC committee member Kit Treadwell (2019, ASNC; now an MPhil student).”
Beatriz at the Student Minds Cambridge stand at the 2022 Freshers' Fair
Student mental health is a cause close to Beatriz’s heart and her personal experiences of accessing the support available at Cambridge inform how she is approaching her presidency:
“My own mental health got steadily worse during the first and second years of my degree. My College Tutor has been a great source of support through the whole journey, which saves me having to reexplain my situation to someone new. If I need to reach out about any issues, they will find time for us to meet in a welcoming office, which has a ready supply of biscuits and plushy toys on hand. Most importantly, they offer great advice and don’t judge me.
“By the time I was ready to speak to a professional, I was lucky that the University had simplified and improved the support available. I was able to self-refer to the University Counselling Service and booked onto an introductory session very quickly. This session cleared up any doubts or concerns I had about the options available, and I felt empowered to choose the path of future support that was right for me.”
One of the priorities for SMC this year will be helping to raise awareness of the support available through the University, building on the Reach Out campaign which St Catharine’s supported during Michaelmas Term 2022. Beatriz is also hoping SMC will design and lead campaigns of its own:
“The SMC committee is concerned about the reports of loneliness that we’ve heard from across the student community. In response, we have started to look into how we can raise awareness of loneliness as an issue and play our part in ensuring no student feels like they have no-one to turn to.”
