Healthy attitudes at college
Posted: 18 September 2014
The importance of good sexual health is being promoted to students at West Nottinghamshire College this week.
Student health champions Kathleen Dickens, Saphire-Jade Ramsden and Kaylee Hibbit with Samantha Hammond from Nottinghamshire County Council
As part of sexual health awareness week (15-19 September) the college’s health and welfare team has organised a range of information stands for students to discover more about looking after their sexual health.
As well as getting advice from the college team about contraception and sexually-transmitted infections, students have been talking to representatives from the Contraception and Sexual Health Team (CASH) about STI screening and staff from SEXions - the confidential service which provides sexual health advice and support for young people.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s C-Card technical specialist Samantha Hammond was on hand today (Wednesday 17 September) to offer advice on how to register to receive a C-Card to access free condoms after having a confidential discussion with a trained advisor.
Assisting the health and welfare team throughout the week were three of the ten newly- appointed college health champions. These students, who are studying on health and social care courses, will volunteer their time to support a range of health events throughout the academic year, while also gaining credible extra-curricular experience.
Student health and welfare advisor Mark Cantrill said: “This week has been about helping students to adopt a healthy attitude towards sex and taking responsibility for themselves in terms of their own sexual health.
“We’ve had lots of interest from learners and they’ve shown a sensible interest in the advice offered by the college and our external providers who we have good contacts with in the community.
“I’ve been especially impressed by our new health champions and how they’ve engaged well with fellow students to spread the message of being health aware.”