Your Tutor – You will be allocated a tutor who looks after all of your welfare and non-academic needs and will usually remain with you throughout your degree. They are not a part of your subject so that you can raise any problems about your course or supervisors. Any issue, whether small, academic, social financial, medical or related to your home life can be brought to your Tutor’s attention.
You will have a meeting with them at the start and end of every term to check how you are going. For example, if you are having financial difficulties, your tutor should be your first point of contact who can point you in the direction of various hardship funds.
College Welfare Coordinator – The College has recently appointed Claire Thompson to the newly created post of Wellbeing Coordinator to support students, staff and Fellows. Her role is to provide advice and support for individual students and those working with them (including among others Tutors, tutorial staff, porters, Chaplain, student representatives), and liaise with the College Counsellor and University Counselling service, College Nurse and NHS provision.
College and University Counselling – Our College counsellor is Mary Cavander Attwood, who is based at Murray Edwards which is the college next door. You can contact her directly to arrange a meeting at counsellor@fitz.cam.ac.uk.
The University Counselling Service employs professional trained counsellors for students to talk about any of their problems. It is best to contact them through your Tutor but you can also contact them directly at 01223 332865 or at www.counselling.cam.ac.uk. Services are free and confidential.
The JCR (Students Union) – As the JCR, we are here to serve you. Specifically, the Welfare SubCommittee is here to address any questions or concerns you have and are always happy to chat about anything you like. Even if we can’t help with something specific, we are happy to point you to the right people.
Feel free to contact us before and throughout your time at Cambridge whether that is through Facebook, our emails or anonymously through the JCR website: https://www.fitzjcr.com/contact/. You can also anonymously request contraception from the JCR, more details on our website: https://www.fitzjcr.com/welfare/.
College Families – The college family system is a great support network for all undergrads in Cambridge, where you will be allocated another fresher ‘sibling’ and your two ‘College parents’ who will be in their second or third year.
It is an informal peer support/welfare system where they are available for advice, a chat and to welcome you to college. It’s also a great way to ask questions about your studies as one of your parents will be studying the same subject as you. Often, your family are the first people from other years you get to meet before you arrive, so they will be very useful. They may also have experienced a lot of similar problems, so they are always available for a chat.
Sexual Health Supplies – Please use the google form here: https://forms.gle/EdN6NobQDY8xjhWM6 to ask for sexual health supplies. We do NOT collect your email address. You can request for supplies to either be delivered to your pigeon hole or anonymously to the welfare pigeon hole which is at the back of the pigeon hole room.