Update from Amelia: over 500 students trained as active bystanders
Monday 28-10-2019 - 16:28
As noted in the recent Palatinate article, Durham SU is proud to have been involved in delivering a new, Durham-specific active bystander training course to over 500 Durham students during prep week last month.
The development of this new training course was initially lobbied for by my predecessor, Meg Haskins, who was highly influential in ensuring that the University committed to funding the project. Meg also worked closely with University staff to ensure that the new training course took on board student feedback from the previous year, following the delivery of the American Bringing in the Bystander course. It was felt that whilst this course delivered the basics of bystander intervention, as a sector-leading institution in this field, Durham should be striving to offer bespoke training which emphasises the need for cultural change and preventative measures in tackling sexual misconduct and violence.
Having now taken this project on myself, I’m proud to have been involved in the hiring of 11 Student Peer Facilitators by Durham SU, who delivered a total of 26, two-hour sessions to freps last month. These sessions were all coordinated and hosted by Durham SU, having worked with 13 of the 16 colleges to make this possible. Our initial feedback has been incredibly positive, with 98% of surveyed students who had untaken the training saying they were more likely to intervene in a potentially harmful incident.
Moving forwards, the training is available to all students, colleges, student groups, sports teams etc. If you’d like to know more, or to arrange for the training to be delivered to your college, group or team, please e-mail Nicola Frampton (Welfare Policy Coordinator) at nicola.a.frampton@durham.ac.uk.
