This week has seen a unified celebration of individual differences across Eastleigh College.

A huge range of talks, activities and workshops have taken place over the course of this week as part of a special internal Diversity event at the College. Many themes were explored through the help of special guests from the local community, including cultural and social differences, mental health journeys, disability experiences and addictions.

The week began with an exciting Cultural Fair, giving learners the opportunity to showcase their personal culture and backgrounds to their peers. Elsewhere, speakers gave presentations on a number of subjects, with talks entitled ‘Living with Mental Health’, ‘Overcoming Learning Needs and Cultural Barriers’ and ‘Disability Experiences as a PhD Student’ among others. There were also some lighter activites during the week to boost wellbeing, such as Laughing Yoga and a Calming Body workshop.

Trudy McKenzie, Careers Leader & Advisor at Eastleigh College, said: “Diversity Week has proved to be a brilliant success for the College and we have been lucky enough to have many unique and inspiring contributors from the local community.  Each session was well attended and hopefully this has helped broaden perspectives and celebrate our unique differences.”

Gregory White was one of our guest speakers and spoke to learners about his experience with autism. He commented: “Anything that closes the diversity gap in education training or employment is progression and to be celebrated. As a former learner at the College, I absolutely loved my time here and found it very rewarding to return and talk with current learners who are passionate about embracing diversity.”

Claire Dickenson gave a talk to bring awareness to mental health and the support available. She commented: “I was invited to speak on my mental health journey at Eastleigh College and I so appreciate being given this opportunity. I hope that my talk contributed to a different perspective and understanding of how we all have different mental challenges in our lives. I want to thank everyone for taking the time to hear me speak and for all the extremely kind words afterwards, it really means a lot to me.”

Further plans are in place to host a special day at the College in the Spring to celebrate differences in faith, featuring talks, discussions and workshops. More information on this will be communicated in due course through our social media platforms.

For more information, please contact the College at BeBetter@eastleigh.ac.uk.