Music Students at City of Oxford College Perform for Mental Health Awareness

Music Performance and Production students at City of Oxford College cranked up the volume to take part in a pop-up gig on campus to mark the culmination of Activate Learning’s Mental Health Awareness Week events.

Between 9 and 13 May, students and staff at Activate Learning took part in a variety of events as part of the annual awareness week.

The City of Oxford College rounded off the week of events with an open-air gig on campus on Friday 13 May to showcase what the music students have been working on. A variety of bands and solo artists performed different genres of music, featuring many original songs.

Nick Reiber Hodgson, music teacher at the college, shared his thoughts on the success of the event:

“I’m extremely proud of our students who always express creativity and animated and engaging performances.”

“The atmosphere in the department is extremely supportive and we encourage the students to express themselves both creatively in their song writing and musicianship but also physically with their image and identity and stage movement,” Nick said.

Both staff and students in the music department were enthusiastic to take part and show their support for mental health awareness week.

“When I was contacted to invite the music students to perform there was absolutely no hesitation whatsoever, as numerous students and staff have suffered from mental health issues, therefore having an opportunity to support the event was gladly accepted,” Nick shared.

The Head of Campus at City of Oxford College, Mat Sentence, also spoke out about the events taking place last week: “Mental Health Awareness Week was such a success at our Oxford Campuses with so many varied and engaging activities.”

Mat further praised the efforts of the college:

“It’s events like these that raise awareness and bring to the forefront of our minds, the importance of sharing, supporting and being here for one another. This week, we saw students and staff come together and remind each other the values of being part of a very special college community.”

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