Good News Column, Week Six: Painting parties, blue buildings, and even MORE animals!

Well, it’s already Week Six. For many, exams have begun in earnest, and for some exams are already over. The weather is almost taunting us in it’s gloriousness, which we would all rather like to be enjoying in Cambridge. June is around the corner, summer has started, and some of us are trying to do the maths as to whether we could fit six of our friends on a punt two metres apart (I’m no mathmo but unfortunately I don’t think it’s possible). Although this column cannot reproduce that unique feeling of having a few drinks in the Cambridge summer sun before 5pm in the afternoon, here are some sunny pieces of news which can still brighten up your week:

Get your Paint on

Looking for an opportunity to join a society and learn a new skill during this time in lockdown? Cambridge-based group Brews and Brushstrokes are running weekly painting event nights on Saturday evenings at 8pm, with £5 of each ticket donated to Mind. The group originally would run their events in pubs around the city, but have since moved online during lockdown and are inviting Cambridge students to join them! Lauren, the group’s founder, leads everyone though “a simple enough painting step by step” and at the end of the session you will end up with your very own masterpiece! And for you competitive folks out there, there is even a chance for your painting to be voted as the best of the week on their Instagram page (@brewsandbrushstrokes). Arm yourself with some acrylic paints, a canvas, three paintbrushes and go check them out! (accompanying alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage optional)

Lauren in action!

Last Lot of Light Up Blue

This week marked the final week of Cambridge’s #MakeitBlue campaign, during which more than 20 iconic Cambridge buildings have been lit up blue on Thursday nights at 8pm to celebrate the NHS for the past 9 weeks. The campaign went out with a bang and saw some more beloved colleges don a blue hue; including the iconic red bricks of Robinson and Newnham.

Animal Madness

Have you, like me, spent many a day in lockdown thinking how much more tolerable it would be if you had a dog by your side? Watching your friends’ Instagram stories as they take their furry friends for a walk, have you thought “well I could put one of my old stuffed toys on a leash, but it wouldn’t be the same”? Well the Union’s latest event went some way to help. In this time of even greater stress than usual, we are all in need of puppy therapy more than any other term. The Union ran its regular puppy therapy event, though online, of course, this Saturday. It gave students the opportunity to, “tune in to see some dogs perform tricks, ask questions about puppy therapy and enjoy the show!”

On the animal theme, this Sunday also saw the Union take its members on a virtual “VIP” tour of Sweet Farm, California. The event paired animal therapy with “armchair tourism” and encouraged members to use this time to take a break from the books.

King’s College Meadow out in Full Bloom

King’s College Cambridge and its grounds are iconic to all, and even more well-known to students across the university. Many will have walked round its charming grounds or glanced upon it from a punt during terms gone by. Well this year King’s Backs look very different. As announced on the King’s College website this January, “a large swathe of Cambridge’s most iconic lawn will be transformed into an ecosystem rich in biodiversity this Summer when it is converted into a wildflower meadow” and the results of the work of the college’s team of gardeners is astounding. Not only pretty to look at, the new meadow encourages greater biodiversity and a wealth of wildlife to make King’s their new home. And good news for us students who will be returning to Cam at some point in the future, apparently this meadow is here to stay.

Stay tuned for even more good news next week!

Featured image: Pixabay