Student Enrichment 

Change starts with us!

Our Stephenson Connections Programme offers a broad range of enrichment opportunities to students enabling them to explore new ideas, develop new skills and be career-ready. The activities offered  seek to enhance and develop a student's intellectual curiosity and personal effectiveness through the facilitation of student-led activities, the provision of a series of inspirational talks, seminars and debates, and skills-based activities such as networking sessions, employability initiatives and our work with the local community.  

Read about the fantastic things our students achieve in our latest Year in Review 2022/2023!

Stephenson Ideas

Our flagship Stephenson Ideas talk series runs every Monday evening during term time and has featured an excellent range of speakers. Each talk aims to inspire, challenge and develop the intellectual curiosity of our students. The talk series features motivational and inspiring speakers with a story to tell, sometimes academic in nature, sometimes not, but always providing an opportunity to discuss innovative and engaging topics. The talks are accessible to all.  

Speakers have included Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the UK Environment Agency, Andrew Feinstein, global arms trade expert and former ANC MP in Mandela's government and Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation. 

Community Connections Trips

Stephenson College launched the Community Connections programme in 2022, enabling Stephenson students to explore and connect with the local community around them. The North East of England is a place of big adventures, breath taking beauty and a strong cultural heritage and we want to ensure that all Stephenson College students have the chance to enjoy it. Students have enjoyed fully subsidised trips to the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, The Auckland Project, Locomotion in Shildon and Beamish Museum.

Global Citizenship

We believe every student should have an international experience right here in Durham. Stephenson College provides a wide range of opportunities for students to explore global citizenship themes and issues through talks, cultural events and exchanges. For example, we provide opportunities for students to volunteer on the Mexico Online Research School in January each year, a three-week programme enabling Mexican students to prepare for study in the UK. 

Stephenson College was proud to partner with DU Business School and Regional Maritime University - Ghana to deliver a British Council funded virtual masterclass series in 2021.  Over a hundred students from Stephenson, the wider DU community and RMU – Ghana participated in the masterclasses, exploring problems facing agri-business in Ghana from a logistics perspective and working on real life viable solutions, putting theory into practice.  

We have hosted a number of in-person exchanges, most recently a British Council SCOUT delegation of 25 students from Tamil Nadu, India as well as students from California State University - LA on an International First Generation Scholars Creative Writing Programme in June 2024.

In September 2022 we hosted the International Futures Youth Summit in partnership with the Centre for International Leadership and Learning and Momentum CIC. This was a fantastic opportunity for young people from 15 countries to come together and invigorate the policy debate on the purpose, practice and funding of international youth mobility.

Stephenson College also hosts the annual DU Global Goals Summit as part of Durham Global Week, where DU students and local sixth formers come together to learn about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, why they are important, and work on innovative solutions through the award winning Game Changer Challenge. Find out about the 2024 summit here. 

Volunteering and Outreach

Volunteering is a key part of the Stephenson experience and we are proud to have been awarded College of the Year 2024 at the DU Volunteer Awards. We work with local organisations to enable Stephenson students to connect with the wider Durham area, make new friends, develop new skills and be at the forefront of tackling social and environmental challenges. Our outreach projects include an intergenerational project with Sherburn House residential home, a Lunar New Year schools outreach project (Best Cultural Effort Award 2024), environmental outreach including Riverscapes and local Brownie and Cub groups (Best Environmental Outreach Award 2024) and running outreach days with The Brilliant Club. Students also run regular fundraising events such as Macmillan Coffee Mornings and charity netball matches for men's health charity Movember. 

Leadership

Student leadership is a core part of College life and there are leadership roles at all levels available through College and JCR/MCR initiatives. We work closely with the DU Leadership Programme to deliver workshops and talks in College which are open to all students. Stephenson Ideas and The Durham Leaders Think Tank have collaborated on joint initiatives, such as a recent workshop focusing on ways to be a good leader and the value of unconventional leadership styles. The workshop was delivered by Mike Barton, the unconventional Chief Constable who turned Durham Constabulary into the best police force in the country.