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More Pembroke news

Believe in Him Installation Visits Pembroke

Believe in Him, created by Utah artist Tom Holdman in collaboration with the Roots of Humanity Foundation, is a 32-foot long stained glass exhibit which has travelled between Rome, Paris and London. During the recent vacation, the travelling exhibition spent a week in Pembroke's Hall and Chapel, where it was enjoyed by students, staff and visitors.

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Patience Agbabi (1983) elected to Honorary Fellowship at Pembroke College

We are delighted to announce that renowned poet and novelist Patience Agbabi (1983) has been elected to an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of her distinguished writing career.

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Refugee Education Organisation OXPAND Founded by Anna Simpson (2013)

NEWS |

Third year History undergraduate Anna Simpson is the founder of a non-profit, volunteer-run agency called OXPAND, which connects Oxford-based volunteer tutors and translators with displaced refugee students who have faced disruption to their education in their home countries.

Volunteers communicate with refugees through online video application Skype, and discuss academic topics for one hour a week in order to facilitate a stress-free and informal return to study.

Many of the volunteers are students and staff of the University of Oxford, and the success of the organisation means that tailored online courses have been offered in a range of subjects including German, English, French, Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, Computer Science, History, Accounting and Engineering.

Having grown rapidly and generated a great deal of interest locally, OXPAND now has a large committee of Oxford students and recent graduates, as well as a network of over 200 volunteers signed up to deliver courses to refugees from countries including Syria, Yemen and Kenya.

For founder Anna, OXPAND is about more than just academic tuition: ‘As the refugees Skype with our volunteer tutors and translators, they gain not only one-to-one academic support, but inspiring new friendships. Having the chance to study any OXPAND course they like, for free, brings them a real sense of positivity for their future: which, given the current refugee crisis, is incredibly valuable.’

The scheme has had an even greater social impact than predicted; Pembroke student Sophie Dowle (Arabic and Islamic studies, 2013) explains how translating for OXPAND has led to the coming together of sub-communities across the city who share a common interest: ‘OXPAND has enabled me to develop connections with Arabic speakers from a wide variety of backgrounds in Oxford. OXPAND does amazing work and enables us to form personal relationships with refugees, which helps us to better understand a situation which would otherwise just be a headline on the news.’

You can find out more about OXPAND on their WEBSITE and FACEBOOK PAGE.