Belonging at King’s College London represents being an integral part of the co-created, diverse, inclusive, and innovative community that values every voice. The BE at King’s project has been funded by our Vice Chancellor, Professor Shitij Kapur, to empower staff and students to develop their ideas to strengthen community at King’s.
The BE at King’s project started in Autumn 2023 where we gathered over 110 suggestions from staff and students on how they’d like to build community at King’s. In Spring 2024, we were pleased to offer 8 projects a small grant to trial their ideas. Following an application process, for the 2024/25 academic year we currently have 8 large grant funded projects running, which will be increasing as we continue to work with our faculties closer.
Belonging at King’s is not just a feeling, but a reality that is shaped by the actions and attitudes of everyone in the King’s community. The projects running demonstrate the values of our King’s Community Charter and through the projects we aim to create a positive and enriching environment where everyone can belong and flourish.
Understanding the impact of each initiative on our staff and students is essential to the BE at King’s project, and this year, there are many ways for you to get involved:
1. Community Breakfasts
Every Friday from 8.30 – 10.00 during the academic term, King’s Food are running a free community breakfast on our Waterloo, Guy’s and Denmark Hill campuses. Come along to meet students and staff from across the university and eat some free food. Throughout the year we’ll be running a few collaborative sessions with faculties and services across the university. We’ll be keeping the BE at King’s event page updated.
2. Art Club
Our free fortnightly Tuesday Art Club is open to all staff and students will be running until May 2025 where you can join us for an opportunity to engage in creative activities like painting and drawing, improve wellbeing and socialise in a supportive and fun environment. Basic supplies are provided, and all skill levels are welcome. Sign-up for more information here. At the end of the year, we will be showcasing work from the Art Club in an exhibition at the Science Gallery.
“I really enjoy these sessions and find them a valuable way to not only decompress after a long workday, but also network with others (including students!) and also produce a fabulous piece of artwork too.” – Linda Curtis, Operations Assistant (Nutrition) | Executive Assistant to Prof Kevin Whelan (Head of Department of Nutritional Sciences)
3. Community Fridge
The community fridge is currently located in The Meadow, 8th Floor, Bush House South East Wing, Strand Campus and open during university opening hours. The community fridge provides a space for excess food from university events to be offered to students for free. We are looking to add a space for dried goods later in the year. You can find more information on Instagram @kclcommunityfridge.
Only Fridge Champions can put food in the fridge, please email MT-CF-STRAND@kcl.ac.uk for more information.
4. Hackathon
Open to all first-year students, in semester two, two of our Bioscience students will be running a Hackathon where you’ll be able to meet students from across the university and learn a wide range of skills to help your next steps. Further information will be available towards the end of 2024.
Other BE at King's projects
The above are just a selection of the projects we are running as part of BE at King’s this year, we are also running projects that include a Human Library, researching belonging for neurodivergent students, developing social spaces on Waterloo Campus, and supporting PhD students with a wellbeing and writing countryside retreat.
“I really enjoy writing attentively with other students in the retreats, initially as a participant, and finally as an organiser. These retreats not only motivated me to overcome writer's block, but also connect me to other students and give me a stronger sense of community.” David Guu, Wellbeing and Writing Retreat Organiser | IoPPN PhD Student– David Guu, Wellbeing and Writing Retreat Organiser | IoPPN PhD Student
If you have any questions about the specific projects or the BE at King’s project in general, please contact BeAtKings@kcl.ac.uk