Director of Wellbeing & Equality
Caitlin champions student health, diversity, and inclusion.
About my role
Following the Democracy Review, this role will be transitioning to the new position of President of Wellbeing and Community. You can read the full role description for this position here.
Read the Director of Wellbeing and Equality's full role description.
Caitlin Ridgway represent student interests for mental health support, physical wellbeing, and personal safety, as well as equality, diversity, and inclusion issues. She works on the University and Union’s approach to dealing with issues like mental health, harassment and discrimination, sexual violence, physical health, and safety. I support many of the Students’ Association’s volunteer officers and subcommittees focusing on equality and wellbeing.
You can find out more about my role below, and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions!
News
Equality
The Director of Wellbeing works closely with our volunteer officers to advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion, working on initiatives like the Zero Tolerance Policy and Saints Solidarity. They chair the Association Equality Committee, and oversee a number of subcommittees and officers focusing on equality and representation for different communities of students:
The Director of Wellbeing and Equality also works closely with the University on equality issues, representing students on University committees like Equally Safe (gender-based violence prevention); Central EDI Committee; Race, Ethnicity, Religion, and Belief Group; and the Interfaith Steering Group. They are also a member of the Race Equality Charter, Athena SWAN Gender Equality Charter, and the Emily Test Charter self-assessment teams.
Wellbeing
The Director of Wellbeing and Equality works closely with the University on student welfare, health and wellbeing. They are the main Students' Association contact with Student Services, attending meetings such as Student Services Open Forum. They also sit on the Community Council Health and Wellbeing Subcommittee. They also oversee some volunteer officers and subcommittees focusing on student welfare:
Mental Health
The Director of Wellbeing is the Students' Association's lead on the Student Mental Health Agreement - a collaboration between the University and the Students' Association looking at joint projects to support students' mental health and wellbeing.
The Director of Wellbeing also represents students on the University Mental Health Task Force, Mental Health Strategy, and Suicide Safer Strategy.
Physical Health
The Director of Wellbeing works closely with the Student Health Hub to support access to health care, and supports projects like Saints Sport For All and Healthy Body, Healthy Mind.
Sexual Health
The Director of Wellbeing supports condom distribution across the University, distributes free reusable period products, and promotes sexual health resources, clinics, and education alongside the Wellbeing Subcommittee. They also lead on the annual Students' Association campaign for sexual assault awareness week.
Safety
The Director of Wellbeing works on safety, including night out safety schemes like Ask For Angela, Raisin and May Dip safety, drink spiking prevention, and promoting bystander intervention. They also regularly attend the Scottish Government's Ministerial Roundtable on Spiking and other meetings to represent students' safety interests.
StAnd Together
Alongside Student Services, the Director of Wellbeing line manages the three strands of StAnd Together, a joint inititative between the Students' Association and the University that develops peer-led approaches to support and awareness on important student welfare issues.
- Got Consent?: events, training, and workshops on consent, SGBV, and bystander intervention.
- Got Consent?: events, workshops, and resources on alcohol and drug safety and inclusivity.
- Got Support?: trained peer supporters meet students one-to-one for coffee, a chat, or to accompany them to events to help combat issues like social anxiety and loneliness.
- Got Solidarity?: promoting solidarity and bystander awareness for abuse, harassment, discrimination and hate incidents.
Previous holders
Please note, that the role became a sabbatical position in 2017 when DoRep split into DoWell and DoEd.