April Updates
Hello everyone!
You may notice that this isn’t normally where you see our updates! If you’re someone who receives our newsletter, this update should have already landed safely in your inbox, so go check it out there. If you’re not subscribed to our newsletter but you’re interested in learning more about what we’re up to when we aren’t posting on socials or writing blog posts, then I would highly recommend it!
We’ve been enjoying the warm weather here in Glasgow (a rare sentence) and we hope that you’ve been enjoying the weather wherever you are too! We’ve spent the past month working hard behind the scenes on the ever ongoing task of improving our resources and sprucing up our workshops!
Resources
Our resources this month were focused on effective study sessions in preparation for the high school and university exam periods which have now started! You can find an infographic all about figuring out how to suit your studying to your own habits on our Instagram! Our TikTok is full of useful information if you prefer to receive info in video format, and we have released a new and updated version of our two part blog post on Effective Study Sessions, you can find Part One here, and Part Two here!
Supporting Scholars: Key Stats
As always, we’ve been busy helping as many students as we can to achieve their best results. We’ve reached 130 students so far this academic year and we can’t wait to keep our momentum up and reach our student goals! We met three new students this month, and reviewed 13 personal statements for both college and university. We also supported students through four college applications, four university applications, and three scholarship applications!
My Academic Family Outings
Carly arriving at the Forth Valley Sensory Centre!
We had the chance to meet so many wonderful people through events at the Forth Valley Sensory Centre and Glasgow Kelvin College this month! We delivered a workshop to the Forth Valley Sensory Centre’s Deaf Club on college and university options, and learned all about their concerns and the barriers they experience when trying to access post-secondary education. We also had the chance to table at Glasgow Kelvin College’s University Marketplace day talking to students planning to or transitioning to university.
As well as having the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people in person, we were able to run a few online sessions for those who aren’t able to get to in-person events! This included a Transition to University workshop for Glasgow Kelvin College students, and a Mentorship Information Session for staff and students at the University of York.
Other News
In other news this month, we wanted to start this section off with a huge thank you to everyone who came along to our 4th Anniversary celebration this month. It meant so much to everyone who works here at My Academic Family to see you all there, and we’re so happy with how the event turned out! We’re looking forward to another year of helping students thrive at university no matter their circumstances!
We also want to spread the news about another exciting event that is coming up in the next few months - in collaboration with Unity Sisters, Inclusive Homework Club, and Kinning Park Complex, we will be putting together a celebration for Refugee Festival Scotland 2026. There will be more information coming soon, but if you’re interested in a super fun volunteering opportunity and you’re able to get to the Kinning Park Complex in Glasgow on the 13th of June, we would love to have you. Please contact Carly at carly@myacademicfamily.org.uk to learn more!
Additionally we spent some time this month partaking in educational events that will contribute to our ever ongoing aim of improving My Academic Family and the services that we provide. This included Carly, our founder, attending a Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Network meeting in the pursuit of a better understanding of mental health issues, so that we can support our students better. We were also incredibly grateful to receive EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) Training that was provided by AMINA Muslim Women's Resource Centre.
Finally, this month we received funding from Glasgow City Innovation District to run workshops for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the district area, which we are excited to begin providing in June!
As always, it’s really important for people to interact with our social media platforms, and we ask that you take a look - there’s some good stuff on there! Building visibility helps us reach more students in need of support and will be valuable in reaching people who are interested in volunteering as mentors, purchasing services or items from the online shop, or donating to support our work. My Academic Family is on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Patreon, and TikTok.
Thank you to each and every one of you who reads this newsletter. We appreciate you.
