Friday 01-05-2020 - 13:40

There's been loads of creative, fun and inspiring ways people have responded to the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic has presented us all.

We have pulled together some examples of how you can stay busy in the coming days and help you make the most of it.

If you're stuck at home and feeling out of touch with university life, we’re here to help with a range of activities you can do from home.

Whether you want to keep in touch with members of your club or society, try something new or take some time to get away from it all, there will be something to keep you occupied whilst you're off campus. 

We'll be updating the top picks of things you can do at home which fall into one of the following themes:

Active@Home

Entertained@Home

Faith@Home

Learning@Home

Wellbeing@Home

Volunteer@Home

 

Active@Home

With gyms closed and time outside being restricted, here are some of the things you can do from the comfort of your own home to keep active.

Online Taekwondo classes

Taekwondo - the club is hosting Online zoom training sessions for members each week. The classes are to keep everyone’s training up and give members a chance to keep fit and active. The sessions have been catered to the smallest of areas so anyone can get involved inside and outside their homes.

How to stay active at home

Sport England have developed resources and activities on how to stay active at home. This includes information on general fitness tips, free videos, links to on demand fitness as well as Yoga, Pilates and strength & conditioning activity.

Stay home, stay Active

MMU Sport have launched a Stay Home, Stay Active programme to help you keeping moving and exercise from home. The programme includes activities ranging from HIIT to circuits and are broadcast on their Instagram and YouTube channels. 

The Body Coach TV

If you haven’t done a Joe Wicks workout on his Body Coach TV channel, now’s the time to give it a try. Joe has a range of videos you can try, from PE with Joe which is great for those who have children, to a seven days of sweat challenge for those who want to really get the heart pumping. 

NHS Home Workout

If you are new to exercising from home or not sure where to start, the NHS have produced a series of 10 minute workout videos which have both cardio and strength workouts. 

Couch to 5k

If you haven’t done a 5k before or don’t consider yourself a runner, now’s the perfect time to give it a go!
This helpful guide from the NHS gives you tips on how to go from couch to running a 5k in 9 weeks.

 

 

Entertained@Home

Are you finding being at home boring and looking for ways to keep you entertained. We’ve pulled together some ideas which range from games and gaming to music and TV.

Games

Tabletop Gaming Society are delivering tonnes of great at home activity for all students. Every Saturday they host an online board games social 12-4pm and they have an ongoing weekly Warhammer 4000 League open to all as well as Roleplaying Games hosted on Discord. Access these activities on their Facebook page.

If you’ve recently discovered a talent for or have a passion for gaming, then our MMU Gamers Society are running weekly online gaming tournaments. These are open to all students and you can find out more on their Facebook page.

Virtual Museums

The Manchester Museum has developed a special MMinQuarantine section of their website where you can take virtual tours as well as accessing lots of resources for learning at home and finding our even more about exhibits at the museum in a ‘The Things they didn’t teach us’ area.

Galleries Online

The Tate have been adding lots of content onto the YouTube channel which range from viewing online collections – such as the Andy Warhol exhibition. As well as How To videos where you can pick up tips on how to paint, sculpt & draw in the style of various artists – such as a How To Make A Pot Like Grayson Perry

Music

United We Stream GM will be live every day from 19:00 onwards, with a donations page, where you can watch for free. All we ask is that you buy a ‘virtual ticket’ for whatever price you want, to enjoy the channel.’

Fans of Eurovision are re-watching previous contests every Saturday at 20:00 #EurovisionAgain after this year’s contest has been cancelled.

Podcasts

There are loads of podcast out there that could listen and subscribe to. We recommend you check out the Debating Societies podacast: Come on, Think! As well as catching up with the Unions podcast How To Fail Your Degree.

Wildlife and Nature

If you’ve missed getting out and amongst nature, here are some great ways you can get your dose of wildlife.

Virtual Zoo's

Zoo’s around the world have been opening their virtual doors to bring the zoo to you.

San Diego Zoo have a series of web-cam cannels on a whole range of animals from Owls to Tigers.

Chester Zoo have been hosting a series of virtual zoo days which showcases some of their most popular animals. You can view their past virtual zoo days on their YouTube channel

 

Faith@Home

We’ve pulled together some useful resources and activities to help you practice your faith whilst at home:

The Christian Union society are holding weekly meetings every Tuesday.  

The Islamic Society are holding regular activity on their social media channels, these include “one minute wonder” webinars and weekly Zoom classes where they learn about different topics related to Islam. You can find out more on their Facebook page. 

You can also following the University Chaplaincy service St Peter’s House on social media for regular updates. Follow on Twitter and Instagram. 

You can also check out this useful guide produced by Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS).

 

Learning@Home

Now is the perfect opportunity to learn something new away from your studies, or to add strings to your bow to enhance your employability. There are lots of free resources out there, here is a selection of some of the free resources you can access to do some learning at home.

MMU Careers & Employability

The University Careers Service is still operational and accessible for students to help brush up their CV and top tips on how to perform at your best in a skype or video interview. 

Future Learn

Future Learn provide a range of short courses and learning which are free to access online (a fee may apply for printable digital certificates). Courses change frequently and subjects offer a range of interests.

Free IT courses

If you want to develop your IT/Tech skills, Pluralsight are offering a free introductory trial of their online courses. Their courses cover areas such as software development, business professional courses as well as cloud computing.

Open University

If you’ve ever wanted to learn to draw or develop your graphic design skills, here are some great Youtube channels to check out:
 

RapidFireArt is a channel which features how to guides and tutorials on how to draw the perfect face and facial features.

Doodles by Sarah features videos dedicated to the art of doodling and has guides on a range of themes such as Harry Potter and ideas for greetings cards.

Every Tuesday is weekly how to channel which features tutorials for developing graphic design skills and covers a range of themes from flowers to lettering.

 

Wellbeing@Home

Keeping well at home can mean lots of different things. Engaging with other types of activities such as those in Entertained @ Home and Active @ Home will help your wellbeing lots! Here are some other ideas too:

Mindfulness

The University’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Team are providing lots of their services online, including two mindfulness sessions a week. (Info on Mindfulness sessions is listed in the courses and workshops question).

If you’re looking for an easy and portable way to learn to meditate, you can try downloading the Headspace app. Starter content is free and you can get a free trial for all the content for 2 weeks. Everyone’s pop icon, Lizzo, has posted two calming guided meditations on her Instagram. You can find them both below.
video one
Video Two

Eating well @ home

MetMUnch is MMU’s own student-led social enterprise focussing on nutrition, wellbeing & sustainability. Their website has articles, recipes and cooking videos made by students.

This is a great time to make more meals from scratch. The BBC has loads of advice and videos on techniquesto help you from cutting an onion to icing cupcakes

This month is Pride month!

If you are an LGBTQIA+ or questioning person in need of wellbeing support you can call the LGBT Foundation on 0345 330 3030.
For fun stuff and learning this pride month for Students check out Campus Pride and for online gigs and events see Pride in London’s Pride Inside or Salford’s Digital Pink Picnic.

Health support

If you are experiencing any mental health issues or simply need a listening ear many helplines are still available to you. Check out these on the NHS website. The NHS website and 111 are also available for any health issues.

You can follow the Third Term’s theme of Understanding and Supporting Wellbeing to explore the subjects of mental health and wellbeing, in theory and practice in Greater Manchester.

The course will introduce you to key concepts and challenges and could lead to volunteering opportunities and/or course credits.

Volunteer@Home

There are lots of ways to help out in your local area. Please follow government guidelines and don’t volunteer out of your house if you’re at increased risk from coronavirus, if you are ill, have any coronavirus symptoms, or live with someone that does.

Acorn, the community Union, have an ongoing coronavirus community support scheme, through which you may be able to help those in your local area to access essentials whilst isolating. Acorn have safeguarding advice and protocol in place which we would advise you to follow, but please also remember that this type of volunteering is based on a system of trust and you may have to use your own phone number to contact those you support. Only do this if you feel safe and comfortable to do so.

If you need more advice on how to volunteer safely or ideas to try during the Covid-19 pandemic please see our further guidance online. If you would like to volunteer from home we would recommend microvolunteering. Try something totally new like helping Seal Watch monitor the seal population in South Georgia!