AN exhibition to mark 120 years of Glasgow University’s Settlement and its connection to student social action is taking place at the Wolfson Medical Building on University Avenue.
Set up by female students, graduates and employees of the Queen Margaret College in 1897, the Settlement was part of a movement in the UK and the USA that provided social care and education for the poor and disadvantaged in society.
New approaches have made the Settlement relevant today. Student Hemang Kandwal, for example, has been involved in a Settlement “Find a Solution” project with the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. Kandwal, 19 and originally from India, created an app which will allow patients in the new hospice building to order food directly to their rooms at any time of the day or night
Described as the Menu of Tomorrow, the app will be tested in the coming weeks by the hospice, which is due to open in September.
Hermang said: “Being a part of this project, I can now see the many ways you can help make people’s lives easier by automating daily tasks.
“This opportunity of developing a production-level app helped me not only build my technological skills but also enhanced my communication skills. Interacting with people from the hospice taught me more about the charitable side of life and its importance that we often neglect.”
Hospice chief executive Rhona Baillie said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the University of Glasgow on this project.
“This app will support the measures our team can put in place, and give patients full control over their own environment and not be constrained to set meals throughout the day.”
Find A Solution, which is funded by the Settlement, gives students a chance to be connected with a third-sector organisations, and to gain professional experience.
The exhibition, which runs until the end of August has been curated by Samantha Clark, a graduate intern based at the University’s archives.
She said: “The Settlement has evolved over the last 100 years. It was started by females, admitting its first male members in the mid-1930s, and changed its name from Queen Margaret College Settlement to the University of Glasgow Settlement.
“Based on the US Settlement Movement, which focused on working to close the gap between those better-off and the poorest, these trailblazing women started their work in Glasgow’s Anderston area.
“The young women who volunteered at Anderston, though beneficiaries of a university education, still faced barriers to career advancement and full participation beyond the domestic sphere. The Settlement provided opportunities for new doctors to gain experience in public health, of law students to advise clients, and social workers to train and practice.
“Over our 120-year history the Settlement has evolved to meet new needs and incorporate new philosophies.”
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