Lock down:
I want to start by wishing you a good Trinity Term. I offer our condolences to all who have lost a loved one or who have been ill themselves.
This will be a term like no other. There is a real sense of community at Brasenose and a sense of fun much of which comes from social closeness so that social distancing is a big problem. It is not much fun working from home. We treat each other as family which is why the lock down is so hard.
I want to thank all who have rallied round to achieve the miracle of a start of term welcome back film message (Joe Organ and James Fletcher) and Collections (Henry Jestico). If you would like to see the film it it’s here. I am sure like me you are ticking off all the wonderful events we are missing and I want to pay particular tribute to the IT Department and our own Mr Covid, our Domestic Bursar, Matt Hill, for keeping things going. All aspects of the College are going on as much as normal as we can.
You will I am sure be aware of the important role that Oxford is playing in finding a treatment for the virus. You may not be aware that Brasenose has a major role in this including William James and Philip Goulder. Philip is working on the gender differences of COVID19.
Miscellany:
I was delighted to hear that the Oxford Diocesan livestream service features our very own students Megan and William Bunce singing a psalm, with some images from Brasenose Chapel.
I cannot wait for the explosive new book by our alumnus Malcolm Turnbull of which I have reads extracts in the newspapers. I have been reading Merchants of Truth; Inside the news revolution by Jill Abrahamson and Peter Henessey’s Winds of Change about the Sixties.
Russell Foster made the front page of Sunday Times on 12 April 2020 talking about sleep and lock down.
Kudos to Bradley Johnson who along with a group of around 20 other medical students in my year, collectively known as Tingewick Firm 2020, is aiming to cycle 7200km (100km for every year the NHS has been around) collectively over the next month to raise money for the Oxford Hospitals Charity, which uses their funds to support healthcare workers across the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. See https://donate.tingewick.org/bradley-johnson
Keep safe everyone.