Elms Village gets a rosy Valentine’s treat

It’s the time of year when love is in the air and many students turn their attention to that special lad or lady. You may be stressing about presents or dates, but never fear – one society already has your flowers sorted!

Over the 11^th and 12^th of February, students living in Elms Village can head over to the Treehouse to have a rose delivered for the apple of their eye for £2. No, this isn’t the work of Cupid: the Send A Rose event is actually a fundraiser for a self-funded Queen’s society, Sexual Awareness For Everyone (customers can also scoop a free condom if they’re interested).

Romance, seduction and sexual health – the ultimate Valentine’s checklist

The group aims to act as a resource for students who are thinking about how to keep themselves safe over Valentine’s Day and beyond! Not only do they distribute resources at regular condom drops, the members can act as signposts to help people find the information and services that they need. The Tab caught up with Katie Matthews, regular member and one of the organisers of the Valentine’s Day Send a Rose event, to learn more.

Katie (center) and fellow condom fairies at an Elms condom drop event last year

The first day of SAFE’s Send a Valentine’s Rose event is just coming to a close, and the team has already sold 20 flowers. “We have 200 to sell overall, but people have already been telling me to keep some back.”

In her second year as an Elms Residential Assistant, Katie has now looked after over 300 students and come into contact with many more – and she says that this had a role in convincing her to join SAFE in the first place. “By speaking to my residents and learning more about them, it became clear to me that some of them needed some resources and that we needed to break down the stigma. If people are coming to Uni and undertaking new experiences, they need to be equipped to deal with them.”

In a region where naughty nasties like chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are on the rise, and where talking about sex is still a bit of a taboo, she feels it’s important to give students a direction to go in if they need support. “This is something that really affects everyone, if not now then in the future. It’s not just the sexual resources but the information about relationships, family planning and overall health and wellbeing. That’s something that’s not always talked about openly in Northern Ireland, so we can act as a signpost to help people get access to information they might not have known about.”

It sounds like a good cause, but what do these champions of health and safety get up to when they’re not selling roses or distributing ‘doms? “We’ve done a few other fundraisers: a night out with my block in Elms and open mic nights in the Treehouse have helped us to raise money so far.”

Condom drop events also occasionally offer free sweets (do not confuse the two!)

The money raised goes towards leaflets, condoms and other resources for students in need of a bit of guidance at future condom drop events: the next one takes place this Thursday in the Student’s Union, just in time for Valentine’s Day!

For more information about the society, students can like and follow the Safe at Queen’s Facebook and Twitter pages, or e-mail Katie Matthews at [email protected]