College News

Equal Love Day

QE’s Student Association celebrated Valentine’s Day with a twist. Following last year’s success, the students decided to celebrate Equal Love Day along with Valentine’s Day.

The Equal Love Campaign promotes awareness of equality and same sex marriages and, to achieve this, the Student Association invited Gay Advice Darlington (GAD) to work alongside QE’s REACT group – a group of students who meet weekly to debate local, national and global issues and who participate in human rights campaigns. The REACT group and GAD had a stall to raise awareness of key issues and handed out sweets and gifts to celebrate the day; the College’s Amnesty group was also involved.

To raise funds for the students’ charity of the year, Teenage Cancer Trust, the Student Association sold roses, had a cake sale, selling love- themed cakes, biscuits, sweets and chocolates. They also set up ‘The Sign of Love’ campaign and online petitions to increase awareness of Russia’s anti-gay legislation.

Tom Johnston, Student Association President, said:

‘Our Equal Love Day was a great success. We were grateful for contributions from QE React and Amnesty, who we worked with on the day. Our cakes and roses went down a storm with the students, raising much-needed funds for Teenage Cancer Trust.’

The day and the fundraising tied in well with QE’s celebration of LGBT month.