Name: Claudia Craig
Age: 22
Degree: Law and European Legal Studies
UNICEF committee position: President
This week our VP at Her Campus Aberdeen had the opportunity to catch up with Claudia Craig from the UNICEF society on campus. She let us know about some of their upcoming events, read on to learn more!
HC: So Claudia, what made you joining UNICEF? How many years have you been on the society?
CC: I joined UNICEF once I returned from my year abroad in Belgium. Whilst abroad I studied a lot of human rights law and came back really inspired to get involved with an organisation like UNICEF. I also had lots of friends who were already involved so it was perfect! I have now been in UNICEF for two years, I was the Campaigns Researcher last year and now have the honour of being the society’s President!
HC: That sounds fab! And we hear that you’ve grown a lot recently, how many members do you have?
CC: We now have over 70 members! It’s so exciting, the society grew so much under last year’s President Eilis, and I really wanted to keep that up and make the society more social as well! We also have a huge amount of international students, it’s great to have such a diverse society! We have all sorts of events, from pub crawls and quizzes to film night and bigger events
HC: Amazing! We would love to do some kind of event collab with you! Speaking of events, are we right in saying you have an upcoming ceilidh?
CC: Yes!! We’re so excited about it. Our ceilidh is on Wednesday 25th January in Elphinstone Hall.
HC: So what’s the ceilidh in aid of?
CC: The ceilidh is in aid of UNICEF and their work with the international refugee crisis. More than a million people, one in five of them children, arrived on the shores of Europe last year. UNICEF have established child and family support hubs across Europe to provide help and support to children and families.
These centres provide a range of services, including family reunification, child-friendly spaces, first aid, psychosocial and emotional care, legal counselling, safe spaces for women and children to sleep and outreach social workers. They are also active in transit centres for refugees and migrants, providing clean water, sanitation facilities, blankets and clothing for children.
HC: Make sure to save us a couple of tickets! So other than supporting the charity what will the ceilidh offer?
CC: This year our ceilidh is bigger and better than ever! We have a live ceilidh band, a traditional Burns’ supper of haggis, neeps and tatties (veggie options available), bag pipers and a great raffle. And this year your ticket also includes free entry to our afterparty at Institute – what else could you ask for?
HC: Everyone loves an appearance at institute! So how can we get our hands on some tickets?
CC: Tickets cost just £15 which is a total bargain for a meal, live music and afterparty! They are available online at https://www.ausa.org.uk/societies/unicef/ but you can also buy them from the reception desk at Johnstone!
HC: Great! We will definitely be there!
CC: I look forward to it!
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Claudia, we can’t wait to ceilidh dance with ya!
HCXO