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SHLS People and Culture Committee are collecting donations for the local food bank. There will be a collection table located in the open area of Centuria on Thursday 12th May. You can email chloe.jones@tees.ac.uk for more information or alternate donation times/points

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We rely on the support of our local community for food donations, volunteering and finances. Can you help us stop UK hunger?

Our foodbank works using a voucher referral system. Find out more about how we work.

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Middlesbrough Foodbank | Helping Local People in Crisis

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We rely on the support of our local community for food donations, volunteering and finances. Can you help us stop UK hunger? Our foodbank works using a voucher referral system. Find out more about how we work. Where we are Get directions & opening times By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies.

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If you're struggling to study effectively, then why not join Yehya Mougharbel and thousands of others who study together through live streams on TikTok and Discord.

Yehya sets study windows of around 50 minutes, and then breaks for 10 minutes. In the breaks, Yehya interacts with his audience and shares tips on successful learning structures. Read more in this BBC article...

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Exams are around the corner and the post-it notes are out. Past papers are up on screen and revision timetables are pinned to walls.

For Yehya Mougharbel, a 22-year-old business and marketing student at the University of Surrey, there's an added pressure. He's working to his own deadlines, of course - but he's also keeping 469,000 TikTok followers motivated to meet theirs, too.

A few times a week in his university halls, he props his phone up on his bedroom desk, turns the camera on and broadcasts himself live while he studies.

There's nothing especially out of the ordinary in the streams. There are none of the dances the app is so famous for, no memes, not even any chatter while he's working. Instead he looks ahead at his screen and presses play on a calming playlist, which is accompanied occasionally by the clacking of his keyboard when he glances down.

"People just enjoy watching me study," he says. "They study alongside me, and they feel less alone."

Yehya, who grew up in London, knows how this feels. He began filming TikToks of his daily routine just over a year ago, after a love interest told him he "didn't have his life together".

"That motivated me to create that sort of content to show her and others that living alone does take a lot of work behind the scenes that people don't usually see," he says, adding that, as a perfectionist who spends "too long" on tasks, he hoped filming them would make him more productive.

It was the study videos that really caught on, and soon he was gaining between 2,000 and 3,000 followers with every new stream.

"At first my main reason for doing those streams was for myself - for keeping me accountable and keeping me on track to get my work done. Once I saw people using it and finding it useful, then it just became a win-win situation," he says.

Yehya sends his followers notifications ahead of his streams, which he says are mostly in the evening, and timed around his own workload: "Once I even did 6pm until 6am, I believe. It was a 12-hour stream just because I had a deadline the following day."

More than 4,000 miles from Surrey, in St Louis, Missouri, 24-year-old Casey Keith tunes in twice a week to help her study for her medical degree.

She came across the videos when she was scrolling through TikTok while - in her words - "trying not to do any work". The in-person study rooms she usually went to with her friends were closed because of Covid, and she developed a habit of procrastinating while learning from home.

Yehya's videos stood out in her feed. The whiteboard propped up on his desk urged her to stop wasting time scrolling, and to knuckle down and study with him.

"I said 'OK let's try this'," she says. "I just went and started studying because the book was open right in front of me."

Soon, Yehya became her regular virtual study buddy.

"It is so nice to have somebody there right next to you to kind of help motivate you," she says.

"I think one of the major things that is the best for me is that I can't physically speak to him. I can't turn to him and say, 'I don't want to do this any more, I'm over it, I just want to eat dinner and go to bed'.

"Sometimes it can get difficult and sometimes I'm ready to finish, but just watching him inspires me to keep going."

Dr Leigh-Anne Perryman, senior lecturer in the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University, says studying totally alone "can lead to procrastination and a lack of motivation", whereas having a study buddy can provide a useful "low level of distraction".

"Before the pandemic it was common for people to study in a library, silently, alongside others, or in a café - gaining that low level of distraction. The pandemic made that impossible for many people," she says.

"These kind of live streams and videos offer an easily accessible and safe alternative, and habits that began in the pandemic appear to have continued, now that face-to-face interaction is becoming more possible."

Yehya studies using the Pomodoro technique, which involves working for a certain amount of time (he uses a timer to count down 50-minute slots) and then taking a break (in his case, 10 minutes).

During the break he gets much-needed coffee refills and takes loo breaks. But he also talks to his followers, answering questions that pop up in the comments, about everything from which snacks he's eating to where he buys his study equipment. And there are questions about the bear, Herbert, which can sometimes been seen on his bed.

For Claire Cashman, a 25-year-old law student in the UK, these breaks make all the difference. Like Casey, she had been scrolling "aimlessly" on TikTok when she was drawn into Yehya's stream by the music he was playing.

"I have a soft spot for classical music and movie scores. I think it was two cellos playing at the time and that reeled me in," she says. "The minimalistic set-up, lighting and whole studying vibe made me want to stay until the break when he chats to the viewers. I've rarely missed them since."

Yehya's streams started as a way to impress a love interest and improve productivity. The former may not have worked out, but the latter did. Yehya now finds himself surrounded by an online community, and is better able to focus.

He's coming up to the end of his own course, but hopes to do a master's degree - which will mean more online study sessions: "It is pretty energising to see someone else join you and do work alongside you."

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Why half a million people watch me study on TikTok

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Exams are around the corner and the post-it notes are out. Past papers are up on screen and revision timetables are pinned to walls. For Yehya Mougharbel, a 22-year-old business and marketing student at the University of Surrey, there's an added pressure.

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Membership is £10 a month for staff members, and £40 for students between 23 May & 26 Sept 2022. You have access to the Gym, fitness studio, fitness classes, sports hall, squash& badminton courts, climbing wall and the outdoor pitch
https://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/sport/gym.cfm

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Towards the end of term we encourage students to donate unwanted items (clothing, shoes, books etc.) to the British Heart Foundation to be sold in local BHF charity shops.  As well as helping to reduce waste and encourage re-use of goods, this provides support to the work of the BHF.

To help facilitate this process temporary donation points will be situated during May/June at

The Printworks (at car park / rear ground floor entrance)

Middlesbrough Tower foyer (ground floor),

Clarendon Building foyer (ground floor),

Students’ Union reception (1st floor),

The Centuria building foyer (ground floor)

Staff are invited to help this great cause by donating any suitable unwanted goods during this end of term campaign.

Items for donation just need to be placed in a bag (doesn’t have to be an official BHF bag) and dropped into the donation points.  Donations will then be taken to the permanent donation points situated at Woodlands and Parkside East Halls of Residence where donations can be made at any time throughout the year.

Donations generated within our University have helped to raise over £42,986 spent on local projects/facilities.

Here’s some of the fantastic things the British Heart Foundation has funded within the local area with help from our donations:

| 3 Heart Start Schemes 23 Defibrillators Awarded 13,769 Free Heart Health Resources  7  Establishments CPR Trained   | 3 BHF Retail Shops & Stores 60 Volunteers 947 Heart Matters Members 35 Organisations joined Health at Work  The campaign also has a positive environmental impact in that an equivalent of 23.8 tonnes of items have been diverted from our waste stream, which also helped save 242,538 KGs of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions

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This is a general overview about mindfulness and its benefits

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This is a general overview about mindfulness and its benefits

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Following on from the general overview this a collection of different mindfulness exercises

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Following on from the general overview this a collection of different mindfulness exercises

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I have really enjoyed learning Finnish - sometimes I don't have a lot of time but even 5 minutes is enough for a quick practice.

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Duolingo is the world's most popular way to learn a language. It's 100% free, fun and science-based. Practice online on duolingo.com or on the apps!

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Baking is my healthy headspace.. it requires just enough focus to lift me from other worries whilst allowing a creative outlet. If you haven't tried sourdough - give it a go. It is so satisfying to make and you can get started by making your own sourdough starter. These instructions work perfectly and don't create any waste - an eco-starter! :)

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The ultimate guide to creating a sourdough starter from scratch using the NO DISCARD METHOD

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You can take a short course for continuing professional development, to refresh your knowledge in a particular subject or to study a programme for your own interest.

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You can take a short course for continuing professional development, to refresh your knowledge in a particular subject or to study a programme for your own interest.

Search by keyword Browse by subject

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We have over 11,000 students on part-time courses. Whether you want to retrain for a new career, develop your professional skills or study for pleasure, you'll find a wide range of part-time courses leading to recognised qualifications at Teesside.

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Volunteering has been such a positive experience for me - feeling like I am making a difference, meeting new people, helping causes I believe in, doing something outside of my every day activities and commitments.. it is such a privilege to be involved. If you're keen to volunteer but worry about not having the time, please don't be put off - there really is an opportunity for everyone. Not every organisation needs a weekly commitment and there are so many ways you can help. Take a look at Volun-tees for opportunities local to Teesside. You won't regret it!

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You may have seen that the University has announced the continuation of their Period Dignity Campaign.
The campaign will provide free sanitary products for anyone who can’t afford them, in toilets across Middlesbrough campus.

Comfortable, organic, and planet-friendly tampons and sanitary pads are available in the Library, Students’ Union, The Curve, and Student Life and Olympia buildings.

Access to menstrual products, safe and hygienic spaces in which to use them, and the right to manage menstruation without shame or stigma, is essential for anyone who menstruates.

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Any kind of dancing is better than no dancing at all

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Why not create a playlist of your favourite songs and then have a good dance! Music increases dopamine levels, and dancing can help raise serotonin levels.