The Murmur - January 2015

8/9/2019 The Murmur - January 2015

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n September 2014, The St Jeromes Centre, in NakuruKenya, was voted MedSoc charity of the year. David

arkwill, Year 3 MBBS, recounts his involvement

am one of the six trustees of The St Jeromes Centre

nd my story begins in 2010 when I first went to Kenya,olunteering during my gap year. Whilst I was out theremet a group of like-minded students who were

eginning to fundraise and plan a new orphanage. Thisas because the local childrens home they wereorking at was being forced to close. We stayed inuch, continued to work on the project together andventually managed to open the centre in January 2011.n opening we took in 4 children from the previousrphanage (the rest had been re-homed by the localouncil) and 4 children from a street child rehabilitationentre that I had previously been working at.

ince then we have been out every year and the projectas gradually expanded. We now have 25 children andmploy 7 members of staff. During the past few yearse have had a considerable amount of problems frome local school that owned the land that our buildingas on, which resulted in a robbery and a delay in

eceiving water and electricity along with many otherreats.

owever, in 2013 we were approached by a charitable

rchitectural organisation, Orkid Studios, that offered touild us a new home on the condition that we boughtur own plot of land by August 2013. After a lot of hardork and fundraising we managed to raise enoughoney for the land and the building began in June this

ear. The new home was completed in early Septembernd since then we have taken on 7 children and 1 newember of staff!

Our Goal

There are thousands of children within Nakuru that arein need of our help.

Due to the high levels of poverty within the area thereare huge problems with drugs, alcohol and HIV. Thisleads to children either being brought up in extremelyunsafe environments or being orphaned and having tolive with family members that are unable to care forthem (normally elderly grandparents) or being forcedonto the streets.

Read more overleaf

the murmurNorwich Medical School January 2015

The St. Jeromes Centre

In This Issue David Barkwill, MedSoc, NMRFC, Poetry, Suzy Parker andmore.

Edited By Ryan Laurence Love.


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As the Kenyan government doesnot have the financial recoursesor infrastructure to support thishuge number of children there isa crisis developing with more andmore children growing up withinstreet culture. The aftermath of

the 2007 post-election violence,which displaced over 600,000people, has only exacerbated theproblem. The St Jeromes Centreis dedicated to changing the livesof these orphans and vulnerablechildren with our main objectivebeing:

The provision of shelter, food,e d u c a t i o n , m e d i c a l c a r e ,guardianship and security to

orphaned/needy children andadolescents.

We rely purely on the generousdonations and sponsorships ofothers. All of us trustees areeither currently studying orrecently graduated and thereforewe do not have the moneyourselves to input into the project.As previously stated there is a

huge number of orphaned andvulnerable children within Nakuruand the only limiting factorpreventing us reaching ourcapacity of 40 children is financialsupport.

How has MedSoc helped us?

T h e m o n e y M e d S o c h a sfundraised has given us thefinancial security to begin lookingat setting up an outreach projectfor street children. We currentlyhave three ex-street children atthe home, however due toprevious issues and the lack ofproperly qualified staff we havenot taken on any more in the pastfew years. This has been a real

goal for us as we all have hadpersonal experiences workingwith street children in the past.For our first step we are going toemploy a teacher to work parttime with street children at therehabilitation centre I used to

volunteer at then in the eveningshelp to tutor our children at thecentre. We will then look intofunding our staff to go on theappropriate courses to help themmanage and council childrenc o m i n g f r o m a s t r e e t background.

Our monthly sponsorship coversall of our everyday expenses andstaff salaries, however every now

and then unexpected costs arise.At the end of last year Rose, ouronly HIV positive child, becamevery ill. The money raised byMedSoc meant that she couldquickly receive the appropriatemedical care she needed, withoutus having to try and find moneyfrom elsewhere or ask for furtherdonations from our sponsors. Wereally cannot explain how grateful

we are to MedSoc and everyonewho has been involved in thefundraising. The money goesdirectly to Kenya and is making ahuge impact.

The FutureAt the beginning of January oneof our trustees (Gemma) flew outto Kenya and is currently in theprocess of moving Simon, oursecond oldest boy, into secondaryeducat ion. We have a lsomanaged to secure a number ofnew sponsorships in recentmonths and therefore Gemma istrying to get more children intothe home, with our goal to have30 children by the summer. Aswell as this she will also bebeginning to lay the foundationsfor the street child outreachprogram I discussed above, so

2015 is set to be a very excitingyear!!!

How much does it cost tosponsor a child?

It costs 45 per month to sponsora child, this covers everything,including all of their food,accommodation and education

fees. However, sponsors candonate anywhere from 1.50 permonth upwards.

I f anyone is interested infundraising, sponsorship or justwants more information pleasecontact me on the email addressbelow.

David Barkwill

www.stjeromescentre.org.uk

[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Raise and Give.

With Christmas over and winter well and truly amongstus, it is all too tempting to retreat under the duvet andgo into hibernation this January. However fear not; thecharity fairies are here to clear away any January blueswith our RAG Refreshers week 2015. Between the26th - 30th January 2015 we will be hosting a week ofun and fundraising, with all proceeded going to the

African Orphanage we are supporting this year the StJeromes Centre.

Monday evening will bring you an information eveningabout this years Jailbreak Competition. Teams ofstudents have to get as far away from the UEA campusn 24 hours without spending any money at all. In a trueest of Ingenuity, powers of flirtation and down-right

luck previous contestants have travelled toPrague, Holland and the South of Franc withoutspending a pennye. Come along on Monday to

find out what jailbreak is all about. Even if youvegot no interest, come along and grab some freefood.

On Tuesday the Beach Party hits Norfolk, and wewill be selling tickets for the most exclusive venuein Norwichthe LCR. Grab that pair of Lola Lossunglasses and ticket and youre ready for thebeach, who needs Hawaii? A pound from everyticket sold goes straight to the St Jeromes Centre,so get yours!

The legendary Meds got Talent competition willtake place on Thursday. The talented students

amongst us perform, whist the rest of us watch and ourjudges, including the Legendary Dr Grunstein, decidethe winner. Meds got Talent is a fantastic opportunity todiscover some hidden talent outside the medicalcurriculum, and is a fun filled evening for the rest of us.If you have a talent and would like to perform pleaseemail [email protected] /[email protected] toget involved.

Wednesday will feature another night out, but this timeon the Prince of Wales strip. Finally we will finish theweek off with a sophisticated cheese and wine nightwell it'll start that way anyway

More details about the week will be announced soon,so keep an eye out through the facebook event andaround campus.

MRAG Week !26th to 30th January

Jailbreak 2015!Watch this Space

JAILBREAK IS COMING.

Prepare yourselves for the greatest adventure of yourife so far! Jailbreak is a competition in whichparticipating teams compete to get as far away fromUEA campus as possible within 24 hours. This year itwill take place on the 28th February 1st March.Come along to an information evening on the 26thJanuary to fin out moreand fill yourself up on free

refreshments.

Memoirs of 2 of last years competitors JimRunacres and Harriet Tuite-Dalton

t was 22nd February and we arrived just before 9am,a time previously unseen by most students on a

Saturday, our bags stuffed full of sandwiches, energydrinks, chocolate and 1kg worth of salted peanuts (thatone I blame on Jim!). We were hyped up on a mixtureof excitement, nave optimism and competitivesmugness because we were surely going to win thisthing!

At 9am on the dot we bid our fellow competitors aquick and maybe slightly insincere good luck before

sprinting in the direction of the hospital. Needless tosay the pace didnt last long but we were still in goodspirits by the time we reached the main road. Armedwith our trusty whiteboard (a staple for anyoneattempting Jailbreak in the future) we began our firstcrack at hitchhiking.Read more on the next page.


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About half an hour later we hadraversed a l l the way pas t

Cringleford and, after a bit ofdodgeball with the cars on the dualcarriageway, we hit on the brightdea of trying to grab a lift at thepetrol station. Following somecommando-style fence climbing we

made it into the station and it wasclosed!

Wondering what our next move was short of walking all the way toThetford we were stunned when acar pulled up and we were taken to aservice station on the A11 nearCambridge. It was at this station thatwe both realised how bad we werewith rejection (perhaps somethingwe should have thought of beforestarting) and began to feel slightlyhat we might smell as peopleterally walked into flower displays to

avoid coming near us. Having saidhat a lot of people were friendly and

asked what we were up to and gaveus money for the charity, which wegratefully received. One huge, toughooking bald guy literally laughed atus as he walked into the servicestation shop which only injured ourpride further. However momentsater he came out and asked us if we

would rather some money for thebucket or a lift. The lift was alwaysgoing to win.

Thats how we ended up in a carwith an ex-commando who told us ifwe tried anything hed deck uswhich I think was a bit of an overkillconsidering he was at least 4 timesas wide as Jim and at least twice myheight. He took us all the way toLondon, somewhere in Barking. If I

have any adv ice for fu tureJailbreakers it is: dont end up inBarking. After lots of failed attemptsat getting onto public transport and aoilet trip in a dodgy pub, we hitched

a lift with a local guy who managedo smoke, text and eat all at the

same time as driving (an impressivef slightly terrifying feat) who talkedo us about reggae and offered to

smuggle us to Amsterdam nextweek. Unfortunately we had todecline.

He passed us on to a lovely couplewith their three year old son who fedus endless chocolate, Pepparamisand Ribena while we watched BugsLife. They took us all the way toMaidstone where we waited a

couple of hours and were giving uphope of ever getting out of the UK

when a little German lady asked us,confusedly, what we were trying todo. We explained we were trying toget on a ferry and she offered totake us with her and her husband toCalais if they could take us on theferry without paying extra for us.

We reached Dover and entered theterminal. At this point I wascompletely freaking out as I thoughtwe might be arrested for trying to

sneak out of the country illegally towhich Jim pointed out they tended totry and stop people coming into thecountry rather than leaving. As thesun set, the couple handed us thenewspaper and we read to thesounds of Classic FM.

Now we could celebrate! We hadmade it out of the country! Mybrother wouldnt disown me for notgetting further than England. Wemanaged to hitch a lift to a service

station near Calais, where wearrived, tired and cold, at around 9 inthe evening - time to crack out theHaribos. During the hour or so westayed at this dark, deserted petrolstation we realised quite how poorour French was and also how fewtruck drivers in France actuallyspoke French or English! Theymostly seemed to be Polish.

Thankfully we finally managed to

explain our plight to a small, friendlyPolish man called Lucas wholaughed at us for a while (thisseemed to be a running theme) andthen offered us a lift. From there wewent on a 6 hour journey through theback lanes of France, ploughing

through tiny rustic villages and vastdark fields. Lucas eventually

dropped us at yet another servicestation in Aigurande, or the WorldsBerry Province as the sign claimed.And so began our longest stop of the

journey. Hours upon hours of noother human contact passed us barthe shop assistant who just looked atthe wall without moving as oneGeorge Michael song played onrepeat. After nearly 24 hours with nosleep we were definitely fading anddespite a couple of last ditch

attempts to get to Spain before the9am deadline we unfortunately didntmake it any further.

In the end we did not win massivecongratulations to Antonia and Zoefor getting so far but we did have abrilliant time and raised over 400pounds for the EACH charity. Weeven managed to fit in free trip toParis on the way back during whichJim got mistaken for a Frenchman atleast 3 times, we ate ASDA sausagerolls in front of the Eiffel tower andeven found the Sacre Coeur withouta map. The journey back involved alovely Polish man who lived in Spainwith his family and worked inEngland. He gave us beers and tookus back to the UK. After over 48hrsof travelling we returned to Norwichonly for Jim to find he had left hiskeys at home. He almost fell asleepwith his hand in the letterbox beforehe was rescued by his housemates.

Written by Harriet Tuite-Dalton andJim Runacres


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n Sunday the 23rd of November a group of runnerset out into the unknown. This years Norwich Halfarathon was different. The course had changed and

e heavens had opened. But this did not deter theoup of runners.

aking their positions on the start line already soakedrough to the bone the runners eagerly listen out for thearting pistol. Setting out on their journey through theelds of the Norfolk countryside on a two-lap, 13.1mileourse. Tackling the course took not only physical butso mental strength, especially to overcome the newlydded hill. But the runners held in their minds that thisas all for an amazing cause as well as that oncenished warmth awaited them.

verall the training paid off with each runner finishing inyle achieving fantastic times.

ach runner also set out to raise money for this yearse St Jeromes Centre, reaching and exceeding therget, to overall raise 1,150.60.

he fundraising page will remain open till the end ofanuary so please if possible donate: https://ydonate.bt.com/teams/medsochalfhank you to Mirali

Patel and Rachel

Mayne for being

mazing charity reps and providing lots of support.nd thank you to the runners:

harlotte Thompson (1:50), Jonathan Pyatt (1:47), Jakeelhuish (1:40), Sarah Hickman (1:53), Sadianhoudhury (2:17), Raisa Ramjan (2:18), Rahul Mehta:15).

you are already thinking about entering next yearsn, entry opened on the 1st of January: http://tyofnorwichhalfmarathon.com

arah Hickman, Year 3

Medics Run the Norwich Half Marathon


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Poetry

In this issue of The Murmur we are honoured toinclude the wonderful poetry of two medicalstudents who wish to remain anonymous.

We hope their endeavours inspire creativityamongst all readers.

IO

I moved to a new house last week.No one likes moving, relocating,Such an ordeal, so stressful,Packing then unpacking, just generally soaggravating.

There is one part I love though,Kind of a guilty pleasure,And that is poking around in the garage, in allthe leftover stuff,For the previous Tenants treasure.

In fact, this day last weekIn the back corner, I did stumbleUpon a heavy cardboard boxLabelled Broken Jumble

Easily excited, eternally optimistic,I set my new mission,Up flew the dust,As I shifted position.

Inside this box, an old monitor and keyboard,But underneath, a mighty beast,The Treasure(?) uncovered, but what did it do?What was its purpose? Its function? Nowceased

This archaic equipment,With love, could still performEventually I got it to load and boot up,Just two programs System and Reform.

Input and Output, in goes one to produce theother,System was simple, seemed effective,With better hardware it would probably runfaster,But, as it stood, by no means defective

Now, ReformVery odd, convoluted, confusingIt was more recent than System, with manyversionsYet to me, its purpose, eluding

But run both at once and all became clear,Processing power was challenged and split,See its really quite simple, Reform was notworking,

And trying to bring System down, with it.

All in all this brings us nicely,To the end of my tale,Not a case of aint broke so dont fix it,But Reform is destined to fail

Anon #2

The Scavenge

Tides of green and blue,Smashing into an alabaster island,Erupting with red lava.

The herd gathers,Grunting and hissing,Scavenging over open wounds.

Metal claws tear at exposed skin,Sweeping past raw flesh,Searching for death and decay.

Tentacles probe and explore,Navigating dark tunnels,Hesitating at every fork.

Crude tools hum sweetly,Gnawing on porous rock,Mining for untold treasures.

The scavengers are done,Ending suddenly yet subtly,

Awaiting the next quarry.

Anon #1


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What is Mindfulness? Cant tellyour CAT from DBT? Is it all aload of rubbish?

In films and books when someone

sees a therapist they aregenerally doctors, and they meetthem regularly, talking about theirives, starting from early childhoodexperiences on a couch or a bedof some description, before theyget a revelation. This is BS, anddoes not happen. It would be veryrare for a psychiatrist or anydoctor to conduct therapythemselves. Neither psychiatristsor therapists have beds or

c o u c h e s . T h e r a p i s t s a r epsychologists, people who havedone highly competitive ClinicalPsychology doctoral degrees.CBT is a bit different, and can bedone by people who havecompleted various differentcourses. Counselling is differentagain, and is generally done bypeople with life experience whohave trained in person centred

counselling at universities. It isgenerally not well paid and manycounsellors work for free until theyare established.

Also, people dont tend to have asudden transformation and aremiraculously better. Therapy isabout trying to basically re-program parts of the mind/brainthat are causing a person harm.Getting a different way of seeingthings or training in a new way ofthinking are more realistic goals.There are dozens of differenttypes of therapy, so Im just goingto include a few common or well-known ones. In order to introducethe different types I am going togive a scenario, so that I candemonstrate what the approach ofeach type of therapy might be. Somagine a person in their early

twenties with anxiety and vomitingb e f o r e h a v i n g t o d e l i v e rpresentations.

The therapyWhat might the therapist say?How it is supposed to work

BS or not BS?Where can I get it?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy(CBT)

Write down your thoughts andwhat you do before you deliver apresentationWell this theory combines twotheories. The theory that the waywe think decides our feelings andthe theory that our behavioursdecide our feelings. The aim is toidentify specific thoughts andbehaviours contributing to theanxiety and then replace them

with different thoughts andbehaviours.Not BS. This is the one therapythat NICE and the NHS LOVE! Itsused from mental health, to painmanagement, to cardiac orpulmonary rehabilitation and has astrong evidence base across theboard.This is the type of therapy you getthrough the local wellbeing

service, self-refer or through yourGP for mild-moderate anxiety ordepression. Google wellbeingnorfolk for the local one. Or try theOvercoming series of books forself-help.

Counselling- Person centredtherapy

So you feel anxious beforepresentations, and it sounds likethis is very difficult for you.This is your classic talking basedtherapy that you see in films. Ithas some underlying principles,but basically the person isconsidered the authority on theirtroubles, the counsel lor isbasically there to just listen andreflect things, not to offer up theirown solutions and strategies. Theperson may or may not have a

mental health problem.Not BS, but not treatment either-This is transformational for manypeople, but it isnt an evidencebased treatment for anything, anddoesnt follow a specific structure.

You can get a free course at theUEA(approximately 8 weeks) ifyou are a student. Otherwise yougenerally have to pay. GoogleBACP.

Mindfulness

They wouldnt say anythingbecause they dont exist, its morelikely to be heard from a therapistincluding it as part of theirapproach, or as a Buddhist quoteOur true home is the presentmoment. If we really live in themoment , ou r wor r i es andhardships will disappear and we

will discover life with all itsmiracles. Real life can only befound and touched in the here andnowBy using our senses, payingattention to the present momentrather than the past or future, andaccepting what is experienced inthe moment, people feel morepeaceful and it is argued, live amore fulfilled life. Practices can

include mindful breathing, or beingmindful of an object held in yourhand.Not BS. Getting good results inRCTs. Also the Buddhists havebeen happi l y do ing i t fo rthousands of years. Can be goodfor wellbeing for anyone, with orwithout a mental health problem.Your best bet is apps (such asBreathe or Mindfulness) or a self-help book. It isnt generally offeredin the NHS by itself, but peoplewith moderate-severe mentalillnesses might be offered atherapy that incorporates theapproach.

Psychological therapies !Truth or BS?


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9/10

There has been a landmarkcourt case developing thisweek. For the first time in thehistory of the United Kingdomsjustice system, a doctor isbeing prosecuted for the crime

of female genital mutilation(FGM).

At the risk of regurgitating thatidiosyncratic politician speak; Imake no apologies for howstrongly I feel about thissituation. FGM is anabominable act of torture, amarriage of ignorance andfundamentalism, with the solepurpose of accentuatingsubjugation in the grossestsense. It is barbaricallyperformed under a guise ofdevotion.

Unfortunately this is an excusethat resonates beyond this oneheinous process; the recentmassacre in Nigeria by Boko

Haram, and the Charlie Hebdokillings in Paris provide asearing reiteration of theperseverance in this method ofjustifying atrocity.

FGM is illegal in the UK in allforms, as is arranging for it tobe done in another country. Yetthere are an estimated 66,000sufferers in the UK alone, and

this number increases everyyear.In reality there are probablymany more, given itsprevalence in vulnerablepopulations. FGM has beenroundly neglected by theestablishment.

This prosecution, the very firstof its kind, is by no means aformality; the jury must listencarefully and assess thismultifaceted situation involvingthe victim being re-stitched, re-mutilated, after giving birth, togauge whether the doctors

actions were naive,incompetent or malicious. Or allthree.

I recently spoke with a GP whocurrently practices in East

London, he shared myconcerns and told me of hisown experiences. He regularlysees victims of FGM,presenting with, frequently as adirect result of their abuse;UTIs, miscarriages,incontinence, and agonisingchronic pain. He said in hispractice he was conflicted;desperate to care for and treathis patients, but cautious ofacting or speaking in any waywhich may deter them fromvisiting again. To rock the boat,may be to capsize and losethem forever. He said the worstguilt he lived with, was of theknowledge that these womenhad their own daughters, andhe knew nothing of their own

risk.Whenever I speak to anyoneabout the topic of FGM, thecommon thought is revulsion;at the thought of it, at theabsolute disregard for femaleautonomy, and theconsternation that a practicelike this can even beconsidered, let alone

performed by medicalprofessionals.

Yet FGM is not the only way inwhich women have beenmedically mutilated under apretence, or a shamjustification. Between the1940s and 1980s, doctors inIreland had an equally brutalway of treating their women.Symphysiotomy, a processwhereby the cartilage of thepubis symphysis is lacerated,to allow for easier passage of ababy through the pelvis, wasregularly performed as an

alternative to caesareansection, which at the time wasfrowned upon by the Catholicchurch.A practice abandoned inmainland Europe in the 19th

century, used only inemergencies was revived. Onewoman recalls her ordeal,being surrounded by medicalstudents as they watched hercut open, paralysed byimmobility and deprived of herchild.

Of the 1500 plus women whowere subjected to thishorrendous ordeal, oftenwithout any consent at all, lessthan 400 have subsequentlybeen able to claim anycompensation. Many havebeen left permanently disabled.

These procedures, endemic ofinstitutional malice for thefemale, have been knowingly

ignored, their consequencesnot countenanced. Whilstsymphysiotomy in thesecircumstances, is thankfullynow rare, FGM is not.

I have huge sympathy for thosedoctors who do face thesechallenging patients; engrainedtradition is a difficult thing tooppose, especially when a

doctor-patient relationship is inthe balance. Our future jobs willinevitably lead us intosituations of discomfort andethical standstill, yet one mustalways be aware of hubris;unfortunately, skepticism stillexists about the extent of bothof these practices and itsimpact on their victims. This isa cruel reminder of theattitudes which perpetuatethese crimes.

Ryan Love

Institutional Hubris


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ts no secret that taking your elective placement abroadcan be costly. Many of those keen to get overseasexperience arent able to gather the funds for a numberof reasons. But if youre committed to your cause and

really want to gain insight into diverse medical practicesn the developing world, there are plenty of ways to raisemoney.

Turn your attention to bursaries, grants and awards.Youll want to start exploring your options as early aspossible. As soon as you know when your electiveperiod is, start gathering information. Leaving it too latewill put other people ahead of you and reduce chancesof success dramatically.There are hundreds of funding bodies who want to helppay for your placement. Finding them all is the hard part.

A quick Google search will turn up some interestingresults, but here at Work the World we regularly updatea huge list of grants, awards and bursaries. If you wanta free copy of our list, get in touch with us [email protected] or call 01273 974 634.

Application criteria vary from grant to grant, bursary tobursary. There will be similarities, but conduct researchnto each individual process where you can. All fundingbodies will ask for the reasoning behind your choice toundertake an overseas elective, some will ask you toconduct work to support your application. Others will askyou to do project work while youre away - its a mixed

bag.To make your application stand out you need to providea clear rationale of why you want to gain experienceoverseas. Doing background reading around both thefunding body itself and the country youre applying to goto is advisable.

That you know what youre talking about will comeacross in all steps of the application process and willimpress. If youre being asked to do work while youreaway, prepare a comprehensive, but clear plan of action

for when youre on the ground in country.You need to work out exactly how much to apply for ifthe grant or bursary isnt a fixed amount, as some are. Iforganising your elective placement yourself this will beconsiderably more difficult, as youll have to itemiseeach and every cost.

If youre booking through an overseas elective planningorganisation such as Work the World however, food,accommodation, airport pick up, hospital fees, a fullytailored and supervised placement and more areincluded in our prices.

Youll need to factor in extra money for flights,socialisation, sightseeing and travelling at weekends.We can provide you with up to date costs of all of thesethings if you cant find the info online.As theres no limit to the number of grants, awards andbursaries you can apply for, apply for as many as youhave time for to give yourself the best possible chanceof success.

Work the World will be presenting at the electives eventat the University of East Anglia on 9th March, so be sureto come along to hear about what we do, ask anyquestions you have and enter our competition to win a

free overseas elective placement.

Joe JamiesonCommunications Manager, Work the World

Funding Your Elective Placement the Easy Way

The first half of NMRFC's season must be viewed as asuccess. Both men's teams are pushing for titles inheir respective leagues and the ladies team areplaying games and improving every time.Recruitment was a real success with many new playerscoming in and impressing in all 3 teams both on and offhe pitch , but that's not to say that recruitment is done,oe Pang as a prime example of someone who joined

half way through the season, and anyone who stillwishes to play do come down, we meet at MED at800 on a Wednesday.

There have been a couple of firsts for the club as wellmatches against Cambridge Uni for the men andwomen, and our trip to Twickenham for England vsSamoa, both hugely enjoyable occasions. For the menespecially there was a lot of trepidation at the start of

he season with a huge number of players leaving anda new league structure, but both fears have been

waylaid as the league has become more competitivewith tougher, more enjoyable matches. As we go intothe second half of the season, as always there's roomfor improvement, but just like the great Wasps teams ofthe early to mid noughties, the late season surge isabout to start as our lack of pre-season is neglectedand we continue to gel and know what lines to hit offeach player, whilst keeping up with our immensedefence.

So in the imperious Welsh tone of Jack Dobbs, wehave a special performance in us, once that happensno teams in our leagues will be able to stop us.

(Well at least that's what we think he said)

Sam Brabazon, Year 4

NMRFC Mid Season Update

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The Murmur - January 2015