Joining a Student Group - Toga's Experience

"The group has become a place where students are keen to come and support the community." Read Toga's experience as a member of the University of Cambridge’s Freedom from Torture university group.

I found working with my university’s branch of Freedom from Torture for the past few months to be an incredibly rewarding experience! As an entirely student-run society, I have enjoyed working with such a collaborative society that requires input from all the different members to run efficiently. 

Events like the bake sale, which we organise termly, usually require additional assistance from college representatives. The feeling that all efforts to fundraise, and ultimately make a material contribution, required collective work on the part of many people, affirmed my view that community is at the centre of all organising work.

Being involved in the society reminds me of my own hometown, Leicester, where grassroots organisations work tirelessly to support refugees and asylum seekers. This similarity feels reflective of the work of the charity, in its ability to bind people together. 

I particularly felt this when I attended a speaker event that invited a former Freedom from Torture client to speak. Listening to the survivor activist relaying their devastating account of survival that culminated in hope through the support of Freedom from Torture was incredibly impactful.

Being a part of the Freedom from Torture student group has felt like a reminder that community can be found everywhere.

To me, the event emphasised the value of honouring individual experiences and highlighted the importance of sharing these experiences to bind people together.

In working with the University of Cambridge student branch, I have come to recognise that community work can thrive in universities, in places of learning. Even though these spaces can at times feel isolating, the group has become a place where students are keen to come and support the wider community and each other. It’s the curiosity of fellow peers and the willingness to become involved that is the backbone of society. 

Away from home, students can work together and learn new and innovative ways of approaching problems that may feel far-reaching. Being a part of the Freedom from Torture student group has felt like a reminder that community can be found everywhere. 

Toga Ibrahim is part of the Campaigns and Outreach Team in the Cambridge University Freedom from Torture group. Toga has been a vital component of the success of our Cambridge University group, and the group are a wonderful example of the success of our university network.