Every Monday, firstpoint publishes five points about a topic related to life at university. This week, it’s the Easter break at the University of Worcester…
POINT ONE: IT’S A TWO-WEEK BREAK FROM TEACHING…
From Monday 14th April 2025, most semester-based courses take a two-week break from teaching. For some students, this is a chance to relax, unwind and visit family. For others, this will be a busy period, working on assessments and preparing for upcoming exams.
Please do check with your academic school as to your official term dates, or you can find helpful information on the University Academic Year Dates pages.
POINT TWO: SUPPORT IS STILL AVAILABLE…
Although teaching is not taking place for some courses, firstpoint, Student Services and your Student Union remain open throughout the Easter period, and will be closed only between Thursday 17th April – Monday 21st April 2025.
You will still be able to access lots of helpful information through the firstpoint webpages during this time or subscribe to this blog for regular updates and information.
If you are looking for information, support or advice, or help booking appointments with specialist teams, please get in touch with us. You can call the firstpoint team on 01905 542551, email firstpoint@worc.ac.uk or drop-in and see us on the St John’s campus during our opening hours.
You can visit the Student Union Welcome Desk during usual opening hours, until 4pm on Wednesday 16th April, which will then reopen at 10.00am on Tuesday 22nd April.
POINT THREE: EVENTS IN WORCESTER…
There are lots of activities taking place over the Easter weekend.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on Events at your Student Union and you’ll find the usual weekly line up of activities and social nights the Hangar, including quiz nights and karaoke.
Worcester Cathedral have a wide range of interesting events running throughout the month of April, alongside their special Holy Week Services, or just visit for free to see this incredible venue!
Within easy distance of Worcester you’ll find a diverse range of activities you can book onto or just turn up, including the free entry Droitwich Dine n’Devour Food Festival!
For our students who have young children, there are lots of family Easter fun days out. From Easter egg hunts to craft activities, see the visit worcestershire webpages for further details.
POINT FOUR: DECORATE YOUR OWN PACE EGG…
The first mention of pace eggs comes from early 18th-century Lancashire, and they grew in popularity over the century. They were given as presents or at pace egg plays, and sometimes they were rolled along the ground in a race.
Any eggs can be used to make pace eggs, although white egg shells will produce more vivid results. Allow 10-12 minutes boiling time for large hens eggs or 15 minutes for duck eggs. Put white wine vinegar in with the eggs or submerge the hard boiled eggs in a dye bath after they have been cooked.
To make the dye bath use 250ml water to the same quantity of colourant listed below plus 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar. The more dye you use the more vibrant the effect! You may also want to wear rubber gloves to avoid your hands getting stained.
- Red – 2-3 tsp cochineal
- Yellow – 2-3 tsp turmeric
- Blue or Green – ¼-½ tsp food colouring paste
- Orange – either boil the brown skins of 2 – 3 large onions separately to make a dye bath or boil them with the eggs.
Once the eggs have cooled, use kitchen towel to smear flavourless oil over each one. Gently rub this off to give the eggs a bit of a shine. Store in the fridge until required.
Strips of dyed rags can also be tied around the egg before boiling – this will give the shells a marbled effect when the colour runs from the material. You could also draw on the shell with wax before placing it in the dye, which leaves a white inscription on a coloured background. You could also use a very sharp, pointed knife to inscribe a design on the surface by carefully removing the colour and revealing the white shell underneath.
[borrowed from English Heritage]
POINT FIVE: MAKE TIME FOR A CHOCOLATE EGG…
The first chocolate Easter egg in the UK was introduced in 1873 by the family-owned company, Fry’s.
It was in Easter 1873, that Fry’s would create the first chocolate egg. Traditionally, at Easter, people would give each other chicken’s eggs which had been hard boiled and painted bright colours (that’s where the tradition of decorating eggs comes from).
Fry’s took this tradition and put their own spin on it, and so the first chocolate Easter eggs were introduced in this country.
Fry’s competitors quickly caught on and copied with Cadbury’s making their own chocolate Easter eggs two years later. [Borrowed from Preston Park Museum] Since then, they’ve become hugely popular – 80 million are sold in the UK each year!
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