Lucy's March Update (better late than never!)
I can’t quite believe that the last article I wrote was way back in December it seems like such a long time ago now. Between then and now I seem to have been swept up in all sorts of madness and am only now getting a chance to breathe.
As I am sure you are all aware, I came back from my Christmas break to the news that the government was entering another lockdown and many of you had lots of questions, worries, and concerns. My first few weeks were spent organising these concerns and trying to get as many answers as possible from the university. From this, we further organised these questions into an FAQ page on our website which is updated often as the information changes.
Throughout all the hecticness my concern has always been to make sure your voices continue to be heard: listening to course reps, students, and liaising with programme leads and senior university staff to make sure you get the information you need and the questions you have answered.
Where questions could not be answered by the university, we took the campaigning nationally. We wrote a letter to Matt Hancock asking him to close the loophole in the NHS and Social Care Life Assurance Scheme 2020 and we will update everyone as soon as we get a reply. I have also been working away in the background with other unions as well as taking the lead on project groups within the UCSU, working on campaigns around tuition fees, better support for students on placements, and more. Keep an eye on my socials because as these campaigns develop, I will be updating all of you and where relevant asking for your help/involvement.
But it hasn’t all been covid related these last few months. During Reignite week I launched a pen pal scheme which students can sign up to and write letters to someone else at the university. This has been so successful with many of the pen pals enjoying getting to know other people and giving them another way to connect with people that’s not over a screen. I will be launching the second round of pen pals before the summer break so if you would like to get involved just let me know!
As always, a huge part of my role is looking after all the course reps and it wouldn’t be an officer update without a section on the reps! This semester there have been four workshops on stress management, conflict resolution, campaign masterclass, and public speaking. I hope these have been useful and enjoyable for the reps. I also want to take this time to give a huge shout out to every single course rep, it has not been an easy year but they have managed the difficulties so well, and I could not be any prouder of them all!
Finally, it was election week a couple of weeks ago and I got re-elected! I am so honoured that so many of you took the time to vote for me, and I am excited to get to work on my election manifesto promises! This job really does have its high points and its low points but it is so worth it and I have learnt so much, met so many amazing people, and I hope made some really positive changes for you all. I am over the moon that I get this role for another year because I am definitely not done yet!
Lots of love Lucy x
