Friday 30-04-2021 - 16:30

WELL it’s been a very long time since I have written one of these! So, here goes... 

First, some quick updates on the campaigns I’ve been working on: 

• Students United Against Fees – you may have seen all about this on our social media accounts yesterday as we took part in the SUAF Digital Day of Action, alongside a lot of other SU’s! (Check out Lucy’s article to find out more) 

• Expect Respect – A huge focus for me at the moment is our Expect Respect campaign, in response to the murder of Sarah Everard. The campaign is being led by students from all campuses with support from university and UCSU staff! We’re looking to develop training, policies, safety measures and raise awareness of the issues... And more! Pop me a message to get involved. 

• Accommodation - I’m working closely with the Deputy Director of Student and Staff Services to improve your accommodation experience; we’re currently exploring how my student perspective could help to inform staff practice. 

• Students’ Networks – The networks are growing in size and number, meaning training sessions are being developed! The Disabled and LGBTQ+ networks are our most established so far and it won’t be long before our new network catches up - it’s for students who are estranged from their families and will offer valuable peer support, you can sign up here. 

• Events & Activities Calendar – Charlotte and I have delivered our first 2 staff training sessions for the calendar, ready for the full launch in September! So far, it’s been very well received and I think we’re all still friends with Microsoft (for now).  

• Health & Wellbeing Strategy - I’m helping the university with their new strategy to improve health and wellbeing across the institution. Workshops are being held to gather staff and student feedback - keep an eye on the Global emails for when you can get involved! 

• Anti-racism - Frank and I are doing some digging... We’re looking at lots of reports and stats, listening to students’ experiences, asking lots of questions and trying to identify any problem areas across UCSU & UOC. We’re working hard to call out & stamp out racism. If you have anything that you think might help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! 

• Keep me going packs – Back in November, your Executive Committee launched the service for students struggling to access essentials. Since then, we have delivered over 100 packs across all 5 campuses! You can find out more here. 

• Timetabling – Lucy and I have joined forces to address the eternal timetable struggles. We launched a survey that has provided some really useful insight into how timetables could work better for you. Our next steps are to pull in a focus group to work through the data, looking to nail down the key ideas and present them to the university. 

• Pink Spots – This was a campaign launched by a previous Officer to provide free period products to anyone in need. Due to campus closures and using the products in our ‘Keep me going packs’, this has taken a back seat recently. However, I’ve been in touch with a student who is currently conducting research in this area and we’re working together on an environmentally friendly relaunch of the campaign! 

Now for the fun stuff - some of the events & activities that I’ve been involved with: 

• Life Drawing with the Art Society - I loved this so so much! It was my first time at Brampton Road and it felt like I was rediscovering my creative side and polishing up my rusty drawing skills. A huge thank you to the Art Society for this, I can’t wait for the next one! 

• Book Club - The Book Club is now an official society! The wonderful committee have taken over the organising and well, they’re just amazing. It’s super informal, very chill and the perfect way to wind down in the afternoon. You can sign up here. 

• QSU Lunch & Learn series – A series of webinars advertised by NUS that delved deep into the issues facing students and SU’s right now. They have been amazingly useful and inspired a whole load of new ideas! 

• Mental Health Awareness Week – w/c 10th May. I’m working on a couple of events to help get you through the final weeks of the semester (or help you forget about the dissertation you’ve just submitted). I’ll be delivering a mental health management session on the Wednesday afternoon and hopefully some campus gardening days! Keep an eye on Globals and my social media to find out more. 

Meetings can be boring sometimes, but here are a few that I’ve been getting excited about: 

• Cumbria Race Equality Network - Formed after the ‘Race2be’ conference, this network has representatives from key organisations in Cumbria, working to end racism across the county. 

• Cumbria LGBT Network – This launched following our collaborative ‘A Life Worth Living’ panel discussion for LGBTQ+ History Month. This network is very informal and gives us opportunities to connect with and support initiatives across Cumbria. 

• Lancashire Police Sexual Violence Campaign - As part of our Expect Respect campaign, I got in touch with Lancashire and Cumbria Police to see how we could support each other. I’m now involved with their communication working party, which is looking into how messages around sexual violence are communicated and how they can be more supportive for students. 

And finally, because I’m such a busy bee right now, let’s touch on the best ways for you to contact me: 

• Teams – this is my current preferred method for communication. If my status is showing as ‘free’, just give me call (whether you’re a student or staff)! Otherwise, pop a message in the chat and I’ll reply asap. 

• Emails – I am working to a 5 working day response time as I am currently receiving up to 100 emails a day. Emails from students take absolute priority, but no email is ignored. 

• Social Media – Through social media I am contacted by all kinds of people, rarely students. I try to keep on top of them but managing 4 accounts on different platforms can be tricky. Again, messages from students take absolute priority, so please bear with me.

If you have made it to the end of this, have a virtual hug from me (and maybe a coffee next time I see you). That was a lot of updates, but you’re now caught up with my last couple of months. As always, don’t hesitate to get in contact about any of the things you’ve read, just try and do it on Teams if you can 😉 

 

Peace and love to you all, 

M x