This is Me is an award-winning campaign led by our elected Disabled Students’ Rep, Nikkita, and is making a return this academic year.

As part of Nikkita’s manifesto as Disabled Students’ Rep, she wanted to ensure disabled students at UCLan were aware and accessing the support they need from the University.

When the campaign first launched in the 2020/21 academic year, there was a large number of students not disclosing their disabilities or access needs to the University and therefore not receiving any of the support on offer. This meant those students were struggling and trying to navigate through student life and all the barriers that came with it.

There are different reasons students may not want to disclose their disability. From not being aware of what services are at UCLan, to maybe not having had access to support prior to University and not really understanding what help they might need. The This is Me campaign aims to combat just that!

The students involved in the campaign have come forward to celebrate all the elements of who they are and show that with the right support, you can really shine and have an amazing student experience.

Last year, the campaign more than doubled the amount of disclosures the University’s Inclusive Support Team received! The success of the campaign means more students know where to get help, how to access the services and are now receiving the things they need to excel while at UCLan.

Since then, Disabled Students’ Rep Nikkita has been nominated for national awards and was the recent runner up at the Student Think 2021 awards for the campaign.

Just like last year, we hope This is Me continues to increase the number of students disclosing their disabilities and that disabled students feel confident in accessing support and providing feedback to both the Students’ Union and the University.

We’d also like to thank Joe, Shannon, Nikita and Georgie for being our role models and case studies for the campaign.

You can disclose your disability directly to the University's Inclusive Support team by completing their online form here. You can find out more about Inclusive Support on the University's Student Support Hub.