I’m Nikita, the Vice President Education at the Students' Union and I have Crohn’s disease and a stoma bag. My disability is invisible, and you probably wouldn’t know about it if I wasn’t so open or low waisted skirts weren’t in fashion.

As a student here I noticed the lack of a disabled students' community which is why we we’re holding events such as this one and the Disabled Students' Forum which will be roughly every month. You might have noticed I’ve tried to be a bit punny with the titles of these events and it’s because I want to destigmatise being disabled and want it to be an empowering place disabled people can connect with like-minded others. Essentially what I’m trying to say is we go through a lot of s**t (all puns intended) that able-bodied people don’t understand and it’s why the Union want to create safe spaces where we can express ourselves, because there’s more to our personalities than just being disabled.

We’re gonna start off with an icebreaker bingo but before that I’d just like to say please be mindful that some people’s disabilities might be invisible and students here may not even want to talk about their disability, which is completely fine, so please can we all be compassionate and patient with eachother.

There is Inclusive Support in the room if you have any questions and if you need any help throughout this afternoon, please approach any of us, we’re here to help.