VP Welfare officer – What have I been up to?

It's been a busy few months so I wanted to check in with you all about some of the things I've been up to recently in terms of my manifesto and supporting students.

Mental Health

• The Survivor Stories campaign has been launched which targets victims and survivors of sexual and domestic abuse, with the hopes of getting them to access both internal and external support services. The campaign is in the form of a mural wall which has been created by a student and we are calling for staff and students to write letters of hope/affirmation to let our victim -survivors know that they are not alone, and that help is available. You can find the mural on the first floor of the Students' Union building, to the right of the Union Cafe.
• I was invited to sit on an interviewing panel to find a new student counsellor for the University's Wellbeing team, however we did not find the right candidate so the advert will be going out again.

Black and Asian Student Experience / Mental Health 

• The Talking Matters campaign has been re–released targeted towards the Black and Asian student community to help encourage them to come forward and access the Student Wellbeing Services.

Accessibility

• International Students Welcome Pack has been created and will be available from the beginning of the new academic year 22/23 (physical copy) with information surrounding: Academic misconduct, Welfare, and social life on campus. However, you can now find it online on our Student's Union website in the International Student Hub here.
• The last Disabled Students’ Forum of this academic year will take place this week (April 27^th), a lot of positive changes and impact have been made and we are working with the University to publicise this soon.
• We have planned a BSL beginners class alongside one of our deaf students for Deaf Awareness Week (2^nd – 8^th of May) that will take place on the 4^th of May in Flintoff room in the Students' Union building. Find out more here!

Sexual Health

• Held a ‘Let’s Talk About Consent’ workshop that was only attended by 1 student however, the student felt that the workshop used (Brookes, consent) was inclusive. The question is now raised on how to get more students interested in discussing the importance of consent and attending important workshops like this.

Student Hardship 

• I'm currenlty awaiting for the written report from the results of the Food Hardship survey we ran earlier this year so we can look at the recommendations to take forward. However, the Students' Union Activities Team has recently received funding for a community fridge which will provide free cold food for students - more on this coming soon! Hopefully a student foodbank acquired from my survey results will go alongside this.