1. Women's Gym Space
I have successfully introduced 8 hours of a women's gym space at Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre. This is a huge step forward in closing the gap between male and female attendance at the gym, but it is still not enough.
I am working with other members of staff from the University to come up with a potential new space for evening sessions or a month long trial for a women's gym space in a completely separate space, to allow that extra sense of comfort. This is a work in progress however I am very eager to get something started before I leave in June, so hopefully you will see this space before summer!
2. Reviewing Student Group Policies
When I started this role, I was confused by all of the different rules and regulations that student groups have to abide by that they perhaps didn't even know about. I set out to try and make these easier to understand as well as being more transparent to our student group leaders where they were and how they could find them. With the help of the engagement team, this led to us re-developing committee training to actively include our policies so we can physically tell students about them, as well as showing them where they can be accessed. We introduced an improved system when student groups reaffiliate with us every year, where at least one leader per group has to agree to the terms of being a committee leader, and agree to our policies and bye-laws before they could start acting like a student group. This has improved our groups, as they feel like they have more freedom now that they know the rules, as well as more groups actively interacting with us as they understand our purpose!
Another thing we have added to committee training over the past couple of years while I have been in office, is bringing in some disabled students to do a session during the day to teach our group leaders about things they might not usually consider when, for example, planning a social or putting on events. This year we brought in a deaf student to teach some BSL to the group leaders, and a blind student who delivered a session on what additional needs some disabled people may need, and how committees can consider these when planning their year ahead. These were amazing sessions led by amazing students, and was one of the most popular sessions of committee training overall, so this is something I hopefully see continuing in the future.
I have also worked with the Engagement Team to develop other policies like our complaints policy. When I first read it, I found a lot of loopholes and inconsistencies with the policy which constantly led to confusion; no one understood the points of escalation or the chain of command when we got complaints. After months of work, and a lot of drafts, we developed a complaints policy that had a clear point of escalation, it was clear to each department who dealt with the different types of complaints, and the whole process was streamlined exceptionally. This has led to complaints being dealt with a lot faster and in a more organised fashion that students feel they are being seen and listened to, and so far seem to be happy with the process.
3. Sports!
I have recently succeeded in getting approval for the BUCS Active Wellbeing Fund, which gives the university £3000 to deliver sessions of different fun physical activity aimed at increasing the number of female students and neurodivergent students at the university. I applied for this with two members of staff from the sports department at the university, so they will be the full-time staff working on the sessions. We got this grant approved at the end of December but are yet to receive the money. When we do, we have a timetable ready to be rolled out as soon as possible. Hopefully we get the money before summer so we can do some nice springtime sessions outside as well. This is an extremely good initiative from the sports department, it is always nice to know that people really do want the best for students and will try incredibly hard to make sure everyone is equally included, I can't wait for these sessions to roll out!
4. Mental Health and Wellbeing
I have been working with Joe (VP Welfare) to make campus nad our students as safe as they can be. We are pushing students to have the SafeZone app downloaded, and we both sit on the SHE committees (Safety. Health, and Environment) in order to keep track of the university's safety concerns and offer some suggestions from a student voice point of view. I am also supporting Joe on the Mental Health Charter submission through reading over drafts and adding my thoughts.
Other things I have done during my role:
- Partnering with Lancashire Violence Reduction Network to educate students about fraud and supporting campus safety initiatives.
- Revising the Trustee Recruitment pack, reducing it from 23 to 13 pages by removing outdated content.
- Collaborating with the staff team and SLT to develop the new four-year Union Strategy.
- Working with university sports staff to improve offers and spaces for students.
- Relaunching Pulse Media by recruiting a new student member and supporting their development.
- Organising the Hope Walk in partnership with Papyrus and the Mary O’Gara Foundation to raise awareness of suicide prevention.
- Lobbying MPs in London for increased maintenance loan support and networking with other university officers.