Your Big Ideas

Your Big Ideas

Do you have an Idea about how to make the Students’ Union, University or the wider community better for students?

Your Big Ideas are a great way to make meaningful change on campus. Submit your Idea online and share with your friends and course mates. If your Big Idea achieves 50 or more votes in favour after 28 days, it will be taken forward; either to an appropriate meeting such as Students’ Council or by meeting with the appropriate person(s) to help make your idea a reality. If a Big Idea gets approval at Students’ Council, it will become Students’ Union policy and we will work with you on making it happen!

To submit an Idea or vote on any of the current Big Ideas below, you must be logged in using your UCLan student login. Once logged in, the option to submit will appear and to vote, just click the thumbs up or down button - depending on your opinion! 

Previous Big Ideas-turned reality have included free period provisions on campus, an extension to the academic calendar and free disability screening.

Anyone can submit a Big Idea. It’s an easy way to change the lives of students!

Big Ideas Top Tips

  1. Identify the issue you want to solve.
  2. Do your research and talk to others. Staff and Elected Officers can help you prepare to launch or promote your Big Idea.
  3. Plan what you think should be done to solve the issue and decide how you'll know when it’s fixed.
  4. Submit a Big Idea! Go change Students’ lives.

 

Need some help submitting Your Big Idea? Follow the steps on our how-to video here

Got a question? Get in touch at yourunion@uclan.ac.uk.

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  • 125 score
    153 Voters

    Starbucks

    Submitted 1 month ago by Gemma Scott
    Expired
      21comments

      Remove Starbucks and replace with an ethical coffee company.

      UCLan encourages its students to be entrepreneurial, a coffee company created by past or present students for students would be a lot more fitting, even better one which is also a social enterprise. 

      Additionally, students are boycotting Starbucks and what it has come to represent creates a negative environment within the university. The SU will be more inclusive once it is removed as right now students are avoiding this area because of Starbucks. 

    Jozef Greatorex
    5:16pm on 27 Mar 24 As far as I'm aware after conversations with members members staff, the profits from this Starbucks don't go to the company, they go to the SU helping fuel campaigns lead by students and pay our student workers a decent wage! All Starbucks do is provide the resources and those are bought from Nestle (which I know is also unethical but they get a minimal amount) so the amount of money per drink that goes to Starbucks is minimal. Overall, this outlet is a great way to support student action as it helps fund our union.
    Muhmina Hussain
    9:06pm on 2 Apr 24 Yes we need something more ethical and better than Starbucks !
    Michaela Powell
    9:36pm on 2 Apr 24 I agree with Avery. The coffee shop isn't a Starbucks chain, merely supplies the coffee. Also, some students may be boycotting Starbucks, but it is my understanding that the actual sales at the shop have declined very little, if at all. If a student, or alumnus, were to set up a bean roasting business and provide the same and/or better deal to the uni, then in would be all for that though! It is always great to support students :) When it comes to the inclusion, I think it must be considered that removing starbucks branding from the facilities at uclan would show support to one side of the conflict, and thus alienate the students that support the opposing side. So far, the SU and uclan have both maintained neutrality as they try to support all students. Such a clear show of support to one side might illustrate a shift in that stance, which is something it may have to consider carefully.
    Marium Mahbub
    9:45pm on 2 Apr 24 Yes an ethical coffee shop is much needed!
    Affan Abdul Raffay
    10:01pm on 2 Apr 24 Yes Starbucks has to be removed and we need an ethical coffee Shop
    Fatima Amin
    2:49am on 3 Apr 24 I disagree with Michaela, respectfully. Regardless of any justification for how this affects Starbucks revenue, this is not our university concerns. It has been made apparently clear they are supporting an ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing that have broken countless human rights laws international laws evident and recorded quite clearly. This cannot be denied. I don’t believe this has to do with sides of opinion, but merely choosing not to fund an active genocide mainly against children and women, in any way shape or form. I strongly believe the majority of our university population correlate with this blatantly clear narrative hence the decline in attendees on campus to SU Starbucks before such events had occurred. I am a first hand witness of the decline and uncomfortably of many students and peers who use to be regulars at SU Starbucks and have sharply stopped due to boycotting. This suggests the boycott was effective, despite the proportion. As stated before the overall revenue of Starbucks’ is not the concern of the student council, but rather the comfortability and accessibility of the students and staff regularly on campus. Stats state otherwise, but regardless of how it affects Starbucks, i believe every step in the fight for fundamental human rights is worth it and makes a difference. I do not believe it is fair or just to have a brand supporting blatant war crimes to align with the morals of the majority of the population of the university, nor the university values. I believe an alternative would allow the students to feel comfortable in buying coffee again on campus.
    Mohammed Nasrim Keezhadathil
    4:57am on 3 Apr 24 Yes starbucks need to be removed from there
    Mujtaba Syed
    5:04am on 3 Apr 24 Yeah, Starbucks MUST be replaced.
    Taybah Khan
    5:06am on 3 Apr 24 I agree
    Farhananaaz Abidhusain Chakkiwala
    5:41am on 3 Apr 24 Absolutely!!! Starbucks needs to be removed, Please.
    Chukwuma Williams Adaigbe
    2:08pm on 3 Apr 24 If the reason for the calling of Starbucks to be removed from the school premises is the conflict in Gaza, then it is not a good student welfare idea. Politics in far away land shouldn't affect the welfare of students in England. A new coffee shop by an alumnus is always welcomed but it doesn't need others to go before it can operate, that's favoritism and monopoly.
    Aribah Ayaz
    6:20pm on 3 Apr 24 It is not “politics in a far away land” that affects majority of not only students but people here, it is the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing that we have an issue with and having a corporation on campus that actively supports and funds said genocide is what is making us uncomfortable, it has nothing to do with “favouritism and monopoly”, it’s a human rights issue. If it’s about generating revenue for the student union, having a brand that doesn’t support genocide will actually benefit the SU, as more students will be comfortable in spending money in an ethical establishment. Starbucks being there shows favouritism to one side in an “ongoing conflict” as many people have been boycotting Starbucks for at least 6/7 months now.
    Ayesha Nakhuda
    2:14am on 4 Apr 24 Do not speak about a humanitarian issue and a genocide as “politics in a far away land” Tens of thousands of people are being murdered !!
    Jodie Roberts
    10:55am on 4 Apr 24 As someone who is partaking in the boycott to the best of my ability, (This is personal, nothing to do with my role on council and of course I make mistakes. ) I think it is vital that we remember we are boycotting the corporation itself. Even if for other reasons (there are many reasons people have been boycotting Starbucks and especially nestle for a while,) taking away minimum wage jobs is not the way to go about this. It's important to also remember that the boycott list isn't only Starbucks, it contains thousands of companies so much of university catering would have to be changed which would cause the prices to go up during a cost of living crisis. That said, I do believe that as a population of students and a generation we are trying to do what's right and move towards more ethical purchases overall and that the union should reflect this shift. It's also important to note that many more ethical coffee companies are actually cheaper and taste nicer than Starbucks anyway. I don't believe that there is such thing as a "completely ethical purchase," but I do believe that some purchases can be majorly less ethical than others, therefore I do believe that we should swap to more ethical alternatives across all large institutions. Ethical purchasing whether for reasons regarding human rights or climate change amongst many others starts with us! (Where applicable and affordable for those who are privileged enough to partake.)
    Simone Bridge
    11:35am on 4 Apr 24 If Jozef is right, the students would want to see the proof. Regardless, not only Starbucks, but the whole area is being avoided by many students due to the continuing lifelong boycott- it will not stop after the war has ended. An alternative coffee shop with no link to Starbucks would be most suitable- eg an extension of the student centres coffee shop, an extension of lampworks, or a collaboration with a local shop (Townhouse, Rise etc) to support local business and the well-being of UCLans students.
    Chukwuma Williams Adaigbe
    1:42pm on 4 Apr 24 Last i checked the UK government is supporting one of the country involved in the conflict and i don't see you people boycotting the UK government or even leaving the UK. Thing is you have every right to boycott whatever company you want to boycott but what you can't do is project your own humanitarian sentiments on other students in a free country where business have the rights to operate freely. Starbucks haven't offended the students of UCLan nor has it broken any laws it's supposed to adhere to. This calling for the removal of Starbucks from UCLan campus is totally sentimental, unfair, unnecessary, and unimportant to the students of UCLan.
    Aribah Ayaz
    1:57pm on 4 Apr 24 Of course you don’t “see us boycotting the government” because we’re not disclosing everything we’re doing in support for Palestine but just so you know, there is a movement going which is known as NoTaxForGenocide in which people are pledging to legally no longer pay tax and remove our tax money which is approximately £700 million from the government as it is a criminal offence to pay tax if any of it is used to fund genocide or any criminal activity as per the 1945 UN Charter. You can find more about this at https://notaxforgenocide.uk/ We are not projecting “humanitarian sentiments” we are advocating for a stop to a genocide which is a humanitarian crisis, just yesterday international aid workers from the World Central Kitchen were bombed and murdered INTENTIONALLY as the organisation had coordinated its movements with the Israeli government and were operating in marked vans. Some of these aid workers were even British Citizens. Just because we’re not making it aware of every single thing we’re doing to boycott and support Palestine on a post on here doesn’t mean we aren’t making efforts for other things that just wanting to remove a Starbucks chain off of campus. This is just a step in the right direction we are to trying to make happen to spread awareness and hopefully be able to make much bigger moves in the nearby future.
    Chukwuma Williams Adaigbe
    9:39am on 5 Apr 24 Please Aribah, i would love to know how you came about the knowledge that Starbucks is involved in or influencing the conflict in Gaza negatively, and how removing Starbucks from UCLan will help the conflict in Gaza in any way. Thanks.
    Michaela Powell
    2:25pm on 5 Apr 24 It is likely that we will see opinions that may differ from our own, which can be frustrating, but we need to remember that this is a professional platform, so we should endeavour to keep our responses respectful in wording and tone. It's always great to see student engagement, but I find it really awesome to see people debating a topic and interacting with those with differing opinions. Growth happens outside of the comfort zone, as they say!
    Adam Spencer-Purvis
    11:54am on 7 Apr 24 Removing Starbucks in favour of an alternative coffee shop [student run, or local business] is a productive and positive action. A company that supports genocide has no right to be a company. A company the size of Starbucks has so much power that they unfortunately can continue as they please and do not care if I say "they have no right". This action by students is a possible chance to say "no, you don't have a right to act this way" and change path, away from immoral corporations. As Simone said, students are already avoiding Starbucks and will not go back, another reason a change would not be detrimental. I understand were Jodie is coming from in regards to staff losing their jobs. One solution I have here is, can the staff who work at the Starbucks currently be employed to run the new cafe? If it's true that Starbucks doesn't really own or run the one on campus, only provides stock, then does that mean the current employees in the shop are Uclan employed not Starbucks? If they're Uclan employed I think it would be only fair to involve those employees in the creation of a new cafe. They might even prefer this themselves if they're asked and included in any steps forward. I think this would be an easy solution to the risk of people losing jobs. If the employees who work in the Uclan are in fact official Starbucks employees then this is obviously more complicated but Starbucks themselves bear some responsibility if they're willing to let their staff become jobless because a university has decided to make a change because Starbucks are choosing to be way beyond any kind of humanity. Whatever happens I think the current staff should be included in the process.
    Jodie Roberts
    5:05pm on 11 Apr 24 Hi Adam, I honestly am not sure who the staff are employed by but this is a great suggestion if they are employed by the union as long as wages are kept fair. Thank you for putting forward this idea!

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