Manifesto
Hiya! I’m Tuesday, one of your current elected Vice presidents!
What can I say?! It’s been an amazing year representing students and making change.
This year I have:
- Implemented #AskAngela in all our union venues. This was a subject close to my heart, and something I had seen worked well across the country and wanted to make it work at Staffs, and it has been so well received by students and the university.
- Launched the Transgender Equality, Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy for the University. This was a ground-breaking piece of work for us, and we are one of the first universities in the UK to have this kind of policy in place. This is already benefiting students and staff. It’s allowed students to be themselves and be proud of who they are.
- Raised & Addressed issues about the on-campus doctor. It’s obvious that the on-campus doctors have caused issues for students. I have been addressing these all year. At the beginning of the year, I made the change in the way that appointments are being given to students. Students are called back by a clinician and given an appointment if necessary.
- Worked with the University to deliver Welcome Week. I helped shaped the events, and the activities that happened through out the week. It ran ever so smoothly, and the feedback was amazing, and I’m glad that I got to help our new students settle in and greet them to the university!
- Supported and helped shape the Sexual Violence work that is happening at Staffs. This is still ongoing work and is coming on leaps and bounds. This year we trained up 4 Sexual Violence Liaison Officers, and we are preparing to train more as we speak! This is some great work that is happening and there is still more to come, all in line with our collaborative #NoExcuse Campaign with the University.
Enough about what I have done, what do I want to do if you re-elect me for another year?
I will make a safe, inclusive and resourceful campus, whilst also providing opportunities for students. Here are the main things that I want to do to make sure this happens:
- Abolish Period Poverty – It’s no secret that having a period is expensive. I did some scary maths to support this, and on average, the cost to a student of having 12 cycles a year is about £20. Periods aren’t a choice, we can’t prevent them, so why are they so expensive? I want to implement a system where products are readily available for all students who need them.
- Better support for Loneliness & Mental Well-being including “Buddy Systems” and destigmatising mental health within sport - Loneliness is one of the biggest problems facing the UK currently, and the hardest part is it’s not diagnosable. I believe we need to do more awareness into other mental health issues other than just Depression and Anxiety. There are many more mental health issues, such as Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Dissociative Personality Disorder, that people know little about, and are unaware of how they affect people. I think we need to better equip our services and support systems to be able to deal with these other issues and make it a priority for everyone at this university. I want to work with our activities team at the Students’ Union and Sir Stanley Matthews Sport Centre to make sure we are giving out a clear message on zero tolerance on discrimination of Mental health within our teams, but making sure our teams are supportive, when team mates are going through a rough time. Through out the university and union, we need to be giving out the same clear message when it comes to mental health.
- Improve Student Accommodation – Its been a hot topic this year. Students don’t feel like that they are getting their value for money when it comes to accommodation, or they feel let down by the service provided. There are issues surrounding laundry, hot water, and the lack of care given by landlords. With the new legislation coming out about mould and damp, I want to make sure students really know what this means and help them to know their rights when it comes to these problems in their accommodation. I also want students to understand their tenancy agreements to stop them from incurring any fees they may not be aware of, this means to create an easy reading Tenancy Agreement so you know exactly what it says without all the complicated language.
- Improved Campus safety with reintroducing the CopShop with PC Simon Stone as well as other LiveLab opportunities across campus – CopShop has been such a wonderful thing in the past, and students have used this service with any issues they may have had on campus. It’s helped a lot of students in the past, and I’m hoping we can help students in the future with this. A lot of post have ben popping up on social media about things happening in the area, and no-one really knows where to report it. I want the CopShop to be your One-Stop Shop to be able to get advice or make the authorities aware of any suspicious behaviour. I want this to be a LiveLab experience as well so students can have it on their CV and make them more employable in the future. At the union, we have offered out a lot of LiveLab experiences and I want these to become the norm, and something students cherish as an experience to be able to help their future careers.
- Continuing work with the university on the collaborative #NoExcuse campaign to reiterate a zero tolerance on hate speech & discrimination – Our #NoExcuse campaign was so well put together for sexual violence awareness week, I want to make sure this is transferrable and correct for all major issues and re-enforce our view that we don’t accept these behaviours. We want students to feel safe and accepted whilst at university. I also want to make sure that our service are fully equipped to report and support students who may disclose they have been subject to discrimination.
- Inclusivity for our Diverse student body – At Staffs, we have such a diverse range of students who are on campus studying with us. I want there to be the right support in place for each and every student, and that you feel welcome throughout your studies. I have proved I can do this with the Transgender Equality, Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy. There needs to be rights for our Parent Students, our Carer Students, our Mature Students, our International Students, our Commuter Students, our Disabled Students and everyone in between. I want it to be clear as day that we can support you correctly through out your time here, and that there is #NoExcuse for any discrimination from any one within the university.
But here’s some other things that I will continue to do:
- Flag and address issues with the doctors. I will not rest until they provide a reliable service for our students.
- Being an Advocate for LGBT+ rights, Mental Health issues and Sexual Violence Awareness.
- Supporting students no matter what. Even if its just for a chat because you’ve had a rough day. I’ll be an ear when you feel like no one else can be.
- Making sure the university follow up any regulation or policy changes and communicating them to students.
I’m 200% committed to making these changes if you re-elect me as Officer for 2019/2020.
