Aaron Phillips , Union Team Member

This is a Proud to be Staffs Story Here at Staffordshire University Students' Union, our vision is that every student will be Proud to be Staffs. Our stories are examples of the wonderful people and groups in our community and how they make us proud.  Why not tell us what makes you proud? Click here to tell us your Story!

Proud to be Staffs Story: Aaron Phillips

Union Team Member, Students' Union

Here at your Students' Union we talk about everyday heroes; people who do incredible things everyday by being kind, considerate, hardworking and consiceitous. Their efforts makes the rest of our lives that little bit better and are critical in our community. Aaron, as a newer member of our team, is absolutely one of these people. He is kind and caring and sums up for us why we are proud of our team. Thank you Aaron, for making us Proud to be Staffs.

Aaron Phillips 's Story

"Over the course of this year, Aaron has in my opinion been a massive asset to the Students' Union and his work has been a massive boon for our students. He has engaged proactively in the expansion of his workload both in volume and scope; taking on such diverse things as finance research, accommodation research, helping with student funding forms, engaging with customers at Open Days, and student funding talk creation plus delivery; all of which involved developing skills and building knowledge in some very tricky areas indeed. In doing this, he's enhanced the service we can offer to both current and prospective students deploying the analytical and presentation skills of a dedicated research student. In my view he is an exceptional asset for the team, the Union, and most importantly of all for our students. This echoes what I have seen of Aaron's own mindset - his ethos can be exemplified by questions he has often asked such as, "what extra can I do for the team?" "what extra can I do for our students?", "how can I help develop this?", "is there anything I can do for you?" and so on. However, this isn't just a nomination about functions. It's also about the person and his care for members of the team. Arron's kept a watchful eye out for when colleagues appear stressed and has been ever-ready with supportive words or a joke or help with workload; all of which have helped keep me, at least, on an even keel. He's gone "above and beyond" for the welfare of colleagues right through the gamut of support: making a brew, sorting out lunch, words of encouragement when someone has questioned how well they're doing, taking on new roles to ease others' workload, being a kind "listening ear", and much more. Whether he'll thank me or not for putting it quite this way, a man of sensitive empathy both with and for the needs of others. And not just work needs - wellbeing needs too. It says a lot to me about this man's dedication that, while many flexible-hours staff might be relieved to be furloughed in the current coronavirus crisis because it preserves their income, what I sensed most from Aaron was frustration that his ability to help enhance our students' experience and to help his colleagues was curtailed by furlough. If he's "in it for the money" on any level other than that we all need to put food on the table, you can chalk me down as a very poor judge of character indeed. Although the Union has many amazing Student Staff Aaron is outstanding in his role; which he's helped develop above and beyond his original role. Add to this Aaron's position as a student, on an intensive research degree in which he has grown academically and presented at University events, and we have a man who exemplifies "Proud to be Staffs". "