As the first term comes to a close, it’s a great opportunity to share some of the work I’ve been doing across my manifesto and the wider VP (Welfare) remit.
As the first term comes to a close, it’s a great opportunity to share some of the work I’ve been doing across my manifesto and the wider VP (Welfare) remit.
Student Safety is an important part of the VP (Welfare) position and has been a key manifesto point for me, both this and last year. This term, with the city’s importance on fighting Violence Against Women and Girls, or VAWG as it’s commonly referred to, the Advice Manager and I worked with the Derbyshire Constabulary on a Domestic Abuse event to raise awareness of the signs someone is a victim.
New Year celebrations are a great way to start fresh, set new goals and achieve new things. Unfortunately, this can also be a time where, amongst all the partying and celebrations, it can also be a time where tensions are high. The Walk Away Campaign is here to encourage people to walk away from situations where these tensions are high and to not escalate them to altercations.
Specifically for student nights, myself, VP (Activities), President, and the Venues & Events Manager at the Union met to develop a Union of Students Executive Officer Nighttime Economy Action Plan, allowing Executive Officers to promote student safety information more in the nighttime economy.
The VP (Welfare) remit has often been the position to work with local politicians, especially on matters relating to safety. And with the General Elections resulting in the Derby MP positions switching to Labour from Conservative, I’ve been working to build new relationships, ensuring student voice can be inputted into the right conversations. One of such conversations has been lobbying for changes to the Guarantors scheme for rented properties, as, currently, those who aren’t able to have a guarantor often must put forward months of rent, putting them into debt. And students are still affected by “no-fault” or Section 21 Evictions, meaning they can be evicted without any reason. As part of this developing relationship, the Derby North Member of Parliament wanted to hear directly from students about their experiences as students and in Derby. For this, I set up a round-table discussion, where students were invited to bring forward these experiences and influence the Derby North MP.
University is a time where people come together, socialise and make new friends. And often, this is a time for people to reflect and explore who they are as a person, whether that be through new hobbies and interests, or through sexuality and gender orientation. For gender specifically, I developed and presented a paper to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Council at the University to promote the ability for students to promote their pronouns to academic staff at the University, should they wish to.
On top of this, with a community of students from across the country and even from around the world, it can be difficult for some lecturers to pronounce names correctly just from looking at them, the new Blackboard Ultra system allows students to detail how to pronounce their names, making students, international in-particular, feel more part of the community.