Title:VP Welfare & CommunityLeadership Report / Author:Sam Spencer
Agenda item: [leave blank] / Paper: [leave blank]
Summary
- This paper provides an update on the activity of the VP Welfare and Community against their manifesto.
Recommendation
- Student Council is asked to note the paper.
- Members of Student Council and students are encouraged to ask questions.
Detail
Independent University Caseworker
Continually meeting with the student hub to ensure their services are being signposted as efficiently as possible. At the time of elections this manifesto point meant creating a new role within the Student Hub, after careful thinking I realized this is not what I had intended and instead wanted the teams to be able to efficiently signpost to other means of support. For example, for the counselling service it’s currently an initial assessment followed by a waiting list for support, what I’d like is for there to be a resource during this time saying ‘If you need X visit Y’ and providing alternative pastoral services.
Advice Centre at WMA once a week
Part of our commitment to WMA means we will be visiting once a week (or as near to this as possible) as well as keeping in constant communication with them. I’m currently in discussion with our Advice Centre over best times for him and how it would work logistically. This is something I aim to pilot for the new January intake.
Safe Housing Scheme
Attended a conference in Leeds hosted by Unipol to help with Housing campaigns, planning an ongoing campaign around safe renting in conjunction with SU Pres.
Planning to start the scheme next calendar year to provide a basis for whoever takes over my position.
Naomi and I filmed a video for International students around housing to help them understand how student housing works before arriving. This was published via a new platform called ‘Open Solent’, a casual course for international students to understand UK living before arriving.
International Support Workshops
Currently planning workshops with Charlotte, working with the international office and working with the Open Solent platform. Plan on doing a weeklong series of workshops around the handin periods covering various aspects of academic conduct as well as producing a short booklet aimed at providing hints and tips for academic misconduct and advice. Meet with Daniel Inns from the student hub who is very much on board and will be meeting Donald Coe from Academic Services soon
Other Activity
Mental Health Awareness:
- Have been sitting on the steering group for mental health awareness across the city, working with various community organisations to help improve mental health provision across the city.
NoLimits
- Hosting a series of workshops for drug users, working primarily as a referral service from halls of accommodation as a preventative step for drug users rather than a disciplinary.
Welfairies
- Peer to peer welfare ‘champions’, similar in concept to course reps, having representatives from the student body to help field welfare questions, feed them back to me where I can work on them. Will be working with the Student Hub on pastoral care for this. It will also help identify potential Welfare candidates for Sabb elections as well as provide useful volunteering opportunities for students.
Student living guide
- I worked with Emily Cambrook from External Relations to create the new Student Living guide, a guide given out each year to students all about being a good citizen in Southampton as well as detailing living in the city. This was published over Freshers and has more of an emphasis on Union activity.
Homelessness event
- A student contacted me asking if we could do an event for homelessness awareness, which we’ve now ran with and adapted into being a week-long event, hosted in November. It will consist of various themes and activities such as a Tampon drive (collecting hygiene necessities for Homeless women), a Big Night In in aid of charity and various sessions.
Big Night In
- I hosted a Big Night In at our union as an alternative to our AAA events. It was incredibly well attended with activity on each floor. We had a quiz c/o TARDIS society, a Tournament c/o D20 and Competitive video game Societies, board games and card games, video games and all sorts!
Take a Mate
- Planning to update and revamp our Take a Mate campaign and roll it out around the city.
SAFE Week
- Sexual Awareness For Everyone, planning a week of events around sexual health the week before Valentine’s day. Things like STI testing, talks and taboo busting sessions.