I’ve had an amazing time in my position as President (Student Activities) and I feel humbled to say that I’ve been re-elected to represent you for another year! Here is just a small slice of some of the things that I’ve been involved with this year.

Sustainability Awards

There has been a strategic commitment from the Students’ Union this year to attain the NUS Green Impact accreditation, and to work in partnership with the University on the NUS Responsible Futures Initiative alongside Dr. Peter Rands and the Sustainability team.  We were successful in securing a funded place on the Responsible Futures Initiative and have developed a working partnership with the University to achieve the accreditation.  We successfully completed our Green Impact assessment and audit and are currently awaiting the outcome.

National Demo

Took over 50 students to London to safely march against the Government’s planned tuition fee rises.

Started training and exec committee

Began society committee training this year which gave our leaders the key skills required to successfully manage their student group and help to maximise engagement. Also started the exec committee this year who were a group of selected students who applied for the position. They helped me make decisions, organise events and advise me throughout the year.

Successful Funding Bids

We have had multiple successful funding bids this year including Responsible Futures, as well as an award from NUS and WWF for our Earth Hour Event and two funded projects approved for NUS Student EATS initiative - which is funding 67 national projects.  As part of this we are supporting a community cafe project in Folkestone run by one of our Broadstairs business students who is creating a student enterprise which works to divert food waste using surplus food to create community meals. 

Student Societies

Our societies membership continues to increase with over 1,100 student members this year.  We have seen more student-led events which have increased our engagement with typically ‘hard to reach’ students.

Our International Food and Culture Fayre was a great success with over 100 students coming together to celebrate their cultures and diversity.

Our Earth Hour event saw 60 students join us for a candlelit meal outside Parham Halls of Residence, which included many placement students and international students, and highlighted the effect of climate change on our planet.

Student Activities Awards

This ever popular event had over 120 society members coming together to celebrate and showcase their success.  With performances from many societies the evening was a credit to the diverse student societies supported by the Union.

Student Minds National Award

Our Student Minds Society have won best new group at the National Student Minds Awards 2017.

Student Media

Our student media has been relaunched this year with a new committee and great student engagement.  Our online publication, UniFied, has had fantastic readership numbers for high-profile student events such as Canterbury Varsity, the Leadership Elections and the Summer Ball.  We have also been supporting students in the development of CSTV - an online TV channel. Training session shown below:

Expect Respect

Worked in collaboration with the uni to educate students on the Expect Respect campaign. Visited all 3 campuses to spread awareness of the fantastic work the project is doing!

Union on Tour

Visited all 3 campuses monthly with the sabb team giving out information from the Union and goodies!

Mental Health

Worked with the rest of the sabbs to promote mental health awareness and highlight the support that is available through a series of events, for example Blue Monday, shown below:

CSTV

Supported the election of a brand new committee and am working with them to realise their goals with the refreshed society.

Unified

Reestablishing themselves as CCSU’s student media platform massively in just a year, going from nothing to 60,000 views and winning 2nd place ‘Society of the Year’.

Quieter student events

Hosted a fantastically well attended event aimed at those students who may not have found their club or society just yet. We brought down lots of different societies to setup a table and showcase what they were about.

Earth Hour

Over 60 students turned up to with a range of delicious dishes representing over 10 different cultures!

International food & culture fayre

An incredible celebration of different students’ cultures. Ranging from traditional Algerian dance to delicious homemade French Quiche Lorraine tasting! Watch the video.

Debates and speeches

Hosted a debate on Free Speech in collaboration with Jim Butcher from the university. Fantastic turnout with some very interesting discussions!

That's it for my round-up but I'm looking forward to lots more next year! p.s You may have noticed I'm not in many of these photos but that's because I'm usually behind the camera!