Amy Moir

This year, the difficulties raised with installing period products in our bathrooms in the SUSU Building have mainly been sustainability and expense. I would continue discussions to secure an ongoing budget, as period products should be considered an essential hygiene product on the same level as toilet paper, rather than ‘nice but dispensable’. Once secured, my next step is to set up donations to encourage a circular economy, and then present SUSU to the University as an example of good practice, beginning discussions with Residences and expanding from there. 

Please see the SUSU website for Aim Five of the Southampton Says Enough campaign. This aim has not yet been satisfactorily achieved. The best way of going about this, similar to Point One above, is to clearly establish the SUSU policy before presenting it to the University to ask for the same. Both organisations must offer a comprehensive step by step guide on how to escalate complaints with a list of all possible pathways and outcomes.

About one in eight new students are currently unprotected from meningitis. The University has already invested money and disposable resources into printing cards to raise awareness, without providing a hugely affective solution. I would work with UHS to create a pop-up clinic in September and October to protect our incoming Freshers.

Student feedback clearly states that mental health should be one of SUSU’s top priorities. I would assist in designing and introducing a mental health survey to specify which points in the year are most pressing for mental health, to enable both SUSU and the University to pre-empt times of most need and adjust services accordingly. I would work alongside VP Activities to expand the Society Collaborating platform I have been working on this year to include a service for students to locate others who might not be represented by a society – for example international students who may wish to find others from the same country but who are unable to do so if there is not a corresponding society. This is an issue that has been raised this year but which I believe requires addressing further.  

To advocate for communities in all senses, I would work with the University EDI team to create more permanent symbols of LGBTQ+ inclusion and allyship, for example adding in Pride flag crosswalks to the flags we have on campus. This is in response to comments I have heard this year about Pride flags being considered offensive. As a member of the community in question I feel a real responsibility to act as the spokesperson as much as possible while working for SUSU. 

More generally, I would work with VP Activities and Sports to monitor the accessibility of our societies and clubs and ensure our guidelines are up to date and representative, which is a project that is underway currently but will need ongoing attention.