January 2025 Updates

Leadership Elections social media 

I met with SUSU’s marketing team to talk about social media. During my campaign, I spent a lot of wasted time stressing because either my photos were over or under contrasted, or my videos exposed one of my biggest insecurities. It meant I almost dropped out of the Elections, and as someone who hates being perceived on a good day, this felt like a personal hell as it was broadcasted to 15k followers on Instagram and just under 25k students via email.  

I didn’t want that to happen to anyone else. Campaigning is supposed to be fun. Standing for Elections can be a stressful experience, but it’s also a very fun, once in a lifetime experience (or twice if you do two years!). So, when we met with the Marketing team, I made it clear that we must not follow a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s going to be tricky as everything is so tight within deadlines but if we want students to run, we must make it as accessible as possible. The team agreed that all photos and videos will be checked with the candidate to ensure that everyone is happy and confident. We will also be having welfare rooms at Elections Night Live to support runner ups, and we have removed the confetti cannon to ensure it’s inclusive to those with noise sensitivities. 

SUSU Communities update 

I also met with the Marketing team to discuss the SUSU Communities Instagram channel. We managed to surpass the goal of 200 by Christmas which was very exciting. However, because my account mainly covers welfare, safety, and liberation campaigns, I was seeing a reach of about 30k which couldn’t all be students. Seeing as I haven’t really made that engagement into followers (I’d only really want students following the account anyway), I’m working on making the account more personable to me (rather than the faceless SUSU Communities), so please do support the page as putting myself out there isn’t one of my biggest comforts.  

Post-Uni Transitions 

I met with the University to discuss how we can best support final year students both throughout their last few months and post-graduation. I met with various teams, including Careers, Graduation, Student Communications and the Director of Student Support Services. From this meeting, we discussed email communications, how the University supports students up to 5 years post-graduation, and how we can improve based on student feedback. If anyone has anything they’d like me to raise or share, please do let me know.  

EDI/Residences/Sport monthly 

Every month I meet with the Halls of Residences team, the Phil from Southampton Sports, and the Halls Officer. We discuss EDI-related issues, from ensuring students with disabilities are having a good experience in halls, additional training for frontline staff, improvements that can be made to improve the overall experience, and how we can make sport more accessible for students, specifically low-income, LGBTQIA+, and neurodivergent and disabled. 

• The free rounders sessions have now been set up. The team are looking into setting up padel sessions, as well as a community and disability working group.  

• The cooking classes will return in February and the filmed versions have been uploaded to the Halls Life website.  

• The Halls of Residences team are currently looking into setting up sensory rooms in Halls to support neurodivergent students and those who may benefit from low or high sensory environments. These will complement the existing sensory room on Highfield campus.  

• The Halls Officer is looking at setting up a community pantry at Wessex Lane Halls (as a trial) to support students who need additional support accessing food. 

• I have begun posting a monthly newsletter onto the Halls Life blog with everything happening at SUSU so we can reach further students. 

You Are More Than 

I had so much fun seeing everyone and wishing them good luck in their exams and assessment deadlines at Hartley a couple of weeks ago. We handed out free just-baked vegan cookies, stress balls, free apple and orange juice, and yummy cereal bars. A big thank you to all the societies who got involved. Our next one will be in May/June, and we already have some things planned, including recognising the impact of periods during exam season and how that can affect wellbeing and stress. 

EDI Training 

I met with the team once again to discuss the upcoming plans for EDI training at SUSU. We have been surveying SUSU staff to get a better understanding of what they already know and what our staff, specifically our neurodiverse staff, feel could be improved at SUSU. We also have insights via our surveys to understand where SUSU might struggle more, whether it be during liberation campaigns or engaging with specific groups of students. Our first external training session for staff will be in April and will cover neurodivergence, specifically autism.  

LGBTQ+ History Month 

February marks LGBTQ+ History Month and there are a bunch of activities to get involved in. My planned-since-July clothes swap will be taking place on the 4th of February. Unfortunately, we’re unable to run the clothes tailoring sessions, but we’re hoping to have them for next year. I’d recommend visiting Southampton’s Sewing Hub who regularly run tailoring and sewing for beginners’ sessions. You can see all our events for LGBTQ+ History Month on the website here and I will be, of course, complementing that with my usual social media campaign on SUSU Communities. 

Menstrual Hygiene Day 

As part of our Period Positive Union campaign, we are looking at celebrating Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD) as part of our You Are More Than campaign. We recognise that sitting exams or meeting deadlines while on your period can be very difficult and overwhelming. I am working with the relevant SUSU teams to host an MHD bracelet-making event, a stall for learning more about sustainable options, and hopefully a giveaway or two!  

International Officer update 

In our monthly catch-up, Lordana (International Officer), An-Sofie (Societies and Campaigns Manager) and I discussed: 

• Culture Festival. 

• More English learning opportunities for students and how we could create those spaces. 

• Promoting the existing English learning opportunities at Highfield and WSA, as well as locally. 

• Working with the University’s VISA team to ensure that clear communications are sent out to international students. 

I also met with university staff in the Student Hub, and we discussed how we can better support international and British overseas students. I recommended more friendship-making events (as requested by you). I also shared (from our insights) that we need to improve a sense of belonging and community, barriers to participation (e.g., accessing societies and clubs, and local events), and understanding where these students may struggle. 

Halls to Homes project 

I have begun working with the Halls of Residences team and the Advice Centre to create a housing guide to support students transitioning from halls of residences to private rented. I am currently researching what this could look like, so if you have any ideas, please do let me know. 

SUSU Engagement 

I met with the University’s engagement team to see how we could be more involved with workshops. I’m keen to get more informative and educational workshops, such as gender diversity and understanding neurodivergence. While I am unsure if I will be able to get this done during my term, building the initial relationship to have SUSU involved in their engagement campaigns and workshops can be great for getting students more involved. 

EDI Audit 

As part of our ongoing commitment to EDI, the Insights team are now looking at how we improve our reach and engagement with our student groups. This will include a new section in the Student Experience Survey covering EDI data so we can learn more about how we can better support our students especially those on committees, in officer positions, and those who are otherwise engaged with SUSU. 

Inclusion Action Group – toilets 

A short update but one that brought me joy. We had a big discussion about toilets in the University’s Inclusion Action Group meeting. We all share strong feelings about ensuring that our toilets are inclusive, and of course, I ranted about how single, gender-neutral cubicles are the elite toilet. We were so close to having a toilet committee, and I will not give up this fight. 

Student Hub catch-up 

Trigger warning – mentions of domestic violence 

I met with the Head of the Student Hub to discuss supporting external students, getting gender diversity training for frontline staff, and how the Student Hub can better support PGR students. I also spoke to them about the Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and how we can better spot and support students who may be dealing with unhealthy relationships. The team are also looking at refreshing their wellbeing spaces to ensure that they are inclusive and not overwhelming (e.g., ensuring they are not visually cluttered). There are also planned wellbeing activities at WSA which I am hoping to be involved in, and the Student Hub will be involved in my project around post-university transitions.  

Alcohol Awareness stall 

Conor and I held a stall in the Concourse on alcohol awareness. We gave out free soft drinks, energy drinks, drink aware cups, and of course, bananas.  

Disabled Students’ Network 

The Disabled Students’ Network is back! We will be relaunching the Network from February. If you’d like to get involved, please let me know and I can send you the details. 

POC LGBTQ+ Focus Groups 

Our BAME Officer, Achsah, and our LGBTQ+ Officer, Sophia, are working on focus groups for POC LGBTQ+ students to share their experiences within their sense of community at the University. The focus groups will be held in late February and if you identify as POC and LGBTQ+, please do get involved – if you DM or email me, I can send you the link. 

Gender Expression Fund – extended! 

I am pleased to share that the Gender Expression Fund trial has been extended, and we have secured more funding! An additional £250.00 has been added to the pot making £1,000 for the total year. In the first round, we supported 19 students with grants to purchase items that support students’ gender expression, and I hope that the fund will be able to support further students.  

Break the Ice 

Break the Ice saw 65 students making new friends and memories! It was so exciting to see you all, and I can’t wait for the next one. We will be making a slight change to accommodate students who may be shy by opening our doors 15 minutes earlier. We weren’t expecting such an incredible turnout which while great, unfortunately meant it was also seen as intimidating for students attending alone. We have allocated more staffing to ensure that we’re supporting students break the ice and we’ll be able to help further on a one-to-one basis. So, if you’re worried, please do drop in a few minutes earlier so we can help you get settled in. If you’re not worried, we’ll see you at the usual time of 5pm on the 28th of February!  

That’s all for my January updates. Stay warm and I’ll see you at the end of February!