It's been a whirlwind over the last few weeks for the Sabbs as they continue to plan campaigns, speak to you on campus and come up with ideas on how we can make student life better at Royal Holloway.
It's been a whirlwind over the last few weeks for the Sabbs as they continue to plan campaigns, speak to you on campus and come up with ideas on how we can make student life better at Royal Holloway.
Hannah - President
I’m currently working on a range of Cost of Living initiatives and recently met with the Students’ Union working group. I’m hoping to work with different members of the Students’ Union to provide a one-off free lunch for later in Term Two.
The SU Security Review working group recently met to discuss and finalise the next steps for the last recommendations to be completed. The 100% bag and person search trial is still running so please fill in the survey if you’re sent one - it's important we hear your feedback so we can make informed decisions about searches.
I’ve also been involved in one of the first SU strategy planning meetings based on Building Community. We talked through the stages of building community e.g. development, support, empowerment and celebration.
And the Sabbs and SU have been out and about for Speak Week! We asked you what one thing you would change to improve life at Royal Holloway. I’m excited to see the results and turn your ideas into actions.
On a personal note - I’ve been playing a lot of Lacrosse. A massive shoutout to Lacrosse Women's 1s for a glorious win against Portsmouth and making it to the semifinals!!
Sharanya - VP Education
Hello everyone! It’s been a busy term so far and here’s an update on what I’ve been working on! Our Voice team and I have been hosting partnership meetings with key University contacts to see how best we can support academic representation within each school.
I also held an Academic Skills Workshop in which we discussed all things from revision and organisation tips to what changes you’d like to see in your School. A big thanks to Het Unadkat for running a session on wellbeing support during exam season. There were sweet treats and an informative chat from Norlene from CeDAS who told us all how CeDAS can help with your academic journey. Find out more about CeDAS.
I also chaired the Education Executive in which we discussed numerous topics but specifically focused on careers and employability. As you may already be aware, this was a big part of my manifesto and using the conversations from Education Executive and some support from the Careers Service I’ll be holding a ‘Grad Week' Campaign in March. This will be to support students who are stressed or worried about future job prospects. The aim is to push a week of career-developing events as well as hold talks and panels with alumni so students can feel a bit more reassured about stepping out into the working world.
Aside from that, I’ve been working on LGBT+ History Month - our LGBT+ Speed Dating event was a huge success! We received an overwhelming amount of support for the Transition Fund - an initiative created by our LGBT+ Society and the LGBT+ Student Community Officer Sam Bolton. The transition fund will be donated to transgender students at Royal Holloway who are struggling with private healthcare costs. We’ve got a range of events prepared for this month, the focus being on the experience of queer people within healthcare. Head over to our campaign page to find out more!
Alastair and I will also be heading to parliament to discuss the student housing crisis in an All-Party Parliamentary Group, please fill out this form so we can voice your experiences in a place where we can make change!
Nisha - VP Wellbeing & Diversity
Me and Olivia (Women Students Community Officer) have started to plan Women’s History Month which will be running for the duration of March. The national theme this year is women who advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). We have decided to theme each week of the month. We will also be running a campaign called Women’s Wellbeing Week from 11–15 March. The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness of the inequalities in healthcare provision for women.
Last week, some of the Student Community Officers (Alana - Disabled Students Community Officer, Olivia – Women’s Student Community Officer and Het - Postgraduate Taught Students Community Officer) and I attended the Diversity Fair hosted by the Careers Service. This fair aimed to bring together employers, charities, support networks, student societies and student communities to share their opportunities, network, and allow students to find out more about what they do. The event was a success and brought a range of diverse organisations and students together.
During Disability History Month, I collaborated with Royal Holloway Sport to launch a feedback survey which was aimed at disabled students. The purpose of the survey was to find out what disabled students want to see from Sport. Following the survey, they have organised a focus group around disability in sports and activities at RHUL which I attended alongside Alana (Disabled Students Community Officer) and other students who are interested in making sport on campus more accessible. The focus group was very productive, and the feedback given in the session will feed into Sport's wider accessibility plan.