Day 4. It’s one thing spending so much time together, but it’s something else entirely to wake up looking at each other. Not that we really seeing much through the sleep in our eyes, but off we set up the motorway for a day in Newcastle.

After being fleeced again by those notorious people at the motorway service station, we arrived in town by just gone 9 and set off in search of a tux hire place, to get Wes kitted out for a rather posh black tie debate at the Durham Union debating society later that evening.

All seemed to be going well until we set off in search of Newcastle University and found ourselves driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic after a wrong turn from the multi storey car park! Not the best position to be in, nor the best advertisement for the campaign van!

Having escaped with our lives (and van) intact, we drove on in hysterics to the Newcastle Union Society after significant detours due to Gemma’s driving and/or Wes’ directions. There still doesn’t seem to be consensus about who is to blame. We’ve settled on the AA routemap!

We helped the Newcastle sabbs set up a stall outside, delivered some campaign materials and spoke to some students and the student newspaper about the campaign. We weren’t able to stay as long as we’d have liked, but were glad to have the opportunity to visit.

After that, with rain clouds gathering we drove onto Northumbria University where re-elected student union president Spike Reid was waiting for us. We parked our van on the concourse right outside the union where we were pleased to see a strong turnout from the Exec (part-time and full-time) and a lot of interest from students in our van which was pumping out some funky house beats. We’re so down with the kids! ;-)

Northumbria were selling demo tickets for a tenner with free t-shirt thrown in, so keep an eye out for them on the demo!

After being treated to lunch by Spike (thanks so much!) we attempted to visit Newcastle College. We say attempted, because it took us over an hour to make a 10 minute journey. Again, the blame for this is disputed, but we united in our determination to get there, especially when we saw that the petrol was flashing and we hadn’t noticed! We ended up crossing the same bridge over the Tyne, time and time again. Hysterical laughter again set in. We are beginning to worry about the effect this long roadshow is having on us and it’s only day 4.

We arrived at the swanky union at Newcastle College rather late in the day, but we did get the chance to sit down with members of the exec, talk about our campaign, offload some materials and hear about the challenges that this growing union is facing.

After waving goodbye the College and passing that bloody bridge again, Gemma dropped Wes off in Durham for a debate entitled ‘this house supports top-up fees’. Wes spoke against the motion alongside a Liberal Democrat peer and won the debate convincingly. There was a great turnout from Durham University Labour Club for some much needed moral support – thanks guys!

Meanwhile, alone and Wes-less, Gemma made her way back down to London for the weekend. She was kept awake and well through the sensible use of her hands free mobile phone kit and some willing friends to talk to her. Nonetheless, drama ensured (again) when the Admission: Impossible banner on the side of the van came loose and flapped uncontrollably and menacingly across the middle lane. Thankfully, a brief stop in the hard shoulder allowed Gemma to pack in away without accident or injury.

Tired and aching, Wes and Gemma slept like babies that evening in disparate parts of the country this time. We did so in the knowledge that this has been time well spent, mobilising students for the demo, but thank goodness for the weekend!

Gemma and Wes

The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students.

All links in blogs will open in a new browser window.

The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/admissionimpossible/273160.aspx