Is it possible to apologise too much?!! I am sorry for failing to blog for 2 months, please forgive me.

It’s been a very busy couple of months though. Here are my main bits:

NUS Priority Campaign Launch

I attended the campaign launch on 1 September. It was a very slick, well managed event and I was proud of our organisation that day. Not only did we show that we were capable of putting on a posh do! We showed that we are serious about student politics, education, liberation and developing young people. Our priority campaigns were launched with pride and enthusiasm by Sian Davies, Joe Rukin, Gemma Tumelty, Julian Nicholds and Kat Fletcher, and the liberation campaigns set out by Sian, Jo Salmon, Pav Akhtar, James-J Walsh and Kat Louis. You all know the details so I won’t repeat them again.

Of course I’m pleased that we have another Education priority campaign that will make free education our number 1 priority for the coming year, but I am most pleased with our decision to run a student activities campaign alongside this. NUS has never run a priority campaign on activities before. Student activities are extremely important because they offer students excellent opportunities for personal development as well as academic development whilst at university, school or college.

THE DEMO

Well, what could you not have heard about this!! At an NEC meeting in August we were discussing the priority campaigns. When the Education campaign was raised we were ambushed by certain members of the NEC who wanted to hold a demonstration next year.

This decision was forced upon us with no prior warning. So we were forced to make a decision when we had little information and NUS staff had not been given the opportunity to do a cost analysis and so could not give us an indication as to what we would be committing ourselves to.

I strongly believe that NUS is at its strongest when it is united and a visible demonstration would be an excellent way of displaying that unity for all to see. In 2006 top-up fees will be introduced and the Government will start considering their impact and whether to raise the cap in 2009. If we are to defeat fees we have to continue to fight at every opportunity and show how united we are. That is why I voted in favour of a demonstration at that first meeting.

At the time I believed that we would have been better off using the next year to put in the groundwork for a major mass demonstration in September 2006. Kat suggested this at the meeting and I said that I agreed with her, but other NEC members were determined to force a vote on the principle of having a demonstration and would not accept any other alternatives. I could not vote against the principle of holding a demonstration, even if it was badly planned and poorly timed.

Thankfully, at an emergency NEC meeting called a couple of weeks after the campaign launch we had another discussion and the NEC were able to have a much more constructive discussion, with full and accurate facts and figures to work with. We agreed that the best way forward would be to use the next year to put in the groundwork for a major mass demonstration in September 2006.

NUS Services Ltd.

One of my responsibilities on the NEC is to sit on the Board of Directors of NUS Services Ltd. Kat Fletcher and Joe Rukin sit on there too, Joe as Chair.

So far I have attended two meetings. One of the major issues discussed was the NUS Extra trial in the North West. I was passionately in favour of this project when it was brought to national conference in April and I still believe it is a great step forward for NUS.

Without wanting to rehearse the same arguments again I do think Extra is an excellent opportunity to raise revenue for NUS and more importantly to help students in their day to day lives. The discounts and offers provided on the NUS Extra card will help students throughout the country. It may not be a huge blank cheque to clear all debts and financial worries, but at least it’s a small step in the right direction.

Thus far the trial has been a great success, take up in the trial region has been excellent, feedback from those buying the card has been overwhelmingly positive and all technical processes have been hitch free. Of course there has been some grumbling from the usual suspects and some legitimate criticism of expectation management etc.

Many have said that they are disappointed with the discounts offered on the card. I appreciate what people say, but the number of discounts offered this year has been hampered by the short time-scale between NUS conference and the trial (only 5 months) and I can assure you that every effort is being made to make sure that the card has a full range of discounts and benefits when it is rolled out nationally next year.

Other bits and bobs

• On behalf of NUS I have attended a sexual health training day at the Terrance Higgins Trust.
• I attended the demonstration at Plymouth University’s Exmouth College. It was so satisfying to see so many students turn out on to the streets to protest against the University’s insensitive, cowardly and arrogant decision to close down the campus, but what was most encouraging was the number of local people who lined streets to show their support. This just goes to show how big an impact a University or College can have on a town or city and how a strong, united campaign can win over the hearts and minds of the public.
• I’m going to be doing some work on governance. The Government’s Charities Bill is making its way steadily through parliament and when it becomes law it will have a major effect on the way Student Unions have to be run. So I’m planning to do some groundwork to prepare Unions for this change and to lobby the Charities Commission to make sure they engage constructively with Unions when they come under their jurisdiction.
• I attended the opening of Amnesty International’s new London offices which are very nice and fitting for such an important organisation.

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