Fresher’s…The bit that as an officer your seems to build up to. It’s an opportunity to meet the new students, encourage them to sign up to committees, societies and clubs. It’s often the first time that you really get to sell the Union to your members.

I visited Bourneville College in Birmingham; York College, Wolverhampton and Stourbridge Colleges. I met the officers and found out a bit more about the needs of FE Unions and what NUS can do to support them.

I also helped out with Freshers at University of West England, Sheffield Hallam and Plymouth University. At Plymouth Exmouth Site I was given to honourable task of judging their Freshers Dancing Competition, much fun was had and all the candidates were excellent. Then the next day I went on to Exeter Campus to meet Matt and the team where I chaired their Fresher’s UGM. This was great because there was a really good attendance.

Also during September, I went to the Endsleigh Insurance Annual Dinner in Brighton. I met lots of Trades Unions staff and Executives including AUT and NATFE. I also met up with some past Presidents and officers of NUS.

Then attended the grand opening of Loughborough Uni Students’ Unions new Auditorium where I had an evening with the executive on their big night.

I also went along to the society officials training event at Bath Spa, loads of activities including outdoor activities took place followed by cheese and wine reception. Then later on Paul and the team took us for a great night out in Bath.

October – Back to School for Julio

Yes, it’s the time in your life that many ex sabbatical officers face… the day you have to go back to being a student again and October 4th was a rude awakening for me. I’m now in my final year at Coventry University and well on my way to being a Psychology graduate.

Then October 5th, back to being an NEC member for the NEC Meeting.

Sat 16th was the big equality demo in Bournemouth where myself and other LGB Committee members went down to protest against a group of people who were making a stand against gay people in the town. There was a march followed by a rally in the park with entertainment comprising cheesy tunes and a feel good factor to attract lots of attention and build awareness among the local community. The group who were against us were very small and luckily didn’t get that much attention but it is really important that we stand united against homophobic ranting however insignificant they appear to be.

That was followed by a journey back to London for the LGB Committee meeting the next day.

Monday 27th October…what a day. It was the event that myself and Mitch Simmons (my fellow co-convenor) had been planning for. The Environmental Conference was held at Oxford Brookes University Students’ Union. It was one of the most well attended events that the campaign has had. We had speakers from NUS Services, People and Planet and a sneak preview of the new film ‘The Corporation’ thanks to Amnesty International. We also elected a fantastic new committee to take the campaign forward.

On Thursday 21st October, I went to join the student reps at Sheffield College. They were having a rep induction event. I told the reps all about NUS and how it can support them in their roles. They also found out all about our priority campaign about developing students’ unions.

STAR (Students Action for Refugees) Conference

This took place in Nottingham University, it was an extremely well attended event by students and officers from all over the UK. There were workshops and plenary panel debates around the issues of refugees and asylum. I was amazed at the courage those who had found themselves seeking refuge here in Britain. If you would like to find out more click on the STAR link.

November – Regional Conferences

I was on the EAST SIDE! The NUS regionals are an important part of NUS democracy. It is where officers get an opportunity to question the NEC members about the work that has been done so far. It also gives you the chance to elect your reps to National Council; congratulations to all those who were elected. We visited the South East at Kingston, East Anglia at Middlesex, East Midlands at Nottingham then onto Bradford for the North East. Thanks to those Unions who looked after us while we were in your region.

Monday 8th November

NUS Extraordinary Conference in Wolverhampton. What a brilliant day! A lot of work had gone into making this day a success. As you know NEC members have been committed to reforming NUS for the future. With an outstanding attendance from Unions we successfully ratified many changes that amongst other things will enable us to make NUS democracy more accessible so that more people can get involved.

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