I felt I wanted to write a little blog about the London bombings, not because of my role in NUS, but just because what happened on 7 July was so shocking and awful.

I was in London on Wednesday 6 July, when the whole city was rejoicing over winning the Olympic Games in 2012, and the atmosphere was one of hope and excitement for the future. That night, I got the sleeper train back to Edinburgh after the Emergency NEC meeting.

The first I knew that anything had happened on Thursday morning was when Judith Niven, from the block of 12, texted me to say how lucky I was that I had gone home the night before. She had just heard what was thought to be an electrical explosion on the Tube from the Tavistock Hotel, where she was staying and I had stayed the previous night. I then heard about the bus that blew up very close to the hotel, and tried to call to see if she was okay, but couldn’t get through. Loads of NEC people were trying to call Jude, as we knew how close she was to it, as well as calling staff, other officers and, of course, our friends and family. It was so scary when none of us could get hold of Jude for over an hour, and not knowing if she was okay. Of course, the mobile phone networks were jammed, and eventually it turned out that she was fine and still in the hotel, and that everyone else from NUS was also unhurt. I can’t imagine how awful it must be for those who did lose someone.

I felt such relief that no-one I know was hurt in the attacks - but that doesn’t change the fact that lots of people’s loved ones were, and my sympathy and thoughts go out to all of them. I hope that whoever did this is caught and brought to justice. Most of all, I hope that we can carry on going about our lives as normally as possible, so that the people who did this do not win.

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