Wow what a hectic 3 days it’s going to be. It all started today when I visited Cardiff Union. I had a fab day there meeting Joss the SWD officer and then talking about Wednesday afternoons, NUS Extra and having a huge debate about NUS.

It seems that a lot of Unions seem to be having these conversations at the moment & I will say 1 thing (& this probably won’t surprise you) I do believe that there is a value for NUS & it saddens me that Unions do not see the value of NUS, no longer believe in being a collective voice & do not realise how powerful we can be as a national Union.

Now don't get me wrong- I don't think NUS is perfect- actually far from it & if anything being on the NEC has reinforced many of my original thoughts about NUS but it has not stopped me believing that we need a national Union, that we need a national voice. Now don’t get me wrong- questions need to be asked, about our role, what we do, the size of the NEC, how do you hold the NEC to account, how good are we at marketing what we do. I for one know I fall down on telling people all the time what I do, what committees I sit on with the DFES, Universities UK etc. & how I represent students nationally at these committees. In a way these are things people need to know we are doing but I hold my hands up & can only speak as me but I do not let people know all the time. But this doesn’t mean I’m not doing anything, my work or working hard for students. It just means I am a bit rubbish at letting people know. But there again I have to say I think Sus on the whole aren’t good at marketing/ letting students know what we do. For example if you are a president reading this and last week you went to a governors meeting how many of your students know you did and what you talked about and if they do fair play to you- please tell me how you do it. I suppose that why I blog so much (no it’s not because I don’t have a life!!!) because I am trying to let people know what I am doing & what my thoughts are.

That’s what I enjoyed about Cardiff today because we had chats around NUS, what we thoughts etc. As I have said before I do think NUS needs changing and more reform needs to happen. But the people to do that is you the members- we are all NUS and we can carry on having the discussions but you need to be telling us your thoughts and feedback. I have to admit that this has been one of the hardest things being on the NEC. You never know if you are really doing a good or bad job- I always go on the theory that no news is good news but hey do get in touch- let the NEC know what you think, ask those questions about the size of the NEC, SU visits, expenses etc. because I believe that this is the only way things are going to really change. If YOU ask the questions.

All in all considering all these thoughts have been inspired by a day at Cardiff I think it has been a productive day. I met the SWD officer, give her ideas about campaigns etc. discussed Wednesday afternoons and how to campaign around them and also discussed NUS extra.

It’s been a good day and now I’m off to see my folks who I haven’t seen in ages for a nice home cooked meal before getting a 6am train- ouchie ouch!!!

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