After a pretty incredible twelve months, the sun finally set on 2008. Not that there was much sun to be anywhere as winter set in!

Here were my comings and goings in December…

Wes

w/c 1 December 2008

1st – NUS North President’s Residential, Lancaster
2nd – Bilateral meeting between NUS and the Union of Students in Ireland, followed by a meeting of NUS Holdings and the annual dinner.
3rd – NUS London President’s Residential, followed by a roundtable dinner hosted by NCVO.
4th – NUS South President’s Residential, followed by NUSSL Board informal.
5th – Meeting with Roger Brown, former vice-chancellor of Southampton Solent, followed by NUSSL Board and an afternoon in the office.

w/c 8 December 2008

8th – Attended and spoke at conference of the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (New JNCHES). More on that in the new year! Met candidates for the new post of Director of Marketing & Communications. Then went over to TVU with Ama and Bubble for a bit of festive karoke!!! (Extended my repertoire to Take That’s ‘Shine’)
9th – Meeting with London Challenge at the Department for Children, Schools and Families as I’ll shortly be joining their steering group. Met with Jessica Asato, Acting Director of Progress about HE funding. Met with Josie Cluer, Special Advisor to John Denham on the 09 review and students in the community. Then met with Dr Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, for which I’ve been denounced in various blogs for ‘backing political Islam’. I’m going to write a separate blog about this I think.
10th – Met with NUS Chief Executive and spoke at the Podium conference evening reception on the important role that students and students’ unions in both FE and HE want to play in the 2012 games.
11th – Meeting with Lord Young, the new minister for students. Then attended Delivery Partnership meeting on admissions before spending some time in the office and travelling down late to Swansea for…
12th – UCMC/NUSW HE funding consultation day held at Trinity Carmarthen.
13th – Attended Labour Students’ National Council, where I was selected to stand for re-election for NUS National President

w/c 15 December 2008

15th – Off
16th – Interviewed final candidates for new director position at NUS and made an appointment.
17th – All Staff Meeting, followed by NUS Christmas party.
18th – Considering previous night’s events, made it into the office at a respectable 9.30am despite having booked the date as annual leave. Decided to have a quick tidy of my office before leaving for Christmas.
19th – Annual Leave (again interrupted though to pop into the Aldwych Group meeting with Christmas cake before a reunion with some old faces in the evening)

Then…

The most relaxing, joyful, break I’ve taken from NUS ever. Didn’t go back to my inbox, in tray etc. until 2nd January and feel much better for it!!!

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