Yes, that is DAYS. And no, I can't quite believe it either. 

It almost seems like yesterday that I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to spend the Summer hopping between the Students' Union and NUS training courses across the country, eagerly anticipating the arrival of many of our students in September and expecting to have pretty much finished my objectives by December. 

224 days on, a shadow of my former self, with a haggered appearance which doesn't resemble my original Officer photo and wearing clothes that now feel two sizes too big, I look back and think....

I'M SO GLAD I DID IT! AND I'M SO HAPPY I'VE GOT 140 DAYS TO GO!

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was majorly sad about the countdown to the end though... Imagine I'm Lord Voldemort, and each day we have left is one of my horcruxes. Yes, that's how it honestly feels. The opportunity to work here, with an amazing bunch of people, and to be working with a student community as diverse and interesting as Sheffield's is simply amazing. 

The sadness that is the upcoming Officer elections, and the impending realisation that I will be replaced, is totally overcome by the sense of optimism that I, and my fellow Officers feel. I've got a clear handle on what I'll be achieving by the end of my time as an Officer, and I'm enjoying powering through with all my ideas. I didn't realise how long it would take to truly settle, but now I know where I'm heading, and how to do it!

When I was a student, I wanted to be run in the Officer elections.

When I ran in the elections, I wanted to make change.

Now that I'm your Activities Officer, I'm making change. And I've never been prouder.

:)

p.s. http://cuteroulette.com/#/

A year ago I was frantically trying to plan my election campaign and hand in my nomination. In less than a month I’ll know who my successor is; a scary thought, particularly given that I’ve still got almost 5 months left in office!

To describe the election period in one word I’d probably choose either ‘tiring’ or ‘stressful’, but I’d do so with a glint in my eye and follow it up with ‘magical’. It’s an incredibly enjoyable time, and an experience you don’t forget quickly. The atmosphere, certainly last year, was great, and it was easy to forget at times that you’re competing against each other! 

Standing in the elections is most certainly a personal challenge, but equally, an opportunity to develop. Having done dozens of lecture shouts, spoken to numerous clubs and societies, and nocked on doors until knuckles bled, former candidates were left with a level of confidence which made it clear who had stood in the elections.

With campaigning due to start on the 20th February, I’m looking forward to the concourse being transformed with banners and placards and seeing how candidates approach their campaigns. Of course, more importantly than whether a candidate chooses a gimmicky or serious campaign, it’ll be interesting to see the manifestos and what the big issues of the election are.

Excitingly, we have a new way for you to engage with candidates this year in the form of ‘Vote Match’. Vote Match gives you the chance to agree or disagree with a number of statements and then see how your opinions match up against the candidates. Alongside reading manifestos, the hustings and importantly, talking to candidates, hopefully, the differences between candidates, their opinions and where they stand on issues will be clear.

thom

Hello there,

As you may know, as part of my campaign I collected various pieces of feedback from students and I promised to update you on what actions have been taken as a result of student feedback by me and others since starting my job.  Here is my latest update on what’s been going on in early 2012!

Bike equipment in the shop

I chaired the first ‘Students Union Ideas Forum’, held in November.  We discussed a range of ideas submitted by students, from ways to save energy to sandwich prices in the shop.  One student came along with the idea of introducing more facilities for bikes around central campus, as the nearest place to get a puncture repair kit is currently decathlon!  As a result of this idea, the Students’ Union Shop will very shortly start selling bike equipment, and we’ll also have a bike pump available to hire (for short periods!) from the main reception!  There’ll be a report on everything we discussed at all three Ideas Forums on the Students’ Union Website soon.  The next Ideas Forum will be on Thursday 16^th February at 6pm in the Gallery presentation area of the Students’ Union building and you can submit an idea by visiting: www.shef.ac.uk/union/you-run-us/change/forums.php

Lockers in the SU building

For many years now students have asked for some sort of locker provision around the Students’ Union building.  Last year, a student’s ideas was granted some funding after being submitted to the innovation fund (2012 applications now open at www.shef.ac.uk/union/ifund). ; After a long, long, long time spent finding a location within the building to place the lockers we’ve finally decided to locate them just outside the security office at the top of the staircase into Bar One.  We’re currently working through the logistics of how the lockers will work, but we’ve ordered some and they should be appearing in the near future!

Shop at Endcliffe Village

One of the comments I received frequently during my campaign was regarding having some sort of shop in the Endcliffe Village.  When I started my job I was pleased to hear that the University Accommodation and Commercial Services department already had plans to open a ‘Village Store’ at the Endcliffe site in time for September 2012.  I’ve been involved in some of the initial stages of planning for the shop, and ACS will be consulting with students at some point in regards to what range of products should be sold in the shop.

If you’ve got any questions on anything raised in this blog, or any ideas for things the Students’ Union can do, please get in touch by emailing me at harry.horton@shef.ac.uk!

Oh, and by the way, Officer Election nominations are now open!  See here for more info: http://www.shef.ac.uk/union/you-run-us/elections

Harry

You may have heard that the Students’ Union is currently running a campaign that is opposing fortnightly bin collections, or suggesting that the council provides more bins to student households if this change in unavoidable. I thought I would provide a bit of background on this campaign, in an effort to encourage more students to understand and get involved.

The council have to make cuts. This is not their fault, but the fault of the government. One of the ways that the council is looking at making savings is by reducing bin collections, so that rubbish is only collected once every 2 weeks.

Unfortunately, where the council slipped up was in their 46 page report, looking at the different ways to make savings on rubbish and the impacts, they failed to mention students once. Students make up over 10% of the population of Sheffield, and are likely to be affected more than most other residents, because we tend to live in large houses (usually between 5-10) that produce a lot of rubbish. This is why the campaign has been created, to make the council listen to students and consider the impact of the proposed changes, and either keep weekly collections or provide some facility so that large student households are not faced with overflowing bins. This may not seem like a big deal, but in Sheffield extra rubbish that does not fit into your wheelie bin is not collected. This means that if students have too much rubbish to fit into their bins and have to put it on the street, it could be seen as fly tipping and the student could face penalties.

However, the issues of refuse collection are complex, and what about recycling? In cities where fortnightly bin collections have occurred, recycling generally increases, which is great. However, in most other cities the recycling provisions are much better than in Sheffield. At the moment, the only plastic we can recycle is bottles. Cardboard has to be kept separate, in a box that is renowned for blowing away, never to be seen again. On top of that, students come from places with completely different processes, and do not understand what they can and can’t recycle. The council doesn’t do a great job of communicating it; so many students ‘contaminate’ their recycling (with things like yoghurt pots) and instead of sifting through broken glass to retrieve them, simply give up. All this means that Sheffield recycles 20-30% of its waste, instead of the average of 50-60%.

Because the recycling provisions in Sheffield are not adequate, it is unlikely that fortnightly collections would result in everyone recycling loads more. In my opinion, fortnightly collections wouldn’t be anywhere near as damaging if people were recycling a much greater proportion of their waste, and so didn’t need their rubbish collecting as often. With the current plans, students will be left to deal with an extra weeks waste and they won’t magically finding the facilities to recycle it. We should be providing the recycling facilities first, and reducing the waste collection second.

So if you think what I have been talking about makes sense, sign the petition below. I am happy to answer any questions, which you can send to matthew.denton@sheffield.ac.uk

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rubbish-proposal/

Mat Denton,

Welfare Officer

'Hi'

Simplest word ever? Yes.

A word with so much meaning and importance? Yes.

Sometimes people forget to just say 'Hi' and forget how much it can mean sometimes. A nice 'Hi' in the morning, a 'Hey Hey!' just after lunch and even a 'Howdy doo!' in the evening, just before an exciting Interfaith Cafe, can really lift my spirits!

But I don't want you to say Hi to me, we want to say Hi to you! As part of my second personal objective, entitled 'Getting more from our student groups', I want to look at the way you engage with the Students' Union (particularly societies and committees) and what you think we can do for you. From January, the Activities department has started to say 'Hi!' that little bit more.

• Fi and Megan, our wonderful Activities Information Assistants, have started to have a welcome meeting with every new society we approve. A cup of tea, a biscuit and chat about what the Students' Union can do for your new society, is just the 'Hi' that new societies have been waiting for! And a big 'Hey Hey!' goes out to the Chinese Chess Society who started us off today with our fist ever 'New Society Welcome Meeting'

• I've started the long but mega enjoyable task of ringing every society and committee to see how the first semester went and to highlight any problems they may have had. Starting off every phone call with a trademark 'Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!' (Cue societies hanging up straight away).

• From March, we'll have two Society Development Co-ordinators working in the Activities department, meaning double the 'Hellos!'

• We want to improve the support we give to you all, so we'll be reinventing Activities Forum for the second semester, to smaller session for categories of societies, rather than one big one for everybody. Giving us the chance to give you a personal 'Hello, How you doin'?' and also the chance for you to say 'Bonjour' to your fellow societies!

I guess what I'm trying to say with this blog update, is we're trying to cook up a big pot of love in the Activities department. Never underestimate the impact of a simple 'Hello'

Nabil :) (and here's a video of a polite bear saying hello, just in case you weren't convinced)

x

Come and say Hello to us in the Activities and Sports Zone! The Activities Information Desk (Fi and Megan) is open weekdays 10am-6pm, and Emily Agius (Society Development Co-ordinator) and I (Nabil, Activities Officer) are in our offices 9am-5pm weekdays.