Final Guild Council Report

Introduction

• Since the last Guild Council I’ve sat all my final exams and finally finished my degree. I can’t quite believe three years is already over, but I’m looking forward to coming back next year for my Masters (hopefully!).

Recent Activities

• I’ve been to all the usual meetings – Exec, Resources, Society Recognition/Derecognition. o I’ve also been supporting FocSoc and the Home Students Association with their plans for Welcome Week.

• I’ve been in contact with the university’s Learning Development Unit and will be meeting with a member of staff to discuss retention and how we can work with the university to reach out to home students both before they arrive at university and once they have made the transition to university.

• We’ve also been invited to attend a pre-induction event that the School of Computing will be holding for students in their departments who live at home or commute into university on a daily basis. This will be a fantastic opportunity to engage with these students and ensure that they have all the information they need to get the most out of their time at uni.

• I attended the FocSoc and Victoria Hall barbecue which was an awesome event that was enjoyed by everybody there. Congratulations have to go to all those involved in the organisation of the event for pulling everything together and ensuring it all ran smoothly on the day!

• I’ll be at all the various events FocSoc have got planned for the nd of term including their Summer Ball along with Victoria Hall and IQ5, and also the trip to the Safari Park!

Manifesto Update

• ‘To continue to increase the profile of home students across the university’

• This is a task that has been ongoing throughout the year and the work still continues. I spoke to students at the A2B Induction Day, the Humanities Induction Day for Home Students, I’ve been to numerous meetings about how the university can help FocSoc and the Home Students Association, and FocSoc will attend an event for Home Students at the School of Computing in September to mention just a few things.

• To improve welfare provisions for home students across the university

• The FocSoc buddy system has been more successful than ever this year. I spoke to all of the Buddies before they met the Freshers to answer any questions they had, and to prepare them for their role as buddies so that they were able to help the Freshers as best as possible. Little did we expect that over 300 Freshers would turn up to the FocSoc Buddy Event in Welcome Week, and so to have the support of all those who volunteered to be Buddies was amazing and we made sure that we were able to help every single one of those Freshers during that week and the first term. The creation of the Welfare Officer post on the FocSoc committee also means that there is a designated point of contact for FocSoc members and someone to oversee the Buddy system in the future.

• During my term in office, I’ve had the chance to do so much, so here’s just a few of the things that have happened throughout the year:

• The FocSoc committee structure changed to make it more accessible to students and ensure that it works well for its members. It now means that FocSoc works in the same way as the rest of the RA’s and it seems to be working very well so far!

• The first ever Home Students Association committee were elected in October and they’ve done an awesome job in getting the association off the ground. It hasn’t been an easy task but now that we’re up and running, things will go from strength to strength.

• FocSoc elected their committee members with an official ballot box this year – a first for them. There were even positions which were contested – for the first time ever! It’s amazing that members are so involved, and hopefully there will be plenty of contested positions next year as well! Voter turnout increased as well, and in the bye-elections, we managed to more than double voter turnout, which is a huge achievement!

• I was on Kerrang radio, along with Laura, talking about student debt and my experience as a home student.

• The Home Students Association and FocSoc are planning their biggest Welcome Weeks yet, and I know that their enthusiasm this year will make sure they will engage more home students than ever and make Welcome Week a massive success.

• I have spoken to the University about how they can help us to raise the profile of FocSoc in Welcome Week and it has been agreed that they will provide a marquee for FocSoc to use for the duration of Welcome Week. The details are all still being discussed, but hopefully the marquee will be provided and FocSoc will be able to use it as a base for all their events and really raise their profile on campus during that crucial first week.

Future Plans

• I’ll be continuing to handover to Siobhan so that she’s all ready to go next year.

Closing Remarks

• So much has happened in the three years that I’ve been involved in the Guild and there are so many people that I need to thank for their help along the way. So here goes …

• To the first FocSoc committee I worked with – Lucy Dumbleton, Kieran Hughes, Rhyd Smith, Mike Zatyka and Helen Blackett – you guys really inspired me to get involved with FocSoc and helped me realise that I wanted to help future home students in the same way that you all helped me when I started at uni.

• Amy Reynolds – who’d have thought when we met on the first day in our Freshers Week that we’d end up spending two years together on the committee? Thank you so much for all your support and everything you’ve done for FocSoc – you’ve been amazing and I know there’s a lot I couldn’t have done without you.

• Mike Hewitt – you’ve been an awesome sports rep, you’ve kept everything running smoothly and people always comment on how organised FocSoc sports have been, I don’t think the teams would be where they are otherwise. And of course, we would never have sold nearly as many tickets for our events without your ‘touting’ skills!

• Lucy Stevenson, Lee Johnson and Mat Hurst – you’ve been fantastic in helping FocSoc in everything they’ve achieved. You’ve been there to help out every step of the way and given up so much of your time – thank you so much.

• Lisa Cooper, you’ve been so involved in FocSoc and it's been awesome to have you on the Home Students Association committee this year, hopefully you’ll still be involved in it all next year.

• Finally, for FocSoc – to this year’s committee. James Hayward and Jon Allsop – you’re both old hands at the job now and have helped so much to make FocSoc grow this year. David Hooper, Charlotte Ward, Lennard Somera, Joanne Robinson and Michaela Bowles – you’ve all bought so many fresh ideas to FocSoc already this year, and as the summer barbecue proves, you’ve already made a huge difference getting more people to events and keeping them engaged. I know that the seven of you are going to have an amazing time during your time on committee, and especially over Freshers, and that you all have so much to offer – I can’t wait to see what Freshers brings for FocSoc this year!

• To all the FocSoccers who have helped out during my time at uni – as Freshers Crew and buddies, we can’t do it without you and your support is what really helps FocSoc to keep growing year after year.

• Katie Goodwin and Katie Wilson – it has been brilliant to get to know you both this year through the Home Students Association and I know that your continued involvement will help to take the association from strength to strength.

• Siobhan Dunne – your enthusiasm for the home students cause never ceases to amaze me! I know that you are going to do an amazing job as HSO next year, and can’t imagine anyone else who would be so ready to jump right in there and represent home students as well as I know you will!

• I also have to say a huge thank you to this year’s exec – I have had an awesome time working with you all and have enjoyed every moment of it! Naush, thank you so much for all your help with FocSoc and keeping me sane throughout the year!

• I have to say a special thanks to Laura – little did I imagine when I stood in Joe’s during Freshers three years ago and you told me that I should run to be FocSoc president, that that would actually happen and I’d end up so involved. Your encouragement has helped me achieve so much, and I know I would never have stood for HSO without it! You’ve supported me so much in everything I’ve done and I’ve loved working with you so much over the past three years!

• I think that’s all the thank yous – so all that’s left to say is good luck to everyone with their results and hopefully I’ll still see plenty of you around next year!

Revision ...

Pretty much all of my time has been spent revising recently, and my exams finally started yesterday but it'll all be over in a few weeks - and I have to say that I can't wait for the 31st May to roll around. The thought that I'll have finished my degree then is a bit scary though ... Good luck to everyone else with all their revision and exams - not long til its all over though!

Once the exams are done and dusted, I'll be back to working with FocSoc and the Home Students Association as they prepare for Welcome Week and all the challenges it brings. I'll also be making sure that I handover everything I've learnt to Siobhan, so that she's prepared for next year - I'm sure she's going to do an amazing job!

FocSoc on Safari (amonst other things!)

I've been spending quite a bit of time recently working with FocSoc as they plan the rest of their events for this year and start to plan Welcome Weeks for September. They've got loads of fantastic ideas including a film night this term, a summer barbecue to celebrate the end of exams and also a trip to West Midlands Safari park once exams are finished.

I've been going to all the usual meetings and everything that being Home Students Officer entails since I last blogged.

Congratulations to everyone who was elected for next year's exec - I'm sure you'll enjoy every minute of it!

Back to normal ...

I've been really busy since I last blogged, but am glad that things are slowly getting back to normal now! I've handed in my dissertation and am very glad to finally see the back of it! I'm sure all the other third years can't wait until theirs are handed in either!

I turned 21 since my last post and had a brilliant birthday, complete with a Grease themed party!

I spent last week campaigning in the Referendum and what a brilliant result we got! It was a long week, but there were lots of fun moments along the way!
The FocSoc bye elections were also held last week and the results were announced last night. Congratulations to Charlotte, Joanne and Lennard, I know that you're all going to have a great time on the committee and together with Jon, Michaela, David and James are going to make FocSoc go from strength to strength this year!

Work, work, work

I've been really busy writing my dissertation over the Christmas holidays, although I did manage to have a very relaxing break in Ireland. Now that we're back for this semester, I'm concentrating on getting my dissertation finished and will be very glad once it's handed in on February 1st and things will return to some sort of normality!

RA Elections Results Night

This was a fantastic night and it was great to see so many enthusiastic students elected who I'm sure are going to achieve loads during the coming year!

Here's my speech from the night:

"Some of you might not know what FocSoc does or even what it is. The Freshers Off Campus Society caters for everyone who doesn't live in halls during their first year at uni, providing supp rt, events and sports teams for all these people - similar to what an RA does for everyone living in their hall.

FocSoc ensure that home students and others living off campus get the best possible start to university life - providing events throughout Welcome Week and the duration of Freshers and bringing everyone back together throughout the year. FocSoc is every increasing in size - this year saw over 300 Freshers sign up, around 20% more than last year. As the number of home students increases, so does FocSoc's work and this work wouldn't be possible without the support of both the Guild and the University. Hopefully, these partnerships will continue to develop this year.

So much hard work goes into preparing Welcome Week for FocSoc's Freshers - from stuffing envelopes in August, to dealing with replies and queries and finally reaching Welcome Week itself and all the new challenges it brings. Although it can be hard going at times, as all the committee will know, it's a fantastic achievement to be able to really make a difference when people arrive at university and I know that without FocSoc. I wouldn't be standing here today. The enthusiasm of the committee and everyone who helps out throughout the year make sure that FocSoc can deliver for everyone who signs up during their time at uni.

But FocSoc isn't just making a difference at Birmingham. In March, FocSoc won the best national and regional achievement award at the Guild Awards for everything they've achieved - we were on BBC Midlands Today talking about the issues affecting home students, an early day motion was submitted to Parliament and work has continued with other students unions across the country in helping them to provide for their home students as well.

To the outgoing committee - Mike, Jon, Amy, Lisa, Lee, Lucy and James, you've worked so hard to achieve so much this year and really taken FocSoc from strength to strength. Congratulations to the new committee elected tonight - I'm sure you'll enjoy every minute of it and continue the success FocSoc has already achieved this year!"