Hello Roehampton

Surprise surprise – it’s me again! My name is Sharon Azams, and I would be thrilled to be considered your next RSU Vice-President (Community & Welfare).

From the beginning of my time at Roehampton, I have sought out opportunities to engage in student volunteering, student engagement and student voice. This includes being co-founder and vice-president of the BAME society (2020-2021), RSU Black students’ officer (2021-2022), race equality champion for SET (2021-2022) and now as your current RSU Vice-President of Community & Welfare! These experiences have allowed me to build up the skills and qualities that I believe make me a great candidate for a second term!

My main focuses from the very start of my Roehampton ‘career’ have been equity, diversity, and inclusion. I want to ensure that students from all walks of life can have an enjoyable and fulfilling university experience. Some of the key areas I have looked at this year are accessibility, cost-of-living, representation, and student engagement. This has meant that I have been able to:

• introduce low-cost meals on campus
• put on free and diverse events
• introduce support initiatives
• explore decolonisation and provide educational resources
• run representative campaigns (Black History Month, accessibility, cost of living, food engagement with Growhampton, ‘Winter Welfare’ etc.).
• so much more, but most importantly – represent your views in meetings, boards, surveys and through policies!

I would love the opportunity to continue representing your voice, tackling the most prevalent issues on campus and build upon the incentives that I have explored thus far! My main actions for this year would focus on:

Accessibility

• Developing disability & accessibility training to promote equity, understanding and awareness.
• Continue to hold the university to account on their own policy – this means campus walkarounds, student shadowing of audits, and timetable provision well ahead of lectures.
• Explore support initiatives for international students with disabilities.

Representation

• Run representative campaigns to promote awareness and a standard of inclusion across the university. This includes BHM, eating disorder awareness week, world mental health day, international women’s month, sexual assault awareness month and more! Events, podcasts, off-campus trips, articles and more.
• Continuing to review the RAFA2 framework and how the university can increase retention of BAME students, and deliver an inclusive, engaging curriculum.
• Build upon the educational anti-racist resources that we can provide.
• Consistently review the diversity of food and comms. on campus.
• Represent your voice by bringing your feedback to senior members of university staff, members of the RSU’s board of trustees and local councillors.

Cost-of-Living

• Continuing to review the prices of meals, explore different methods of tackling food poverty (sustained support for the community fridge, community lunches, lower cost meals, student food co-op etc.).
• Introduce free clothes referral system and increase support of the RSU’s Thrift Shop.
• Provide students with financial literacy (resources and information on money saving, what funding they are eligible for etc.)

I would love your vote for VP Community and Welfare, so that we can continue to make the university great!