RSU President, Amy Hopkins, gives an update on the work she has been doing across the Spring Term including RSU on Tour and her Cost of Living Campaign.
I can’t believe term two is already over, it has gone by so quickly!
Since my last update in December, there have been quite a few different things going on!
RSU On Tour
RSU On Tour is a campaign to bring the Students' Union to you, rather than expecting for you to come find us! Each time we hold an RSU On Tour there is a survey. This survey is split into two sections. Section one being questions that stay the same throughout each round of RSU On Tour. Section two is where you’ll find more focused questions based on the topic or issue we are focusing on during that round.
The first RSU On Tour, ran for five days between 22 – 26 January. We were located at three locations throughout the week, the Library foyer, The Reef for Refreshers' Fair and finally Whitelands entrance. The main focus of this survey was democracy and engagement. In particular, we were out and about asking students if they had registered to vote (quick reminder that the London Mayoral Elections take place in May) and if they knew they could get a free voter ID card (you now need photographic ID to vote in UK elections).
Claim a Free Voter ID Card
NUS has partnered with Citizen Card to offer students a free form of photo ID. This usually costs £15, but students can get it for free by using the code NUS when checking out on the Citizen Card website. As well as being valid Voter ID, Citizen Card is also Proof of Age to buy age-restricted goods, as it carries the PASS hologram.
The second RSU On Tour, ran across two days, 5 - 7 March. We were located at The Reef on the Tuesday and Whitelands entrance on the Thursday. We again had a survey and we offered a free doughnut to the first 36 students who completed the survey at our stall on the day along with a prize draw for supermarket vouchers in place. This survey was particularly focused on the RSU Elections and understanding if students knew about the elections, how they could take part, or when voting took place.
We'll be running a final RSU on Tour during term three and analysing the data from across all the surveys to feed into our plans moving forward.
Cost of Living
I have been making progress with my work to input more support for students who are struggling financially. I have been working to bring into place an Access Fund which will be available to students of Roehampton University to bid for funding. This funding will be used to take part in student activities like societies.
Students will be able to bid for financial support to help cover the cost of membership fees, any kit or equipment needed and costs of competitions.
I have written numerous documents for the Access Fund including a paper which hopefully will be brought to the Trustee Board in the not too distant future which will seek to understand if it is viable and how soon it can be brought to life.
Other cost of living related projects I’ve been working on include, the development of bringing a student pantry to the RSU. The products I am hoping to have stocked for when you need them are non-food items. This includes:
- Hygiene Products (body wash, shampoo, household cleaning items)
- Stationery (notebooks, pens, used textbooks)
- Baby products (nappies, baby wipes, formula)
- Kitchenware (plates, bowls, over trays)
However, to start off with we are going to be asking for donations of any of the above items. Further details will be released soon regarding where to drop off products, if you are able to do so, along with regulations to follow regarding out-of-date products.