Blog
Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.
Hi all,
Sorry, the subject might not be very descriptive, but it’s been a good few months since I posted my last update – and things haven’t stopped so I'm not sure where to start!
So, in no particular order, let me give you a run down of some of the things we’ve been up to as a Union, and what I’ve been doing as an officer and trustee…
• Union (Financial) Audit: We had our annual audit this summer, something which we have every year to make sure we’re compliant, doing things right and fulfilling our duties in producing true and accurate records.
• Success with First York (the FTR).. Negotiations, as previously reported in meetings and Union General Meetings, have been taking place all year long, and finally we have a result! First York have agreed to run the £2 return for students to town ALL of AUTUMN TERM 2008! And not only this, we will also see the launch of the number ‘4U’ service running a circular service between campus and the train station, Monday to Thursday, up until 2.15pm (last pickup) from town! You can also use your £2 return ticket for this!
• Planning for Welcome Week.. It was really difficult to keep some of our acts a secret, and we have more up our sleeve too. I’m really excited about Noah and the whale, the Saturdays and Dave Benson Phillips. We’ve also got some good talent (and laughs) in store for Access All Areas and Comedy Night in Central Hall. It’s hard to describe how much effort goes in to making and supporting a Welcome Week, but it’ll be worth it. Second time round, things are easier.. but time has been pushed this summer because of the big project I’ll come on to shortly.
• eTicketing system launched. We have had an online ordering system for 4 years now, but this year we have launched eTickets so that you
o a) Don’t need to come and swap your email for tickets
o b) Don’t need to queue up on Monday (or longer) Week 1 for your tickets, using up your valuable time
This year, online sales are bigger than ever and college, society and club events are all running from the system and working well.
• Lots of meetings with the University. It may sound boring, but just because campus is empty of students and you’re away having fun, meetings don’t stop – and we’re constantly in various meetings defending student rights and services, and campaigning for new ones.
• Secured £1500 funding from the Strategic Transport Group to help subsidise student membership of ‘Whizzgo’. This is a scheme whereby you can enjoy the benefits of a car at University (when other methods of transport may not be available/suitable) and pay for what you use. Rather than pay £50 membership, you can join for just £10! Don’t worry about all the running costs of a car whilst at University. Worth a try?
• Overseeing and developing the refit plans for our shop, Your Shop, in Market Square. It might sound like a boring one, but we’ve got some good things in store for you and this should be complete in a few weeks. There’ll be extended ranges of products and services and we’ll also see the introduction of new ranges, including an in-store bakery! We’ve got something exciting coming into the unit next door to Your Shop, too. Stay tuned.
• I am an elected member of an NUS Services Ltd (NUSSL) committee called the Business and Enterprise Committee. On this committee I suggest new ideas for services to the student movement and develop existing services offered by the NUS (and Services). I sit on two project groups: NUS Extra and Kick Start Catering. We’re continually looking to develop these areas and improve the offering of catering and bars in Students’ Unions, which is really relevant for us…
• The Bar Project!
It’s hard to describe how much time this project takes up! Everything has to be planned in this process from what type of sandwiches we’ll make and sell, what beer we’ll stock, right the way down to where we’ll site plug sockets, like switches, network sockets, etc, and where these cables run. It really is a big project and we’re lucky to have a great Project Manager from the University team called Jonathan Crockett who is really supporting this project. We’re pulling in lots of resources to help with the whole process to make sure we get it right, and the YUSU Annual Survey results are feeding into this progress – thank you to everyone who responded, we had about 1000 respondents and lots of comments about what you’d like. The latest development would be that we have SUBMITTED our licence application and now have a period of time in which to see this process through. Building work begins on 25 September 2008 and will be completed ready for an opening by the start of term, Spring 2009!
• My role remit includes overseeing and developing all of our services as a Union, so I have been working in lots of areas to try and develop what we offer - working with our various staff members and managers to offer a better service. One of the things you’ll also notice next term will be the introduction of a Student Activities Office within the Student Centre. We’ve taken on board feedback and will have staff in a central office on the ground floor for you to come and ask any question, get support or be signposted. So, whether you’re interested in or are the chair of a society, sports club, volunteering group, union committee – the Student Activities Office will be welcoming you and assisting you in your daily activities.
• We’ve been working with the Graduate Students’ Association to combine our resources to offer better services – for example, in the Academic and Welfare area. With my hat as Union Treasurer on, I’ve been part of some of the processes here.
• As this was the first time the Union had a second year full-time officer, training and handover this year was a learning curve for all and I played an active part in delivering the handover and training process for my (now) colleagues. We even tidied the office…
• And, to top things off, I managed to get just under 2 weeks holiday in as well – so hopefully I will get through welcome week and the term!
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email, come in to see me (though check my calendar, I’m always in and out of the office like a yo-yo) or call the Union.
See you next term,
Matt
