YouX President's Report

With the semester picking up pace and everyone’s workload steadily ramping up, it is obvious that the joys and excitement of O’Week and the beginning of the semester are steadily fading. Despite this, we are rapidly approaching the first significant holiday of the year, the midsemester break, wherein all students will be afforded the chance to recharge and catch up on any unwatched lectures or unattempted assignments that are bound to have accumulated over the last few weeks.

Despite the busyness of the academic calendar, there are still numerous YouX events and services to look forward to. The most obvious one to look out for are the Member Lunches where all members are subjected to the delightful prospects of a tasty lunch all for free.

Expanding further on the prospects of food provision, the SRC have recently brought attention to the Breakfast Club. From the motions passed, it is evident that the Breakfast Club is a well sought after service, one that, unsurprisingly, is gaining increasing levels of traction and attendance. As such, the SRC has raised the issue of increasing the Breakfast club to five days a week. Despite the recent significant budget increase of 20% from last year (the largest increase to the Breakfast Club budget to date), it is evident that students are keen to see further expansion. As such, the Board has begun the process of conducting its due diligence and will continue to analyse and evaluate the current budget with the hopes of providing more funding to the Breakfast Club. Ultimately, the decision on expanding the scope will be largely dependent on budgetary constraints, however, I am excited by the prospects that have and will emerge over the next month.

In further news, the Board has taken its first steps in investigating the prospects of reacquiring the Unibar. I am sure that many of you will concur that there are few things that are more enjoyable at university than sipping a cold beer or a hot schnitzel whilst enjoying the warm sun within the iconic surrounds of the Cloisters. With this in mind, the YouX Board would like to do all that is in its power to regain ownership and make the Unibar one hundred percent run by students for students. This would see a shift from the current template wherein the primary concern is profit. Under YouX’s banner, we would see a return to student friendly prices and discounts. I am looking forward to the future prospects and hope that there is an avenue wherein YouX is able to move towards making this a reality.

With graduate application windows opening, it is important for penultimate and final year students to begin thinking about the future. Fortunately, there are several industry events hosted on and around campus. One of my personal favourites is the industry night hosted by the Engineering Society. This month, I have been privileged to work together with the clubs committee in facilitating the approval of a major grant for the event. This has been a truly rewarding experience and I feel privileged to have been in a position where I was able to provide some contribution in helping facilitate the grant process.

In summary, there are a lot of exciting prospects and initiatives afoot and I look forward to seeing where the next month takes us. I would like to wish you all an enjoyable and restful midsemester break. I hope to see you in person at the next YouX member’s lunch.

Yours Sincerely,

Luke Allen, YouX President