The Squealer - Class of 17/18 by UCSU - University of Cumbria Students' Union

THE SQUEALER E FR

THE

CLASS OF 17/18

APRIL '18

CONTENTS 3 10 11 13 15 17 21 30 34 Officer Update

News Bites

Interview with ...

Groups Update

Meet the UoC Team

A Year of Volunteering

The Salute Awards 2018

Ultimate Frisbee

We can hardly believe that this is the last edition of The Squealer this year! Where has the time gone? Never fear, we will be back in the new academic year and we have a brilliant edition to see the year out on.We are so proud of what The Squealer has achieved this year with so many of our lovely student readers contributing a vast array of articles, photos and design work. This is something that we are very keen on carrying forward into the new editions so if you would like to submit something for future issues please email rachel.o’donovan2@cumbria.ac.uk! We also just wanted to say huge congratulations to everyone who is graduating this summer! Have a marvellous time and don’t be a stranger. In this edition we will be hearing from our current Officers one last time, we will hear from Kati about her time volunteering abroad and how you can get involved, we will be speaking with the badminton captain who saw his team to promotion this season, we will hear from a mature student who talks us through those first few weeks starting back in education, one of our reps will be telling us all about their experiences at a student conference and plenty more so sit back, grab yourself a beverage or a snack and dig in!

What’s On?

Editor: Rachel O’Donovan Designer: Elinor Prescott

ANNA FLETCHER H

ello everyone, hope you’re all doing fabulously and excited for some warmer weather coming in! As excited as I am it means my term as your Academic Officer is coming to an end (cry) meaning this will be my last update for you all! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them and doing all the wonderful things we do here at UCSU! So here’s to an amazing year and your new Officer team who will starting in July. To start this update I thought I’d talk about one of our best projects this year-‘Pink Spots’. We began this initiative to raise the awareness of women’s hygiene needs and ‘period poverty’, which amongst our majority female and low income student population is very much a live issue. All donations have now been placed into small bags for students to collect free of charge when they need them – so far Lancaster has been set up in the ground floor toilet in the Gateway Building and the ground floor disabled toilet in the library (24hours). We hope to be able to continue this project by having another donation drive next year.

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ROWAN COOPER-GRITTEN H

ello, to all you amazing student members! This Squealer update is going to be rather different to my previous ones, as it is the final edition of the Squealer which your best Welfare & Support Officer in 2 years will be writing for, you can all prepare yourselves for an emotional read. It has been a great honour, blessing and privilege to have been elected (and then re-elected) to serve you in my two terms as your Welfare & Support Officer. Over the two highly eventful years, I have been passionately working on a multitude of initiatives to help develop the health, happiness and support of the students at UoC to have a better experience during your time here- including the occasional moment where I have helped a student in need of support. There’s been a big mix of highs and lows, struggles and momentous breakthroughs… as well as plenty of fun at the same time! Below, I will do my best to

recount mine and the Officer Team’s ‘Greatest Hits’! 1st Year accomplishments (in no particular order): • Helped with promoting events for our International and Mature Students, with the previous International Student Officer, Katie Banks, such as the International/ Mature Students coffee meetings, International Day of Peace, and the ‘MultiCultural Rainbow Bridge’. • Went to the NUS Conferences and ‘Lead & Change’ events (both years, with the Officer Team) - to get better trained up to serve you all! • Set up a compost bin at the Ambleside Campus, for the Conservation Society to use for their projects- and it’s also being used by Baxter Storey. • Sharing ideas and feedback with Baxter Storey to promote the increase of meal choices for students with dietary requirements. • Started up an online

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‘Officer’s Log’ on the UCSU. me website, to give students a good read of all the campaigning updates from their Officer team! (Supplemented by Facebook Live Videos and ‘Chair-Yoga in my 2nd Year!). One article was an interview with the head/manager of the University Support Team for Disabled Students, Jo Smith. Helping UoC Active with promoting their wide range of fun exercise classes, and Ju-Jitsu. Completed some Panel Mandates, such as: Pressing for more Hearing Loop installations Working with the Environmental Rep (Chris Warren, and then Charlotte Jane Wheele) in finding out about the university’s food waste diversion processes, sustainable/green energy and land management. Working with the university to develop the Hardship fund process, to make it simpler and more user-friendly

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for students. Discussing assistive technologies with the Disabled Students’ Rep to provide students with learning difficulties better tools to help them with their studies. Strengthened UCSU’s partnership with UoC’s Disabled Student support service, and reported more helpful updates on how students can get Dyslexia tests with the Hardship Fund (as well as in my 2nd year). Created a fun and interesting ‘Officer’s Welcome Video’ to show to First year and returning students in 2016 The Officer Team dressed up as Christmas Elves (both years) and gave out freebies to the students, just before the Christmas holidays. We also gave out roses to our students for Valentine’s Day! Helped with many events and National/International Awareness days (including ‘National Sleep Day’), and many other fun events

2nd Year Accomplishments After the series of storms (reconstitution in the university of staff and leadership changes, as well as a few ‘comings and goings’ within the UCSU team, so there were a few sad goodbyes- on top of all the steep learning curves in my first term in office!), my 2nd term of being in your elected Officer team has been far more momentous and driven, with many more ‘Wins’ than before! This was likely due to all the lessons, experience and confidence that my previous year had granted me, and Anna Fletcher and Hannah Price have been incredible with their work, and we have collaboratively encouraged and pushed each other to reach (and then some!) our team and individual potential. Here’s a brief list of my highlights from this year: • Formed a positive and brilliant Officer 2017/18 team with Anna & Hannah! • Launched the 'Bookswap Trolley' (at long last!) at the Lancaster campus where students can exchange fiction books and read for leisure and pleasure- to unwind after

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some hard studying. Went to both summer NUS training conferences with Anna & Hannah- and made loads of friends, and learned a lot to serve you all better. Helped to carry out a successful Welcome Team Leaders’ training with the Team Leaders for September’s Welcome events. Starred in the best ‘Officer Welcome Back Video’ we’ve ever had (they just get better and better!) and showed them to our new students at the Officer Welcome Talks. Arranged a ‘Doggy De-Stress Day’ and Mindfulness Event during the Welcome period in September. There have been many chances to be a spokesperson for you all on live and recorded video and radio, which can be scary but always a blast! It’s all part of the territory. Organised and carried out a variety of events to raise awareness and discussion for Mental Health (with the Mental Health Foundation; and I also have been wearing their Green Pin), World Flags Day, World Smile Day, International Day of Happiness, World AIDS Week (dressing up as Christmas/ Sexual-Health Elves), ‘Wear it Blue’ for Anti-Bullying Week (credit mainly due to Hannah Price for organising some Sports-Days, which I only helped to promote), and a few others! Currently, it’s Autism Awareness Month, as well as ‘Active April’ which I have been talking to students about. Collaborated and contributed to the Mental Health Conferences in March- where I gave demonstrations/tasters of the renowned Headspace app which we give out free 1-year subscriptions to you all! The numbers of students asking for a license code has received a big push with that. Nightwise. Have you seen those sweet little Nightwise cards about? Me and the Officer Team worked together to help you have a more fun and safe time, while you’re out socialising at night! (In a non-parental way,

of course- which was the aim of the project). We went around halls in the evenings with them (along with some snacks and water), and have already heard some positive feedback from some of you. Wonderful! • Promoting Elections and other big and important UCSU activity and campaigns, such as Salute Awards, NSS, Pink Spots, and Campus Committee meetings (you’re welcome to come along to the next one and have your say about how we can work together to make campus ‘#HeatupEatup’) and giving out free Valentine’s roses. • Lifestyle Champions has been my biggest ambition and project. Starting from last September; I have been contacting dozens of students to form leadership groups on each campus to promote activity and awareness towards raising health and happiness on all campuses. The Lancaster group is now up and running, with the Carlisle group halfway there! It’s been my biggest pride and joy- and will hopefully be taken up further once I’m gone, and be a promising legacy to brighten your future at during your time at university. If you wish to get involved, let us know! Again, I have loved this role and all the opportunities it has granted me to represent and support you all; often in unseen ways and in playing a big role in the UCSU Leadership – (including all the not so flashy and fun aspects too!) with all the often very complex and interesting Trustee Board meetings, signing contracts, developing healthy diplomatic relations with University managers and so on - but it has all been worth it to work to better your experience, and to collaborate with you on your endeavours. Even though I’ll be sad to be leaving my post, I am confident that your next Welfare & Support Officer, Amy Kenworthy, will do a very sterling job with supporting your needs, as well! And in the words of Billy Boyd in ‘The Last Goodbye’: ‘’I bid you all a very fond farewell.’’

WHAT’S NEW?

Congrats! Mabel Garner has been successful in becoming the University of Cumbria’s Coppafeel Team Leader! Mable will be working with UCSU a lot in the run up to Welcome Week to ensure that all our students have all the information they need to arm themselves in the fight against breast cancer.

Graduation Hoodies Graduation Hoodies are now available to order for those who are graduating this summer! Order yours at www.ucsu.me/eshop and pick it up on the day or get it delivered straight to your door!

Pink Spots Project The Pink Spots Project is now up and running in Carlisle and Lancaster! You can find supplies in the ground floor ladies and disabled bathrooms in the Learning Gateway in Fusehill Street and in the ground floor ladies bathroom in the Gateway and disabled bathroom in the library in Lancaster.

NSS The NNS is still up and running! If you are a final year student head to www.thestudentsurvey.com/ and complete it! For every survey that is complete the University will donate £1 to RAG’s chosen charity.

There’s good and bad news! This month we sadly saw Emmaline leave the UCSU team, however we are over the moon to welcome Kati back after her fantastic time abroad – check out what she had to say about her volunteering in this issue!

GROUPS

INTERVIEW WITH

PADRAIG SPILLANE As the year draws to a close we can reflect on how brilliant it has been for our groups! Just this year our Officer Team introduced Group of the Month which saw a group recognised for their positive contributions. It has also been a great year for a lot of our sports groups, from the UCSU Saints performing at a Carlisle United game to the Carlisle Netball 2nd team getting that first win. One group that has enjoyed a season of success is the Badminton team who, under Captain Padraig Spillane have gained promotion in the BUCS leagues! We caught up with a Padraig, a 3rd year student based at the Lancaster campus to find out all about this season, his time as captain and what he hopes to leave behind as he looks to graduate this summer.

Thank you for agreeing to sit down with us Padraig, tell us, how did you get into badminton? Padraig: Well I have been playing badminton since I was thirteen; there were a lot of local clubs when I was growing up so that is really what got me in to it. During my time at the Open University I played a lot and even did my coaching badges so because of the length of time and the amount of effort I have put into it I knew I’d at least play when I came to university. Great! So can you tell us about how you came to be captain? Padraig: Sure, I arrived on the team around 2015 and in that time a lot of the players have left so it was about six months ago when the then captain asked me to take over just till the end of the season initially then it carried on and I realised that it was a project I want to see out, to make the team better and a more full outfit. Have you had to overcome any issues in your time as captain? Padraig: Yeah, I mean there are always going to be issues when you have a bunch of different people coming together with individual personalities. It is a team to an extent but badminton is an individual sport so when you are bringing all of that together there is going to be clashes.

You are heading to graduation this summer; what would you like to think the team will take forward from having you are their captain? Padraig: The biggest thing would be that everyone continues to enjoy it. The team are a welcoming bunch of people, this is not a sport that has a lot of publicity so you end up with a lovely bunch of people who maybe wouldn’t normally be in a team and that is something that I would love to be carried on when I’m gone. I would like to think that the progress that we have made this season continues, that the team continues to improve, that they carry on from the promotion which I think with the coaching and skills in the team they will. That sounds amazing! What would you say you are most proud of while being on the team, both as a player and as captain? Padraig: As a player I loved it when I played and partnered with new players and the fun that we had with that. It is easy playing with skilled players who have been playing for years but to see the development of new players, yeah I am proud of that. As captain I would have to say that I am very proud of all the improvement I have seen in all the players and the structure that I have managed to bring to the team this year, it has been a massive turn

around for us and I would like to see it continued with the new captain and chair coming in next season. So, the big question, how has winning the promotion this season felt? Padraig: Great! Because everything that we have done, all the hard work we have put in had paid off! We only dropped six points all season and the promotion came down to the last game when we played against the second team in the league and the winner got the promotion so the fight came down to the end! Every member of the team contributed throughout the season despite some challenges due to the fact a number of players are third years and had other priorities so it really was a team effort! So you have a new captain coming in next season, how do you think he is going to do? Padraig: I know he is going to be amazing at the job and will only make the team stronger and better than it is now. As we mentioned earlier, you are graduating in July after three years at the University, what are your plans at the moment? Padraig: Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m actually planning to do a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree at another institution so who knows, I could end up playing against my old team!

The Badminton Team are based at the Lancaster campus and are looking for new members, so if this is something that you are interested in then pop by a UCSU office or email: student.union@cumbria.ac.uk

GROUPS UPDATE

The Midwifery Society has arranged a conference at the end of May 2018; jam packed with amazing guest speakers including Mark Harris & Sheena Byrom OBE, it is the perfect opportunity for anyone interested in midwifery and wider health care to meet with one another and network with some field experts. The event will take place at the University of Cumbria’s Lancaster campus on the 31stof May at 08:45am for registration and a 9:30am start. The cost of the ticket includes the conference, refreshments, book signings, and a raffle! Tickets are available via the group’s event page listed below, and tickets prices are: Society Members: £15 Students: £20 UHMBT & NCUH Staff: £25 Other Professional Staff: £30 Head over to: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ contemporary-midwifery-conference-tickets-43353146428?aff=eac2 to book your ticket!

GROUP OF THE MONTH We have enjoyed giving the group of the month title to some amazing groups such as The Inclusion Society and Netball teams over the last few months, and we want to do that more! Be sure to let us know if you know of, or are part of, a group which has made a positive impact on you or the university this month. Who knows-they could be the next winners!

END OF YEAR PARTY The Youth and Community Students are having an end of year party, and you’re invited! Kicking off on the 11th of May at the Trimpell Social Club from 4pm, the event is set to be a good one with music, bouncy castle, prizes, and much more!

MEET THE UoC TEAM

ESTELLE HOYLE Tell us a bit about you! I am the new Residence Life Assistant (RLA) for the Lancaster Campus at the University of Cumbria. Whilst out of work I mostly enjoy spending time with my family and socialising with friends. I have two children which comes with quite a busy schedule so when I do find some rare time on my own I like to get creative, decorating cakes and crafting handmade gifts… or end up sat on the sofa in my jammies scrolling through Pinterest, later presenting my soon to be husband with a meal in a mason jar.

for change and really fancied a new challenge; I wanted something that I could utilise my current skills in but also offered opportunities to learn and develop myself further. I have always enjoyed working in busy environments with different people so this role ticked those boxes. On a personal level, I felt the role suited my easy going, open minded personality. The idea of organising activities and events to bring vibrancy to the university campus excited me. I knew that this role could give me an opportunity to use my creative skills, get enjoyment from and gain job satisfaction.

What is your role at the University of Cumbria?

What do you hope to accomplish in your role?

I have a few different roles as the RLA. I am here to help make the students’ experience in University accommodation the best one ever! I can offer support and guidance for a number of issues they may face whilst living in halls of residence. I am here to help with emotional issues, academic worries, disagreements amongst flatmates, or if they just need someone to talk to and don’t know where to turn! If I can’t help or I don’t know the answer, I will signpost to someone who can. No problem is too big or too small. I can organise and facilitate development opportunities, activities, trips and sport in partnership with UCSU and UoC Active. If anyone would like to get involved with Lancaster committee, events and activities, or organise their own events, please get in touch!

My main aim is to build positive working relationships with students enabling me to offer support when needed. I would like to bring new ideas that help develop a vibrant campus life for all students and hopefully help make student life an enjoyable and memorable experience.

Dream holiday?

How can students contact you?

If you were a character in a book who would you want to be?

What first attracted you to the role? Scrolling through job searches, this position really stood out to me. Professionally I was looking

Email estelle.hoyle@cumbria.ac.uk Telephone 01524 385497 Mobile 07974079494 or find me in Lancaster accommodation office based in the Williamson Thompson building. Who is your favourite TV detective? It’s not cool but honestly I love Chef Inspector Barnaby from Midsomer Murders. Moving on… If you could have any job in the world what would it be and why? Chocolate consultant, I don’t think I need to explain this one, unfortunately due to my already ever expanding waistline I have decided not to pursue this career.

Lapland! I spent a day visiting Santa there in -30°C and always wanted to go back as there is so much more to do. Loved it that much I am now going back for a week to get married and fingers crossed see the Northern Lights too!

I have really had to think about this one. At first, I thought of characters like Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, but my inner child took over on this one and I have gone with my heart; I would be Matilda! She is super clever and has the ability to move things with her mind! Not only could this be great fun but useful as well! I could clean my whole house with the flick of a finger giving me more time to scroll through Pinterest. How ace would that be!

STUDENT LIFE

NUS LGBT CONFERENCE At the start of this year you voted to elect your panel for 2017/18; people who represented you and would act as your voice when discussing issues and ideas that would be put forward to bring about change. One of those elected was Riley Reed, your LGBT+ Rep who has taken the time to tell us all about what they got up and they felt about attending the National Union of Students’ LGBT+ Conference.

avigating higher education as a transgender student can at first seem a daunting and bewildering experience – emailing lecturers about pronouns, constantly seeing the wrong name on your student card, and trying to find or organise an LGBT+ group are just some of the challenges to be faced. When I ran successfully for the role of LGBT+ rep I felt intensely validated and invigorated; my peers – cisgender and transgender, queer and heterosexual – had put their faith in me to represent them not just on campus but at a national level at the National Union of Students’ LGBT+ conference. The conference is hosted by the NUS and is held primarily for the purpose of establishing future NUS policy regarding LGBT+ issues. This is done via motions debates – conference floor sessions in which delegates sent from universities – like me – make speeches in support of or against a motion prior to a vote to decide whether the policy stands or falls. When I arrived after a gruelling four-hour journey to Stratford-Up-

on-Avon I was struck instantly by the strong sense of community amongst both first-time delegates and NUS veterans. With election campaigning well underway for the much-sought NUS officer positions there was an inevitable air of political unrest as rivals scrapped over election promises and flyers were hastily shoved into hands, but there was a welcoming sense of comradeship between delegates eager to make connections and form lasting friendships within the student LGBT+ community. As the sole delegate from Cumbria I threw myself into the social scene and quickly fell in with a group of like-minded souls who soon became a tight-knit conference team – we look forward to being reunited at the NUS Trans Conference in Manchester at the end of April. Spending time in such an openly queer-friendly environment was a refreshing change of pace from everyday life. It was evident that many delegates were embracing the chance to express their identities in ways not always possible in their home environments – a reminder that even in 2018 LGBT+ people struggle with homophobia, transphobia, and social isolation amongst other issues. At the start of conference I was given a lanyard with a card stating my name, university and preferred pronouns, a welcoming step towards the normalisation of a dialogue on gender identity and safe gender expression in social and professional environments. After spending two days voting, socialising, networking, and listening, I left the conference with a renewed sense of purpose as an LGBT+ activist. The defining trait of the wider LGBT+ community has always

been our unwavering solidarity and drive to inspire change, and it was extremely empowering to see firsthand that LGBT+ students remain as politically driven as ever. The event was a reminder of why we unionise and of how and why we can create positive change by working together. I look forward to representing the university and my fellow LGBT+ students at NUS Trans Conference on the 30th of April – which also happens to be the due date of my dissertation. Talk about an incentive. Words by Riley Reed. LGBT+ Representative

VOLUNTEER

A Year of 17

i I’m Kati Brown and I’m the Volunteering Facilitator at UCSU. I’ve just come back to work at UCSU after volunteering overseas in California, Arizona, Colombia and Chile for a number of months. It’s been a really good experience and UCSU has asked me to share it with UoC students and let you know that we have some funding available if anyone is considering volunteering abroad! In Chile I went to stay with a couple who were looking for volunteers to come to their beautiful land and help with Winemaking and Earthship construction: picking fruit, building, cooking and gardening. I went with two friends that I had made on my travels and we camped out on the land and had the most interesting days filled with lots of fun physical activities such as mud stomping, but more on that later. One of the best parts of being involved meant that we got to learn traditional techniques from local people who had been farming the land for many years. While working with Pablo, the person in charge of us all, to help construct a house we all got in a paddling pool filled with mud and water and stomped around until all the mud was a good texture, then a few days later we threw it on the walls pictured above and smoothed

it down to make the inner wall, it was extremely satisfying! One of the things I liked about the village that we stayed in was that as remote as it was there was a really strong sense of community. People would come together as a big group to help when needed. For example the photo above is the team ofvolunteers that offered to help with our neighbour’s potato harvest. I enjoyed meeting the other volunteers from around the world that came through the same project, we ate a lot of vegan meals together by using the fruit and veg from the land. We learnt how to make traditional Chilean meals too from some of the older people involved in the project. One morning we were building steps up to the house on

the hill, made from tyres and mud, and the next day we were preparing for wine making, I really mean it when I say each day was different from the last! My team work and communication skills have definitely improved as on a lot of the tasks we had to work as a group of 3 or a 4 and we had to listen to each other and work as a unit, particularly with all the heavy lifting going on. This was also additionally challenging as Pablo didn’t speak English and my Spanish is still basic so we had to find other ways to communicate which actually turned out to be quite funny and was like a constant game of Pictionary and acting out what needed to be done. I thoroughly enjoyed the variety involved in my Chilean volunteering experience. I loved it so much that I was keen to do as much as possible during the daytime but it was still really relaxed and plenty of time for naps in the heat. There was also lots of time to go and explore and our hosts did their best to accommodate us, introducing us to locals in the area, inviting us to parties and celebrations, sharing meals, taking us to local landmarks and to catch buses to some interesting destinations.

READ MORE ABOUT THE WINNERS > 22

THE AWARD WINNERS: CARLISLE UCSU Volunteer of the Year Natasha Bezuszko How do you feel about winning? ‘I feel really good! I wasn’t expecting it at all actually. I wasn’t expecting to be nominated to by fair so it is really nice to win; it is really nice of everyone to actually vote for me, so yeah I am really happy!’ How did it feel to be nominated? ‘I was shocked actually, when I got the email I wasn’t expecting it at all so it’s really nice to be appreciated. Obviously I do the volunteering to help other people so it’s nice to know that they feel that it helps them. Is there anything else you’d like to say about the win tonight? Just thank you really! Community Volunteer of the Year Suzanne Collinson How do you feel about winning? A bit overwhelmed! I didn’t expect it and I was pleased just to be nominated! How did it feel to be nominated? Well it was a lecturer that nominated me so it meant that someone had realised what happens outside of the University, with my volunteering. Is there anything else you’d like to say about the win tonight? Just thank you to those who nominated me!

Society Member of the Year Hayley Savage

How do you feel about winning? Honoured! I feel really honoured for my society, to be nominated, to be shortlisted and to win it I feel really honoured and just excited and nervous! It means so much! It’s about recognising not just all the hard work that I have put in but other members of the society so I’m taking this one for the team.

How did you feel when you were nominated? Shocked! Just really shocked because I didn’t think that I would be nominated! Shocked, proud, happy, excited! Is there anything else you’d like to say about the win tonight? Just thank you to those who nominated me!

Special Mention Award Bernie Simpson How do you feel about winning? Totally overwhelmed, humbled, and blown away. I’m absolutely over the moon; I didn’t expect it to be honest with you, I thoughts I was in a pretty strong category with other contenders who were worthy in my opinion but yeah, chuffed, chuffed to bits. It’s a big thing to be nominated but to pick up the award is huge. How did you feel when you were nominated? Well that kinda stopped me in my

tracks and blew me away, I do my job, I love my job, being there for people and doing what I do so to think that people can take a min and think I deserve to be nominated is pretty special andit means the world to me, it honestly does. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Just thank you really to everyone who nominated me, everyone who’s been friendly with me on campus and all the guys in the team that have wished me well.

Representative of the Year Lesley Agyemang How does it feel to win? I didn’t know I was going to win, I thought it was just a nomination, just come here and have fun.It means a lot to pick up this award because being representative of the year means a lot to me. I’m doing the student ambassador and student representative, it is important that students have a voice so I’m doing it every year.

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Just that the Students’ Union should continue all the hard work, the Salute Awards are amazing. Being nominated I just want to say thank you for recognising students who do a lot for the university.

How did you feel when you were nominated? I was really shocked! I didn’t know who nominated me, I wanted to know who nominated me and it turns out it was my lecturer.

Society of the Year Midwifery Society How are you feeling about winning? Sarah (speaking on behalf of the society):Shocked, excited because obviously we were up against another two great competitors so being shortlisted was great and winning is obviously a great thing to have. I think it will be a great boost to the society because obviously we have worked so hard to get it running, get members and obviously we have a conference coming up on the 31st of May with excellent speakers!

How did you feel when you found out you were nominated? We were really shocked to be honest, my tutor obviously nominated us but we didn’t know that so it was an honour. Have you got anything that you want to add? Just thank you really for nominating us and to the committee members as we wouldn’t be here today without them.

Lecturer of the Year Ashely Tiffen How does it feel to win? I’m shocked, surprised, very surprised as I did not expect to win. I was up against so fantastic nominees tonight so yeah, I’m surprised. It’s nice to be recognised but you’ve get to think I work in a team, this is my colleagues, this is all of us pulling together and I’m going to say this; I work with some fantastic students as well. It is a pleasure to come to work and work with those students so it’s the icing on the cake to get an award such as this.

Student of the Year Award Elizabeth Molloy How does it feel to win? Emotional! It was quite a surprise, not expecting it at all and I’m really really chuffed. Coming back to university at the last minute because I wasn’t sure I was capable, now standing here as student of the year, it is quite amazing. It means the world because for the past five years I couldn’t work and so I decided I would come back to university and keep my brain going. It feels amazing to be foundation year and achieve that!

Now a message from the award winners that were unable to attend the Carlisle Salute Awards 2018

Lecturer of the Year Second Winner: Tilly Reid Apologies for being unable to attend this evening. Thank you so much for this award. It is a huge honour for our programme. It is especially meaningful because it is a nomination from a student. I would like to thank my colleagues Kathy Haigh, Kay Donnellon and Lynn Sutcliffe in the MSc Advanced Practice team. We support and value each other and we are passionately committed to the programme and our students and I accept this award on behalf of us all.

When you found out you were nominated, how did you feel? Well I only found out last week! I thought ‘oh what am I doing next Wednesday?’ I was supposed to be out with someone else but I thought I’ll go anyway cause it will be nice to see the other nominees and support them as well. Is there anything else you want to add? Just thanks to the SU for putting on the awards!

So how did it feel to be nominated? It was a shock! I found out through an email inviting me to come to the awards. Utter shock, I was like ‘where has this email come from, is it really meant for me?’ Is there anything else that you would like to add? Just that if you put your mind to it, you can do it – there is no other way to say it. There is plenty of students out there, I understand that struggle away from family, have new things to do and find it gruelling with assignments and exams but at the end of the day if you want it you can have it and you can do it.

Representative of the Year Second winner: Anna Lynch

THE AWARD WINNERS: LANCASTER Community Volunteer of the YearCharlotte Spooner How are you feeling? Speechless, shellshocked! How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? Quite excited Anything else you would like to add? Really nice that UCSU acknowledge these things; volunteering is recognised within uni, although a lot of my volunteering is external.

UCSU Volunteer of the Year & Rep of the Year- Amy Kenworthy How are you feeling? Overwhelmed How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? Surprised- I didn’t think I would be! Anything else you would like to add? I’ve had excellent opportunities with volunteering, and I look forward to working in UCSU. Thanks to those who nominated me!

Society Member of the YearAbigail Grimshaw, Society of the Year- Saints Cheerleading (captain- Abigail) How are you feeling? Shocked- really good, really shocked! I feel really, really proud of all the girls, they’ve worked so hard. How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? Really surprised and shockedI didn’t expect it Anything else you would like to add? Awards are a really nice thing to do. Excellent to get all the teams together, the awards should be a thing every year

Lecturer of the YearDr. Penny Bradshaw How are you feeling? Absolutely thrilled. How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? Delighted to be nominated. As a lecturer, it’s lovely for the nominations to come from the students. Anything else you would like to add? I have really wonderful students on the English programme who are a pleasure to work with.

Representative of the Year – Deborah Farrington How are you feeling? Shocked How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? I was proud, but I didn’t think I would win. Anything else you would like to add? I’m just so glad I camethank you to everyone who nominated me and I hope to do you proud in the coming year.

Sportsperson of the YearKate Moran How are you feeling? I don’t know- I didn’t expect to win! How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? Surprised, but very happy Anything else you would like to add? Thank you to the [Women’s Rugby] team- I couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you to UCSU also, for their support this year.

Team of the YearNetball (Courtney Mallinson) How are you feeling? Fabulous! How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? It was really nice to see that other people enjoyed the charity event we put on in January Anything else you would like to add? Just thanks!

Student of the YearCatherine Hind How are you feeling? Stunned, very honoured. How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? Really flattered. It’s lovely that people have supported me and to have that recognised. Anything else you would like to add? A huge thank you to everyone, especially the lecturers in the nursing department.

Now a message from the award winners that were unable to attend the Carlisle Salute Awards 2018

Lecturer of the YearLouise Corless How are you feeling? Quite surprised- a bit embarrassed! Any of the staff in my team were worthy of being nominated. How did you feel on finding out you were nominated? Surprised! And really humbled to have been nominated by students- it makes it really special. I come to work to do my job, so we don’t always realise the impact we have on our students. (But I was also secretly delighted!) Anything else to add? Just to say thank you to the students- and to the Students’ Union!

Ultimate Laura Triggs will soon be jetting off to compete in the Ultimate Frisbee Championships, but before she does, we wanted to find out a little bit more about the sport and how she’s involved in it! What is Ultimate Frisbee? Ultimate Frisbee is 7-a-side sport played on a pitch similar to a rugby pitch. Players cannot move with the disc, so once they catch it they must stop and pass it to a team mate until it reaches the endzone. It’s a non-contact sport and is self-refereed, even at the highest level. Players make calls of rule infractions, and the players involved have 30-seconds to agree or disagree with the call, which determines the outcome of the stoppage. At the World Championships, we will have game advisors who observe games, and can be asked for their opinion if players are unsure. They can only provide an opinion if they are asked by both players and are not allowed to initiate calls. More information about Ultimate Frisbee can be found at ukultimate.com. What team are you playing for? I’m playing for a mixed team called SMOG who have players from all over northern England who train in Manchester and Durham. Teammates have played for anywhere between 3- and 13- years, some have represented Great Britain before and others haven’t, we are aged between 21 and 30. I particularly enjoy the being part of a mixed-gender team – we must have at least 3 men and 3 women on the pitch at all times. Men and women can play very differently and we have to work out how to utilise each player’s unique strengths. We play one-on-one defence and zone defence, which means women are often directly up against men, which is different to most sports.

one else (which wasn’t very good...). We all slowly improved together, then when I started my undergraduate degree I found the university had a team and I was fully hooked. There aren’t many sports that are so welcoming to complete beginners, but Ultimate Frisbee players are used to coaching the basics and building the community, so it’s totally fine to go along without any relevant skills!

How did you fall into the sport?

What training do you do?

When I was 15 my family moved to Florida, and as part of the high school curriculum I had to play a sport. Everyone at the school had been incredibly focused on certain sports throughout their school lives, and although I am generally sporty and dabbled in netball, football, rugby, badminton and swimming growing up, I had never competed or been coached. I felt like I was way behind other kids, so when some teachers started an Ultimate Frisbee club, where everyone would be beginners, I thought I’d give it a go! They taught me a few throws and the basic principles and I enjoyed being as good as every-

All our players have a fitness programme, each week we individually complete 2 sessions of strength work in the gym, and one session of agility training and a sprints session on a track or field. We train as a team one weekend a month, but also attend two-day tournaments together once a month. Now that the evenings are lighter we’re hoping to create local groups of players who can train together and play a match on a week night. We are heading to Amsterdam for an international warm-up tournament in June, which should give us a good idea of how we’ll do at Worlds.

How old where you when you started to play Frisbee? I was 16 (I’m 27 now).