FXU Annual Review 2018

2018

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contents welcome

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our values

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your FXU Presidents 2017/18

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our year

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FXU Award Winners 2018

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business as usual

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our team

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contact us

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welcome FXU has had a busy year. There have been some outstanding initiatives developed, and some incredible achievements by our students. But there have been challenges too. Significant unforeseen events have made for an intense year. Our organisation is, however, emerging as a stronger more capable organisation than 12 months ago and this is in no small part due to the commitment, resilience and passion of our staff and student leaders, continuously striving to improve the student experience.

4. Organisational robustness — ensuring FXU is fit for the present and the future.

Our progress towards these will be reviewed in detail in our Impact Report, along with our new Strategic Plan, which will be launched in the autumn of 2018.

This Annual Review document is to reflect and showcase the incredible breadth and depth of work we undertake that has helped form our plan.

1. Organisational intelligence — a better understanding of the lives and needs of our students.

Within this review, the quality and dedication of our students who get involved in our work can be seen in so many ways. Highlights include our outstanding ‘Voices’ project that has been making waves in both our universities and beyond our campuses, and even into Europe. We have seen volunteering from our students at phenomenal levels, helping other students and the wider community. Our partnership working with both universities and community organisations has been refocused and we are proud of the stronger relationships we are building.

2. Organisational relevance to our students — connecting with and impacting on the student journey of ALL our members.

We invite you to review our year with us, celebrate the success we have had, and look forward to working with you in the future.

3. Organisational value to our universities — adding value to both Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall.

Joff Cooke, FXU Chief Executive

With so many new challenges, we began the year with a review of our strategic direction. Our one clear ambition for this year was: “By the end of 2017/18, FXU will have developed a renewed, coherent and relevant plan for the future.”

To achieve this, FXU concentrated on 4 Organisational Objectives:

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our values how we do things

student led the student voice will be at the heart of everything we do.

relevant we will be connected to our members by understanding what they need and want from us.

responsive we will be ready to react or reply quickly to our members’ suggestions.

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innovative & proactive

a creative and make it happen attitude.

diverse & inclusive

fundamental to everything we do, both in the way we provide services to our members and the way in which we manage our staff. We are committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect.

sustainable & ethical

conducting ourselves to the highest standards and “doing what’s right� for our members, our organisation and our environment.

fun a positive experience for everyone.

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your FXU Harry Bishop

Chris Slesser

My priorities this year have been about progressing community relations, representing and giving platform to marginalised student voice, and producing measurable and impactful opportunities and events. The highlight of the year has been the establishment of Voices, creating a student-led campaign that isn’t about placards and pickets but introduces powerful storytelling as a new form of progressive protest. SEXhibition was a wild wellbeing campaign which brought new meaning to what a Students’ Union welfare campaign looks like. SEXhibition really brought the theatre of what a campaign should look like. The FXU Community Committee started this year, a student-led group made up of 50% local residents and 50% students to build relations between students and local residents by allowing them to talk to one another, instead of about one another.

We’ve seen increased nominations in all our representative roles. Through the introduction of departmental forums we’ve provided a platform to nurture the community of reps in each academic department and strengthen the departmental voice of students, bringing the Students’ Union much closer to the student experience. We are in the process of developing a digital infrastructure for academic representation to ensure we meet Falmouth’s growing online and partnership student communities. Initiatives such as the Workshops Festival, the freeing of Wednesday afternoons from teaching alongside my involvement in the development of the Falmouth curriculum and the 2030 strategy.

Underpinning all of this work has been a much closer working relationship with Falmouth University which has been the biggest development and my proudest achievement over my time as President.

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Presidents

2017/2018

Dean Pomeroy

Jamal Clarke

Being the President Exeter for the past academic year has been a great honour.

I have seen the role as an opportunity not only to create academic change for Penryn and Truro students through supporting the rep system, but also as a way to act as a spokesperson for students and academics in Cornwall in high level meetings. From establishing the foundations for Cornwall Challenges — a collaborative academic project between Falmouth University and University of Exeter Cornwall Campuses; lobbying for studentdriven teaching spaces through Council and Senate meetings; debating national policy at NUS National Conference; and being a keynote speaker at the European Students Union Board meeting in Slovenia — it has been an unforgettable year. I am enormously proud to have helped play my part in these developments, and can’t wait to see what lays in store.

I have loved being involved in Activities throughout my time in Cornwall, and being President Student Experience this year has allowed me to make a real impact in areas I really care about. Seeing the development and achievement of so many of our clubs this year is a real highlight; our surf club winning team and individual golds at the BUCS Surf Championships and our athletics team winning their first ever BUCS medal, a silver in the women’s high jump. I’m really proud of the growth in intra-mural sport on campus, of new funding opportunities for clubs and societies and the establishment of the new Sports Committee to ensure these areas can continue growing in the future. Finally, it was a real pleasure hosting the first ever Activities Ball, which allowed us to celebrate and reward more students and projects than ever before.

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our year

September A new CEO Joff Cooke was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer at FXU. Joff brings a wealth of experience in working with students and students’ unions having held roles at NUS, Plymouth University and Bournemouth University, where his work in the SU has revolutionised student representation. He will work with the newly elected student leadership team at FXU to deliver the strategic plan and develop services and projects to enhance the student experience.

Freshers In September we welcomed our new members joining Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall. During Freshers fortnight FXU put on a range of exciting activities and events including the Freshers Ball, Pirate Party, and the Presidents’ Big Quiz! Students visited our sports, societies and volunteering fayres and also enjoyed free taster sessions. Local and national businesses were also invited to showcase their products and services at the Commercial Fayre.

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2,200 48

businesses at the Commercial Fayre

Freshers events tickets sold

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October Generation Wild receives FXU Step Up Fund Generation Wild successfully applied to FXU’s Step-Up Fund for further training. Project Leader Jenny Lawrie received £500 to complete the Forest School Programme Leadership Level 3 Certification.

Generation Wild aims to provide volunteers with the opportunity to engage in science communication whilst developing leadership skills. Since October 2017, volunteers have worked with over 500 children through 24 outreach sessions.

Generation Wild has successfully collaborated with a variety of groups and organisations and is a pioneer in formally arranging a working partnership with the organisation Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

Intramural Sports Intramural is an inter-campus sports initiative, enabling students to play competitive sport weekly.

Following Jamal Clarke’s manifesto point to “introduce more intramural sports on campus-at a fairer price”, FXU has significantly expanded its intramural programme this year, offering Basketball, Netball, and 5-a-side Football leagues. Since these changes, there has been a significant participation increase, especially because of the football leagues. As a result of the new programme, 120 people have been playing football on Fridays who wouldn’t have been doing it before. Also, the number of participating teams has increased by 250%, from eight to 20.

Intramural expansion has also increased accessibility and affordability, following a decrease from £80 to £25 entry fee per team. There is now a smaller fee of £10 per match per team, which works out as £2 per person per week.

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Voices Project Launch Voices is a collaborative project between FXU, Falmouth Anchor and Her Campus Exeter Cornwall, actively seeking liberation in our community, both on and offline, through magazine format, released in five volumes over the academic year. Harry Bishop, FXU President Community and Welfare, decided to launch the project with an explicit focus on true, individual experience, as opposed to disembodied statistics. The project, at its base level, is a celebration of diversity, understanding and unity.

The five volumes are: Black History Month, Faith, Pride, Women, and Disability.

Through providing a platform for personal stories, the Voices project is proving to be a successful mode of proactively seeking liberation, demonstrating that voices speak louder than statistics. As more people read the volumes, the Voices project is undeniably contributing to creating a community of understanding both on and beyond campus.

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November Ryan Borley wins Young Coach of the Year FXU Dodgeball coach Ryan Borley won Young Coach of the Year at the Cornwall Sports Partnership Awards.

Ryan was presented with his award at the ceremony on 3 November, hosted by former Olympic athlete and Pirate FM DJ Neil Caddy. Sponsored by Truro & Penwith College, the award recognises individuals aged 25 and under who have proved dedication to getting more people active and demonstrated high quality coaching with innovative practice.

Nicola Dandridge Visit Nicola Dandridge, the newly appointed Chief Executive of the Office for Students, visited Penryn campus to speak with students, FXU Presidents and staff. Students and FXU Presidents led the topics of conversation, which included accessibility, widening student participation, challenges that students face studying in Cornwall, accommodation and mental health. It was a great opportunity for the Presidents, as representatives, to ensure the views and opinions of students are taken into consideration and shape national debate.

Adopt a Charity Adopt a Charity is a scheme that has been developed to allow Raise & Donate (RAD) to consolidate charity relationships and encourage different groups to get involved with fundraising. A group adopts a charity for an academic year and holds fundraisers to support that charity.

For example, FXU GeogSoc regularly fundraise for Shelterbox and this year formalised that relationship and adopted the charity. Fundraising is also part of the criteria of the FXU Accreditation Scheme, so taking part in Adopt a Charity increases accreditation scores.

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FXU Dragons’ Den On 14 November, University of Exeter students were given the opportunity to pitch at the first ever FXU Dragons’ Den. By being involved in the event, each participating group received financial support from FXU to facilitate the project at hand.

The evening started with an introduction to the Dragons: Kim Conchie (Chief Executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce); Dean Pomeroy (FXU President Exeter); Jo Downie (Director, Wolfrock Marketing) and Antonia Coppen (Curriculum and Work Related Learning Officer). Students pitched in

front of a live audience, who participated directly by voting using hand-held electronic voting pads. The pitches were each uniquely strong in their own right, scaling from an idea for a collaborative film festival, to an intricately designed, purpose-made networking tool: the ‘networking notebook’.

The academic societies involved in the process received funding in support of their projects, which will in turn enhance links with employability.

International Festival This November saw the exciting launch of an inclusivity and cultural enrichment initiative; the International Festival. The festival comprised of a week-long programme, designed to celebrate the diversity of our Cornwall campuses and enrich student experience, whilst offering opportunities to encourage Home students to seek out an international experience beyond the parameters of our Cornwall campuses.

The International Festival was particularly impressive given that the week of events in their entirety were organised within only a

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few weeks, having developed from an idea to celebrate International Students’ Day on the Friday, and with no budget to speak of.

The success of the event is testament to a fantastic collaboration between all four partners on campus (University of Exeter, Falmouth University, FXU and FXPlus).

December Sexhibition On Tuesday 5 December, FXU hosted Sexhibition, an engaging, awareness raising event on everything about sex. The exhibition segment of the event was hugely varied and collaborative, with involvement from FXU President Community and Welfare, FXU RAD, FXU Fetish Society, Ann Summers, Chlamydia Screening, Sexual Health Cornwall and Cornwall Rape and Sexual Assault Centre. Each of these organisations held a stall, with representatives present to answer questions, perform demonstrations, provide information and even offer screenings for students in attendance.

Following the exhibition-style event, a quiz was hosted in the Upper Stannary — a fun and engaging way for students to test how much they know about sex and relationships. 99% of students who attended agreed that the event was at least to some degree educational, with 60% of students praising its predominantly educational benefits.

The Chlamydia Screening stall also recorded a huge impact, screening a total of 88 students in the one session. This was record-breaking for the screening organisation and massively important in students having an awareness of their sexual health status.

Naked Calendar

Christmas Day Activities

The RAD Committee organised the creation of the RAD Naked Calendar.

This calendar involved the collaboration of 12 Activity Groups who took part in a naked calendar shoot. Selling nearly 100 calendars, the project raised ÂŁ640, all of which went to charity, as the committee brilliantly secured the sponsorship of Gylly Beach, who paid for the printing costs.

On Christmas Day, the International Students Committee, FXU President Falmouth Chris Slesser, the campus Interfaith Chaplaincy, the Library and Widening Participation Team, came together to welcome students to a day filled with festive activities. This event created a sense of belonging for students present on Campus over the Christmas period, bringing people together at a time that can easily feel very lonely without such a welcoming place to go.

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January Workshops Festival During April 2017, Falmouth University and FXU worked in partnership on an institutional retention project exploring with students’ the barriers to retention and student success. The Workshops Festival was created as a response to students’ increased demand for more interdisciplinary opportunities to access technical facilities and better utilise assessment periods.

In January and May 2018 the first Workshops Festival was created offering over 100 workshops across the technical portfolio. This received an overwhelming response with over 1,800 bookings being made by 633 students, connecting students across years, courses and different modes of study. Falmouth subsidised the cost of workshops providing students with the time, opportunity and access to explore and develop new skills based on passion and employability and away from the anxiety of assessment.

Engaging a large proportion of previously disengaged students with extracurricular activities, both FXU and Falmouth are building on the ethos and success by committing to stop teaching on a Wednesday afternoon to accommodate more frequent open access workshop activity, and develop course-based, student-led activity in collaboration with the Students’ Union to further build a sense of belonging by satisfying the academic, social and support spheres of Falmouth student’s student experience.

“The workshops have been very useful for learning new skills across new disciplines […] which is inspiring new methods that I can incorporate either directly or indirectly into my current and future work.

I also connected to other people from different courses that I might be able to work collaboratively with in the future.”

2nd year BA(Hons) Illustration student

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Give It A Go Week The new year is the perfect time to try something new and FXU used this opportunity to promote its activity groups to students who hadn’t tried them before. The week-long programme was packed full of activities, most of which were free. Students were given the opportunity to join the gym, volunteer in the local community, try a new sports club or society, and go green. This year, for the first time, wider university departments hosted their own bespoke activities, including Support Services and Employability. The programme also ran alongside Falmouth’s Workshops Festival and Exeter’s Grand Challenges information talks.

CMI Training

Inclusivity Training

This year FXU sent 15 student leaders on a three-day Chartered Management Institute (CMI) course, delivered on campus. This professional qualification is recognised nationally and internationally and will provide delegates with the tools they need to improve their performance when managing projects and working in teams.

Don’t DisAbility Society, Deaf Awareness & BSL and FXpectrUm hosted a talk on inclusivity and accessibility for committee members of all FXU Activities groups. The training included information on how to run sessions with hearing loops, making sports accessible and creating members’ reps on committees to support members with individual needs. The training received excellent feedback, with almost 100 attendees, and there are now talks of delivering the training to others across the Campuses.

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University Challenge Over 40 students attended open trials in November, which were followed by more question papers and timed challenges to whittle the contenders down to five. Our final team of James Beaumont (Captain), Claire Goodfellow, Stanley Edwards, Will Grant and Alex Blackwell, representing a breadth of subjects from the University of Exeter Cornwall Campuses, travelled up to Bristol early on January 19th for their regional trial. The team were against Bristol University and unfortunately they didn’t make it through to the next stage.

However, the team were full of enthusiasm to try again next year, so watch this space!

Course Rep Social FXU Course Reps gather feedback from their course cohorts, work with their staff team and occasionally cross-pollinate this feedback with other courses in their department. The Course Rep Social is an important opportunity to thank the volunteer reps for all their contributions, have fun and keep them up to date with the wider rep network across courses, departments and Universities, and have fun doing it!

We provide an energetic opportunity for reps to reflect on their roles and experiences, share best practice and, more generally, build useful relationships across various disciplines. We also nurture the collective identity of our academic representation structures by running activities that attempt to answer some of the big questions that sometimes get lost in the day-to-day doing of it all. Reps go back into their courses with increased confidence, wider support networks and a renewed sense of purpose in feeling that they and their peers have a meaningful stake in their educational experience.

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February You’re Brilliant Awards

Don’t DisAbility Week

The FXU “You’re Brilliant! Awards” are an instant recognition tool for students to identify staff members who they feel are “brilliant” and have had a positive impact on their student experience. FXU and some of the Colleges have historically hosted awards evenings to celebrate the students, so we’ve decided to switch places and let the students award staff members. These nominations are great in the way that they allow us to identify the reasons staff are being nominated, and pass that on to their different departments. If the departments are aware of the amazing things that their staff members are doing, which have a positive impact on the student experience, then they can encourage these actions further.

Don’t DisAbility Week 2018 was a week-long campaign of collaborative events to encourage inclusivity on campus, where all students can, “Be Supported, Be Included and Be Yourself”. Four short films were released during the week, made by and starring disabled students on campus.

The aim of these films was to showcase how societies on campus are already inclusive and accommodating. A wide audience of viewers were able to see their peers taking part in a range of activities sharing their experience that having a disability of any description does not exclude anyone from getting involved. As a result, more groups have expressed interest in collaborating with Don’t DisAbility Society.

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FXU President Elections

At the FXU Annual General Meeting seven candidates were announced as standing in this year’s FXU President Elections. A total of 1,883 voters cast 5,205 votes over the week, with the results being announced in the Lower Stannary.

Due to personal circumstances, and by mutual agreement, Sajjad Jabarkhel has had to step down from his position as FXU President Exeter 2018/2019. However, we are delighted to share that he has been offered a scholarship to study for a Masters degree within the Camborne School of Mines.

At the time of print, the role of FXU President Exeter is yet to be confirmed, pending the results of a by-election held in June.

FXU Leadership Team Elections The FXU Leadership Team is made up of 22 student part-time officers, from our Exeter Postgraduate Education Officer to our Fundraising Officer, our Liberation Chair to our Falmouth Undergraduate Academic Officers, the student voice is being well and truly represented. This year we had 34 candidates, 11 from Falmouth and 23 from the University of Exeter. 763 voters cast 5,167 votes to decide who represents them. This was a massive increase on previous years.

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International Mother Language Day On Wednesday 21 February, the International Student Experience Group organised an engaging event to celebrate International Mother Language Day. Many of the languages in the spoken world are endangered by globalisation processes, so International Mother Language day exists to celebrate, notice and nurture awareness of cultural and linguistic traditions across the world.

NUS National Conference FXU students elected three delegates to attend the NUS National Conference 2018. The three delegates, Jamal Clarke, Harry Bishop and Sarah Redman travelled to Glasgow for the conference and during the proceedings were able to participate in the elections for the new NUS National President and Vice-Presidents, speak on and vote on motions from the five zones, and gain a greater understanding of the student movement nationally. Harry Bishop was elected onto the NUS National Executive Council for 2018/19.

On campus, IMLD was celebrated by an immersive social event attended by over 100 students. International students were invited along to the Upper Stannary, where they could meet others who speak the same languages as them — people who they may not have met before. This was a great way of celebrating the rich diversity of our campus.

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March UCU Strikes (support and reporting) Many University of Exeter staff who are members of the University & College Union (UCU) were involved in strike action during March 2018. In order for FXU to authentically represent students’ views and opinions during this time, all Exeter students were given the opportunity to cast a vote outlining their stance on the UCU strike action.

What stance do you have regarding the strikes organised by university staff?

The results demonstrated a complete split in opinion and allowed FXU to take action to represent all students’ views and opinions.

Exeter Students Module Fair 14 March saw the annual Module Fair, co-hosted by FXU and the University of Exeter, take place in the Sports Hall. This event allows 1st & 2nd year UG students learn about the range of modules open to them before making their selections.

To mitigate against the impact of the ongoing UCU action, this year we saw more students than ever working alongside staff to represent modules and support their peers.

Wednesday 14th March 11am - 2pm Sports Hall

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April Race to Amsterdam Eight teams of three students left Penryn Campus early on 1 April with the intention of getting to Amsterdam in the fastest time possible. They used a range of methods to get to their final destination and raised money for the Alzheimer’s Society, RAD’s Charity of the Year, along the way.

The teams raised a grand total of £3,373.29.

Student Publication Association National Conference 2018 Six members of the Falmouth Anchor headed up to Cardiff for the annual Student Publication Association National Conference 2018 (SPANC). The conference featured over thirty-four workshops and was aimed at student journalists from around the country. Carl Altaner from The Falmouth Anchor won ‘Best Entertainment Piece’ and the paper was also shortlisted for Best Newcomer Publication.

Sports Achievements

National Societies Awards 2018

Men and Women’s Hockey made it to Cornwall plate finals.

Four FXU Societies were shortlisted for the National Societies Awards 2018. Members of each nominated society visited Cardiff for the awards ceremony and has a wonderful evening celebrating all their amazing achievements.

Quidditch won White Knight Tournament in Reading.

Best Academic & Careers Society: Eco Soc Best Hobby & Interest Society: Herpetology Soc Best Media Society: The Falmouth Anchor Best New Society: FXpectrUm

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May Exeter Guild & FXU Teaching Awards On 1 May, students and staff from the University of Exeter gathered in the Great Hall, Streatham Campus, to celebrate academic and professional staff who have demonstrated exceptional teaching, research or support to the students of Exeter, in the 2018 Teaching Awards.

The Awards are an annual event shared between Exeter’s two Students’ Unions, FXU and The Guild, and are completely student-led, from nominations to presenting. This year saw a record of over 1,300 nominations across 14 categories, from Research Inspired Teaching to Best Employability Support. 17 Cornwall-based staff made it onto the final shortlists, up from just four last year.

Slip & Slide FXU RAD in partnership with the University of Exeter invited all staff and students to the annual Slip & Slide event on Tremough House Lawns, Penryn Campus. This year FXPlus supported the event by providing a BBQ on site with a proportion of proceeds being donated to help the fundraising efforts for FXU RAD’s Charity of the Year ‘The Alzheimer’s Society’.

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Voices Project Conclusion In May, we launched the fifth and final volume of Voices and celebrated the project’s achievements and completion for this academic year.

Voices webpage received 2,722 page views and Volume One was featured by ISSUU in ‘Five Publications Making Black History’.

FXU delivered a presentation about Voices at the European Students’ Union Conference in Slovenia and look forward to presenting at the European First Year Experience Conference in The Netherlands.

Voices VO L U M E O N E

To coincide with Black History Month, we launched the Voices Project with our black students studying at our campuses in Cornwall.

The volume highlights their frustration at the ignorance of our society and sets out a strong collective voice that is unrelenting in their fight for equality, not only in the community but in their education as well.

Voices

Voices

VOLUME TWO

VOLUME TH REE

Voices Volume Two moved on to tell the stories of our students of faith to celebrate Interfaith Week, from Christianity to Islam, Judaism to Paganism, this enriching volume gave a platform to a hidden minority group who can often feel like their voice is ignored or unworthy of being heard. A volume filled with frustration at misunderstanding and a clear message of happiness.

Voices Volume Three captured the stories of our LGBTQ+ students, or as we say, Pride students to coincide with LGBT History Month.

This expansive anthology shares the experiences of a community who have found strength in their vulnerability. This volume highlights an inspirational group of students who have fought to be where they are today, studying at our universities.

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All volumes are available to read online at fxu.org.uk/voices

Voices VO L U M E F I V E

Voices committee recruitment for phase two of the project in the academic year 2018/19 FXU marked International Women’s Day with the launch of Voices Volume Four, telling the stories of our female students. This volume exudes a mutual impression of pain and feminist empowerment and, as Maya Angelou famously said, ‘when a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women’.

Voices Volume Five concluded its year with the launch of the fifth edition which told the stories of our disabled students. Ranging from physical disability to mental health to long-term illnesses this edition celebrates the willpower and strength of these students to silently fight their daily struggles, all whilst doing a degree.

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Last year FXU started the Voices project to give a platform to students whose voices might otherwise have been lost in the noise and to celebrate our diverse student population.

Back in October, when the project launched, we had no idea how big the venture would become. With a team of five, we produced five volumes highlighting BAME, Faith, Pride, Women, and Disabled. To keep this exciting initiative growing, in May, we recruited 18 new students to take over and run the project in 2018/19.

Activities Ball Students from FXU’s 153 activity groups were invited to attend a sit-down meal at the Falmouth Hotel with awards presented throughout the evening. The event, hosted by FXU President Student Experience and FXU President Community & Welfare, recognised the efforts of students across the full range of FXU’s activity groups, from fundraising and volunteering to sporting triumphs, sustainable projects and societies. Students were dressed to impress and were given the opportunity to mingle with VIP guests and presenters, including representatives from the Universities, local mayors and Pirate FM’s Neil Caddy.

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Student Voice Awards The first ever FXU Student Voice Awards were held on 11 May to celebrate the outstanding work and commitment of students involved in representation and democracy. A total of 25 awards were presented to students recognising outstanding achievement of Course Reps, Falmouth Department Reps, Exeter Subject Chairs and the FXU Leadership Team. The evening was hosted by FXU President Falmouth and FXU President Exeter.

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June Rally4Shelterbox Rally4Shelterbox is a non-stop human powered relay around the entire coast of Cornwall (over 285 miles). The rally is split into 38 legs, which participants can either run, cycle, swim or kayak. In June 2017 the event raised just under £4,000 for Shelterbox. This year it aims to be bigger and better than ever before.

Summer Ball This year FXU hosted the very first Summer Ball ­— an end-of-year celebration for all, unlike anything we’ve ever done before! Graduating students were treated to an exclusive afternoon extravaganza, including an acoustic set from The Hoosiers, before all other students were invited to join the festivities. As a multi-arena event, the festival vibe floated across campus, with an array of DJs, live bands, street performers, silent disco, and fairground rides. An incredible fireworks display was followed by the headline set from Wilkinson.

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This section celebrates some of our amazing award winners this year.

FXU Award Winners 2018

in partnership with

Student Voice Exeter Rep of the Year 2018

Oli Glaisyer Oli has worked really hard to develop the overall experience for students based at Truro Medical School, as well as making sure they are fully represented within the University systems and committees. He has done so with professionalism and charm.

Enthusiastic, full of ideas and energy, he has worked closely with the academic team and attended high level meetings to represent the student voice. Oli is a real pleasure to work with and it is safe to say the experience for students in Truro has benefited hugely as a result of his work. He leaves a great legacy and has been a legend!

in partnership with

Student Voice Falmouth Rep of the Year 2018

Angus Roberts-Carey Angus not only sought to represent his own course, but worked to represent and unite the entire Music department, presenting feedback in a professional and compelling way.

This contributed to a better learning environment for all of the Music department. Angus is the best student rep in the AMATA building by far, he really looks out for students and cares about his role.

in partnership with

Student Voice Exeter Subject Chair of the Year 2018

Marga Ortega-Adrover Marga’s passion for her course and commitment to trying to please everyone continues to astound me.

She was always readily available whenever I needed help as a student rep, and promptly organised meetings for me to talk with the Director of Education when required, but she always attended them as well.

in partnership with

Student Voice Falmouth Department Rep of the Year 2018

Áine Casey Áine has been such a conscientious Department Rep. She has a genuine concern for the wellbeing of all the students in her department ensuring they are properly represented. Supporting reps to get feedback from their cohorts is a big part of the role, which Áine has taken very seriously. She has established good working relationships with her Head of Department and other course staff, and likewise with the reps in her department and FXU. She looks to provide solutions rather than present problems, and never loses sight of the fact that staff and students are all working to the same end.

FXU Community Volunteer of the Year 2018

Luke Tester Since the 1 January 2017, Luke has spent a massive 1553.25 recorded hours volunteering in the community.

Despite being in his fifth year studying Medicine & Surgery at Truro Campus, Luke has managed to find enough time to commit to a multitude of roles within St John Ambulance and is also a community first responder with the South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

FXU Sports Person of the Year 2018

Megan Bailey Megan is the Field Captain of FXU Athletics club.

She is always present at training, works hard and leads by example, driving to the track early to accommodate the field athletes. She has completed a Coaching Assistant Award, using her expertise to help athletes in training. She won the B Final at BUCS Indoors and qualified for the England U23 Championships in June.

Student Voice Executive Officer of the Year 2018

Sajjad Jabarkhel Sajjad has been an incredible Education Officer this year. His energy, commitment and passion for the role has enabled so much true representation of Exeter’s student voice that just would not have happened otherwise. He has gone beyond his role and responsibilities to support his Subject Chairs, Course Reps and the FXU President Exeter, all whilst being a volunteer and full-time student. He has worked diligently to ensure he’d cope with his responsibilities, as well as using his own initiative to achieve everything in his reach.

Outstanding Contribution to Student Voice by a Staff Member 2018

Kev Hughes Kev will catch you in the corridor, or at the end of a lecture, or in the pub if that is required, and he will ask you how he’s doing, how the other lecturers are doing and how we feel about it. And he won’t just let it go. He’ll take it up to the DoE, and he’ll take it up to the Vice Chancellor if that is what is required. If it isn’t fair, or if it isn’t just, he’ll be following it up until it gets solved.

His contribution to Student Voice has been outstanding.

FXU Collaboration of the Year 2018

Don’t DisAbility, Ladies Football, The Chorus and Events Society Don’t DisAbility Week was a week-long campaign featuring collaborative events, encouraging inclusivity on campus, where all students can “Be Supported, Be Included and Be Yourself”. Four short films were released, made by and starring disabled students. The aim was to showcase how societies on campus are already inclusive and accommodating.

Don’t DisAbility society has become highly recognised and fundamental regarding student support, academically and socially, working alongside Student Support Services and Accessibility to help make the Campuses as accessible as possible. In doing so they have provided a platform for members to create positive social and structural changes.

FXU Sustainable Event or Project of the Year 2018

Penryn Produce Since establishing itself in January 2018, the volunteers running Penryn Produce have successfully encouraged the student community to think more about sustainability, selling over 150 bags of vegetables to over 80 members. The ethos is to support those who want to lead a more sustainable, environmentally friendly lifestyle, by supplying local, 100% plastic-free produce at less than retail price. The project is more than a campaign to inspire others, it is actively providing a new sustainable alternative to imported supermarket produce, regularly promoting tips on how to reduce individuals’ environmental impact through social media.

FXU Fundraising Event of the Year 2018

Rally4Shelterbox Rally4Shelterbox is a non-stop human-powered relay around the entire coast of Cornwall (over 285 miles).

The rally is split into 38 legs, which participants can either run, cycle, swim or kayak. In June 2017 the event raised just under ÂŁ4,000 for Shelterbox. This year it aims to be bigger and better than ever before!

Overall Contribution to FXU Activities 2018

Sarah Redman In total, Sarah is part of nine different extracurricular groups, all of which provide a platform for students to increase their participation, volunteering effort, communication and overall student experience and she takes part in all of these with undying enthusiasm. She goes above and beyond the call of duty, and then some.

Sarah is a leader whose positivity and endless levels of enthusiasm inspires others and FXU Activities wouldn’t be the same without her.

annual highlights

business as usual

Here are some more key achievements we would like to share with you from the past academic year.

FXU Advice Service 459 student cases (to end of April) helped through FXU Advice.

Student Voice 345 FXU Course Reps have represented student views and opinions to course staff.

16 Subject Chairs & 17 Department Reps have co-ordinated feedback across their subject area.

25 FXU Student Leadership Team Members have made strategic level decisions at six Leadership Team meetings, two Union General Meetings and One Annual General Meeting.

64 Student Staff Liaison Groups supported (Falmouth).

51 Student Staff Liaison Committees supported (Exeter).

Student Voice supported a total of 139 meetings and 217 hours of student feedback and discussion.

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FXU Activities FXU have supported 152 activity groups including 82 societies, 55 sports clubs and 15 student-led volunteer projects resulting in over 4,200 activities.

26,160.25 volunteering hours logged through V-Team for 298 individuals.

Over 7,000 memberships have been purchased to our activity groups.

V-Team Awards presented to students this year – 191 Bronze, 68 Silver, 29 Gold, 8 Platinum, 4 Crystal, 1 Diamond.

19 Activity groups have adopted a charity.

8 students awarded Sports Bursaries.

FXU has achieved 4 BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) medals this year. 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze.

FXU Internships FXU offers a number of student internships providing 12 month placements and opportunities for students to obtain paid work with FXU alongside their studies.

Cassy Hoare – Widening Student Participation Assistant Matthew Taylor – FXU Design Assistant Catherine Qi – FXU Employability Assistant Jasmin Jelley – FXU Partnerships Project Assistant

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Chris Slesser FXU President Falmouth 2017/18 Dean Pomeroy FXU President Exeter 2017/18 Harry Bishop FXU President Community & Welfare 2017/18 Jamal Clarke FXU President Student Experience 2017/18 Joff Cooke FXU Chief Executive Hayley Curtis FXU Activities Director Ben Rowswell FXU Student Voice Director Richard Scrase FXU Advice Service Director Lucy Thomas FXU Finance & Administration Manager Karen Pardoe FXU Executive PA Lisa Morgan FXU Administrator Gwithyen Strongman FXU Receptionist Jo Barrett FXU Student Advisor Rose Hitchens-Todd FXU Community Partnership Manager Ceri Harvey FXU Sports Manager Rosie Lea FXU Societies Manager Emma Farley FXU Design & Marketing Coordinator (Activities) Lydia Allegretto FXU Activities Assistant Hannah Partington FXU Representatives Coordinator Julie Hore FXU Design & Marketing Coordinator (Student Voice) Matt Blewett FXU Research & Engagement Coordinator Cassy Hoare FXU Widening Student Participation Assistant Intern Matt Taylor FXU Design Assistant Intern

Introducing Our FXU Presidents 2018/19 Callie Edwards FXU President Falmouth 2018/19 Harry Bishop FXU President Community & Welfare 2018/19 Sarah Redman FXU President Student Experience 2018/19 FXU President Exeter 2018/19 at the time of print the role is yet to be confirmed, pending by-election results.

our staff team

thank you!

A big thank you to all our staff and students for an amazing year.

We would also like to thank all our community partners including the Mayor of Falmouth and the Mayor of Penryn.

Finally, a huge thank you to the University of Exeter and Falmouth University for their ongoing support.

We look forward to working together with all of you in 2018/19.

If you have any questions about our Annual Review or would like to find out more about FXU, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Check out our website for more info www.fxu.org.uk or email us at info@fxu.org.uk twitter @FXUtweet facebook /FXUnion Instagram @FXU_insta

Falmouth & Exeter Students' Union is a registered charity in England & Wales No. 1145405

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