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IMPACT REPORT 2020/21

INTRODUCTION FROM CEO TIM BENFORD

With the continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, the 2020/21 academic year has been another challenging and unique year for our members, our Trustees and the University.

I would like to thank our staff, both permanent and casual workers, along with our Trustees and Presidents, for their continued hard work and determination, which has enabled us to achieve so much this year.

‘Highest scoring SU Award’ for the fifth year in a row. ” “

Highlights include our Presidents’ tireless work around Celebrating Black Excellence and Decolonising the Curriculum, which aim to reduce racial bias and inequality.

Also, our Green Impact submission, which again achieved an ‘Excellent’ rating, not to mention winning the ‘Highest scoring SU Award’ for the fifth year in a row.

Additionally, we continued our support to our members during the pandemic by working hard to secure financial support for international students and rent rebates for students in campus and Unite halls, following the move to learning online. To ensure new and returning students did not miss out on a decent Welcome, we also organised a Covid secure and virtual events programme to maintain the student experience during these challenging times.

There is so much to be proud of this year. We hope you enjoy reading more in our Impact Report.

PRESIDENT AUGUSTA CHIDINMA NNAJIOFOR

On behalf of the Presidents’ Team, I would like to thank all the staff at The Students’ Union and UWE Bristol who have shown kindness and worked collaboratively with us despite the challenges to support students and make a positive difference.

In a first for The Students’ Union, the Presidents’ Team started three partnership projects with UWE Bristol on Assessment and Feedback, Building Learning Communities and Health Inequalities, which all aimed at improving the student experience.

We also completed our Celebrating Black Excellence campaign. This included activities, such as an arts competition, a Decolonising the Curriculum panel discussion and Amplify, which is The Students’ Union and Centre for Music project celebrating hip, grime and rap artists and producers at UWE Bristol. I have also compiled a video for A year in Conversation with Augusta which was released on The Students’ Union at UWE YouTube channel.

Other key achievements have included financial support for international students and rent rebates for students in campus and Unite halls. Also the introduction of the safety net policy, contribution to Block Zero and resolution of students’ other academic and non-academic concerns.

After an incredibly challenging year for all of us, I wanted to highlight how grateful I am to have been given this opportunity to represent you as The Students’ Union President.

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Over her year as President, Augusta Chidinma Nnajiofor will be having conversations with at least 12 leaders to speak on issues of inclusivity, discrimination, systemic change, being an ally and more.

Send your questions to Augusta and get involved!

“Key achievements have included financial support for international students. ”

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OUT

One of my proudest achievements is the Addressing the Attainment Gap project. ”

VP EDUCATION JANE OJIAKO

It has been a pleasure to serve students as VP Education for two terms! The past two years have taken me on an incredible journey and I appreciate the contribution and support of all staff and students.

One of my proudest achievements is the Addressing the Attainment Gap project. Following my involvement in co-creating the inclusive and practice toolkit that supported all staff to take practical steps to create a university with no barriers to learning through their teaching practice, I focused on addressing the awarding gap in my second year in office. I achieved this by leading and facilitating various events focused on educating students on the issues, to leading and initiating campaigns focused on decolonising the UWE curriculum and library shelves.

These initiatives included Decolonising My Reading List, which aimed to ensure that the library collection and reading lists speak to all voices, particularly those that are underrepresented in curricula and on reading lists. As well as working in partnership with the Library team at UWE Bristol to run a UWE Zine competition, that gave students a platform to share their personal experiences and thoughts on decolonisation and diversity.

SAMUEL IKPE

My time as VP Societies and Communication has been filled with so many life-changing experiences, I will treasure them all and hope to bring the lessons learnt into my next chapter.

Particular highlights from my tenure in office have included working on getting our Tedx license for the University, The Black Excellence programme and running the language exchange day.

Planning the Amplify collaboration for student writers, artists and producers of colour was an immense way to boost student participation during lockdown. The campaign was a tremendous success.

In my language was a programme which set out to enhance better communication skills between students and educate them on the different languages spoken across the University. Videos were scheduled monthly on our social media platforms to create engagement amongst students.

Preparation for the Societies Awards was a big part of my experience as VP Societies and Communication. The event was a huge success, taking place virtually where societies and society members were celebrated for their efforts and engagement during this demanding academic year.

“Members were celebrated for their efforts and engagement. ” “

Let the students feel acknowledged and empowered during a particularly difficult time. ”

VP COMMUNITY AND WELFARE UBONG JOSEPH ANTE

In my role as VP Community and Welfare at The Students’ Union, I have strived to support the diverse nature of our student community.

A year like no other has seen the University go through a horde of different changes. Contrasting lockdown rules have meant that we have needed to be even more alert to issues that have arisen this year for UWE students.

Hosting the UWE’s Got Talent the Lockdown Edition, attending the NUS National Conference 2021 and The Learning Communities’ Partnership Project have all been personal highlights of my time in office.

Encouraging students to join in virtually to events such as the UWE’s Got Talent Lockdown Edition was very important this year as it let the students feel acknowledged and empowered during a particularly difficult time.

During March, I worked with the Advice Centre to organise a time to talk session for students, which served as confidential advice for students relating to any issues, especially the pandemic.

VP SPORTS AND HEALTH

JOSHUA ESEOGHENE EDJE

A big part of my manifesto for this year was making the MOVE programme more inclusive to all students at UWE Bristol. Inclusivity in sport, health and well-being is an incredibly important factor.

Other achievements have included working with the Centre for Sport to provide a monthly payment for a gym membership plan where a test has begun to analyse the results. Also, engaging with students at the Freshers’ Fair and The Mental Health Inequalities Partnership Project, which saw a partnership for awareness and recognition of mental health during what was a challenging year for everyone.

Organising the virtual Sports Ball and Awards was a fantastic experience, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Hosting the event saw many different sports clubs get involved with the awards and student voting led to fantastic engagement. I successfully convinced the University to change their policy on blocking students access to blackboard when students owe tuition fees. Even though this had little to nothing to do with sport, I am proud of making my impact whichever way I can for the good of students.

Sport, like many other aspects of university life has been affected vastly by the pandemic. Hopefully, now as life starts to get busier and more normality resumes, sport at UWE can return to its full glory.

“ Partnership for awareness and recognition of mental health. ” “

The Presidents’ Team extended the Black History Month campaign into a year-long Celebrating Black Excellence campaign that aimed to showcase Black people of excellence, address misconceptions about Black history and empower the Black community. To achieve this the Presidents ran events such as Decolonising the Curriculum that focused on empowering students to address underrepresentation in the UWE library collection. They also discussed degree awarding gaps that exist between white and BAME students and organised an online Talent Show for students to showcase their talent including in poetry, drumming, singing and interpretive dance.

The Presidents also ran events such as the joint Amplify initiative with the Centre for Music, the In My Language videos celebrating languages spoken at UWE, Beauty in Every Texture, an arts competition and an online trade fair, all of which were met with a warm reception that encouraged important and open discussions around race.

The Students’ Union was delighted to be awarded ‘Excellent’ in our Green Impact submission, the highest rating that can be achieved and were awarded the ‘Highest Scoring SU award’ for the fifth year in a row. Green Impact is a sustainability and social responsibility programme run by Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK).

Below are some highlights and achievements from our submission:

- We planted 2,000 trees through our pledge to plant with Tree Sisters for every student who voted at this election

- We released a divestment update with UWE Bristol

- We improved our Hedgehog Friendly Campus Award from Bronze to Silver

- In collaboration with UWE Bristol, we reached over 100 students about their carbon footprint and holistic ways to reduce their impact during ‘Creating Change: Climate Action for 2030’.

UWE Bristol and The Students’ Union were audited by our students and SOS-UK for our Responsible Futures Accreditation. The two-day audit was a success and we have retained our accreditation status.

We were delighted that three UWE students were shortlisted for Green Gown Awards, with UWE Bristol being shortlisted for five further awards. We were also shortlisted for the Student Engagement category for our Greener Futures Accreditation.

“ Awarded ‘Excellent’ in our Green Impact submission. ” “

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IT'S OK TO ASK FOR HELP

The Students’ Union Presidents commissioned a Health Inequalities Project in partnership with the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost. The project was initiated to explore the experiences and challenges facing particular student groups and identify areas of improvement within the University’s current support.

As a university, we have seen increased concerns around student mental health locally and nationally, especially due to the impact of the pandemic which has been a challenging time for many of our students. The University has a number of different services and initiatives for supporting student mental health and wellbeing.

However, we know that some student groups (i.e. LGBTQ+, BAME, Males) within our student community are less likely than others to engage with the health and wellbeing support services available due to many different factors. A series of recommendations were produced and will be carried into 2021/2022.

Representing the Student Voice key highlights:

The Student Consultation Panel

283 students were involved in 29 panel opportunities.

Over the three months in the summer, 90 students took part in at least one panel event, 52 qualified for the reward with the top ten student participants completing 96 opportunities between them.

The Student Experience Awards

Hosted virtually for the second year in a row, the event received 585 nominations across 16 awards.

Student Reps

1,021 students signed up to be a Student Rep. 873 of these were trained, with 348 students completing all three Student Rep requirements.

Student Ideas

1,929 votes were received across 69 Student Ideas. 24 of these ideas were passed by the Trustee Board.

Elections

The Elections saw 29 candidates nominating themselves for 13 positions. In total 1,975 voters cast 18,559 votes.

Referendum on constitution changes

The Referendum received 1,253 votes (946 valid votes), with 749 in favour of changes, so the Referendum passed.

“ Hosted virtually for the second year in a row, the event received 585 nominations. ” “

We are also mindful of the importance of confronting our own privileges and being reflective. ”

CAMPAIGNS

The Students’ Union strives to provide equal opportunities by fostering an inclusive environment, ensuring that each student is given a unique and meaningful experience.

We fiercely adopt an intersectional approach to sustainability, UN Sustainable Development goals, acknowledging that injustices happening to marginalised communities and the earth are interconnected. Our priority for the Green Team 2020/21 programme was to ensure it is truly intersectional in its approach. We explored with students, related issues such as inequalities (of gender, race, income, health) and social justice. Through working collaboratively, we also worked to embed sustainability into our Liberation Campaigns (Black Lives Matter, Black History Month, LGBT+ History Month, International Women’s Week and Disability Awareness) and created collaborative events that address these intersections.

We are also mindful of the importance of confronting our own privileges and being reflective in order to create activity that is inclusive, accessible and relevant. We also aim to be as student directed as possible, and therefore directly consult our Presidents, Part Time Officers, and the student body for their suggestions, advice, and feedback.

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CAMPUS SITES

This year we created Activity Packs which are bookable bundles of games/activities that students could borrow for a period of seven days. These were originally trialled at Glenside during Welcome 2020 before being expanded to Frenchay in November/December 2020. We offered eight packs, and expanded the offer as the year continued.

47 students came to our Glenside Exam Brunch event: Student feedback: “Thank you so much for doing this, I’ve finally got something to get me through this brutal 24 hour exam”; “this has really made my day.”

Our City Campus Officer spearheaded the Move for McMillan Campaign as part of Feel Good February.

Our City Campus Officer spearheaded the Move for McMillan Campaign. ” “

Our students continued to make us proud in their efforts of fundraising for charity.

SPORTS CLUBS AND SOCIETIES

Despite a drastically different landscape, our sports clubs and societies continued to make us proud this year. Most activity was held online, however engagement was hugely important to continue to build a community amongst our students while studying at UWE Bristol.

Students were able to engage in activities online, building relationships, and supporting their academic study. In addition, we had our newly established First Aid Society support the national campaign to engage students to become COVID-19 vaccinators, helping to make a positive contribution during the pandemic. Sporting activity also moved online.

Many of our students continued to support their physical and mental health through virtual running, cycling and moving challenges, often seeing UWE students top the national BUCS leaderboard.

Our students continued to make us proud in their efforts of fundraising for charity, such as for Movember. We also celebrated the achievements of our clubs and societies through our annual Sports Awards and Societies Awards, recognising and celebrating the positive impact our groups had had during the year.

OUR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

In what was a very challenging year for us all, we managed to keep our main shop at the Frenchay Campus open throughout the various lockdowns, delivering a service to the students on campus as well as local residents, even over the Christmas break. We also supported grocery deliveries to those in self-isolation, working alongside the Logistics team.

We developed our offer at Glenside, where an amalgamation of the shop and bar/café has meant that we can operate with an improved range of products and longer opening hours.

Our Welcome programme in 2020 looked very different to usual but, working with our partner promoters, we planned and delivered a range of Covid-secure events to entertain students on campus. These included seated discos and themed events, all in line with relevant safety guidance, including social distancing, table service and online ordering.