Key Information for volunteers 2011/12 Edition
imperialcollegeunion.org
Key Information Page 1 imperialcollegeunion.org/training
Contents Contents
2
Introduction
3
Imperial College Union
4
Your role
5
Key contacts and supporters
6
Student Activities Centre (SAC)
9
Requesting spaces to use
10
Organising activities & advertising
11
Health & Safety
13
Finance
15
Š 2011 - Imperial College Union Version 2.0 - 01 June 2011 Key Information Page 2 imperialcollegeunion.org/training
Introduction
If you’re looking at this booklet then you’ve probably been elected to be a volunteer at Imperial College Union for the 2011/12 academic year. Congratulations. This is a really great opportunity to give something back to your peers and the University and hopefully you’ll have an enjoyable and rewarding time doing it.
is particularly applicable with use of spaces, events externally and what gets posted on the internet. There are lots of people here to help, so if you are unsure of anything please ask before you act!
The Purpose of this Booklet Before going any further, there are a couple of important points to remember: • You and your fellow volunteers are the most important part of the Union and the work you do is greatly valued by the Union and the College. • You are also an ambassador for the Union and College, so make sure you are well behaved at events and on the internet, including social networking sites. • You aren’t the only users of the Union’s resources and we have to ensure there are enough to go around. This
As a volunteer you’ll have access to many of the support services that the Union has to offer in order to help you carry out your role. In this booklet we’ll be showing you what these services are, how to use them and who are useful points of contact. Before you’re given full access to these facilities you’re required to take a short validation quiz, which can be completed online at imperialcollegeunion.org/ validation
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Imperial College Union The Role of the Union
Union Commerce
Imperial College Union plays host to around 300 Clubs, Societies & Projects, with a membership that covers around half of the students at Imperial.
The Union also oversees the running of three bars and a night club, as well as a newsagent and a shop both located on the Sherfield walkway. Overall, the Union has an annual turnover of over £3 million. Our website: imperialcollegeunion.org is also the most visited Students’ Union website in the country.
The Union is also the hub of student representation when it comes to educational matters and raising concerns with College departments and staff. In order to do this, all students are automatically a member of a Faculty Union for undergraduates or the Graduates Students’ Association for postgraduates. There are also a myriad of other volunteer roles at the Union, from ones with a welfare remit, to others which are key to administering the finances of Clubs, Societies & Projects.
Who runs the Union? There are five Sabbatical Officers of the Union, including the President and four Deputy Presidents who are students elected annually to look after the Union. The Union is also supported by a team of permanent staff.
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Your role This Key Information booklet is only one small part of the training which is available to support you in your volunteer role. All the information regarding training is available on the Union website at imperialcollegeunion.org/training, regardless of what your volunteer role is. Throughout the summer drop in sessions will be running at a variety of times and locations where you can come along and ask any question on anything connected to your volunteer role.
complete Sports Team Captains, and anyone acting as a marshal at a large event must have completed the Marshalling eLearning module. Anyone responsible for requesting spaces on the College campuses must undertake the Requesting Spaces eLearning module.
Academic Representatives
There is more targeted training available depending on your role, some of which is mandatory. You will be contacted individually over the coming months, with details of specific requirements, but an overview is given here.
For Academic Representatives face-toface training sessions will be taking place during October, but in the meantime make sure you catch up with the person currently undertaking the role to handover any unresolved issues and ongoing projects. Make sure you get introduced to important staff members in your department or division.
Clubs, Societies & Projects
Other volunteers
For those who are involved in running a Club, Society or Project all training is via eLearning modules and written booklets. Some of this training is compulsory depending on which role you are undertaking.
For others holding a volunteer role in the Union you will receive information about training specifically for your role during the summer. This will be a wide variety of different things, specifically targeted to your individual needs.
For Chairs/Presidents the Principal Officers and Finance Overview is mandatory, for Treasurers the mandatory modules are Finance Overview and Finance Operations. Sports team captains and fixture secretaries must
All the information regarding training sessions, eLearning, materials and other requirements can be found online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training
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Key contacts and supporters There are many people associated with the Union who are available to help you in your role. Some are volunteers like you and others are full time paid members of staff. There are some specific people who’ll be able to help you depending on your volunteer role; a full list of useful contacts is available online at imperialcollegeunion. org/training, a selection are given in this section. Academic Representatives The network of academic representatives is supported by the Deputy President (Education) and Representation Coordinator. Depending on the subject, and whether the course is undergraduate or postgraduate, there are different volunteers who support and manage department, division, year and course representatives. Details are given in the table: Deputy President (Education)
Jason Parmar dpeducation@imperial.ac.uk
Representation Coordinator
Andrew Keenan a.keenan@imperial.ac.uk
CGCU Academic Affairs Officer (Undergraduate Engineering)
Susuana Laryea cgcuaao@imperial.ac.uk
RCSU Academic Affairs Officer (Undergraduate Science)
Rosalyn Flower rcsu-aao@imperial.ac.uk
ICSMSU Academic Officer Years 1, 2 & GEP
Steven Tran icsm.ao12gep@imperial.ac.uk
ICSMSU Academic Officer Years 3, 5, & 6
Shiv Vohra medic.edrep356@imperial.ac.uk
ICSMSU Academic Officer Year 4, BioMed & Pharm
Natalie Kempston academic.officer4bp@imperial.ac.uk
GSA Academic & Welfare Officer (PG Business, Humanities & others)
ao-nonfac@imperial.ac.uk
GSA Academic & Welfare Officer (PG Engineering)
ao-eng@imperial.ac.uk
GSA Academic & Welfare Officer (PG Life Science)
ao-lifesci@imperial.ac.uk
GSA Academic & Welfare Officer (PG Medicine)
ao-medicine@imperial.ac.uk
GSA Academic & Welfare Officer (PG Physical Science)
ao-physsci@imperial.ac.uk
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Key contacts and supporters cont... Volunteers with a welfare remit For volunteers with a welfare remit, such as holders of portfolios from the Representation & Welfare Board or Faculty Union Welfare Officers the main points of support are the Deputy President (Welfare) and Student Adviser. Deputy President (Welfare)
Nicolas Massie dpwelfare@imperial.ac.uk
Student Adviser
Nigel Cooke advice@imperial.ac.uk
Club, Society & Project Officers For those involved in running a Club, Society or Project there is a wide number of people available to support you. The Deputy President (Clubs & Societies) and Deputy President (Finance & Services) are the two principal Sabbatical Officer contacts, while the Student Activities Coordinator and Clubs & Societies Finance Officer are both members of full time staff. Additionally there are a number of volunteers who run each Management Group, their details can be found on page 8. Deputy President (Clubs & Societies)
Monya Zard dpcs@imperial.ac.uk
Deputy President (Finance & Services)
Michael Foster dpfs@imperial.ac.uk
Student Activities Coordinator
Olle Akesson o.akesson@imperial.ac.uk
Clubs & Societies Finance Officer
Aziz Bilgrami clubs.finance@imperial.ac.uk
Other volunteers For other volunteers not covered in this section, please contact the Union President or Membership Services Manager for advice as to the best people to support and assist you. Union President
Scott Heath president@imperial.ac.uk
Membership Services Manager
Phil Power philip.power@imperial.ac.uk Key Information Page 7 imperialcollegeunion.org/training
Key contacts and supporters cont... Club, Society & Project Officers - volunteer supporters Volunteers involved in running Clubs, Societies & Projects are also supported by their Management Group Chair and Management Group Treasurer. Each Club, Society & Project is allocated a Management Group, details of the contacts are below:
Group
Chair
Treasurer
ACC
Henry Abbot acc.chair@imperial.ac.uk
Philip Sandwell acc.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
A&E
Chandana Shankar ae.chair@imperial.ac.uk
Henry Whittaker ae.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
cag.chair@imperial.ac.uk
cag.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
Tsz Shing Kwan engineering.president@imperial.ac.uk
Patrick Pang vpfs@imperial.ac.uk
CAG CGCU GSA
gsa.president@imperial.ac.uk
gsa.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
ICSMSU
Florence Chamberlain (Clubs & Societies Officer) medic.clubsandsocs@imperial.ac.uk
Peter Davis medic.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
Media
Charles Betts media.chair@imperial.ac.uk
Frank MacHin media.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
OSC
Wenjun Er osc.chair@imperial.ac.uk
Theodoros Stylianides osc.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
rag.chair@imperial.ac.uk
rag.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
RCC
Joakim Scharp rcc.chair@imperial.ac.uk
Gareth Naylor rcc.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
RCSU
Luke Kanczes rcsu.president@imperial.ac.uk
Karmen Chiu rcsu.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
RSMU
Richard Simons rsm.president@imperial.ac.uk
Alexander Karvelas rsm.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
SCC
Kajann Prathapan scc.chair@imperial.ac.uk
Rebecca Clark scc.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
silwood.chair@imperial.ac.uk
silwood.treasurer@imperial.ac.uk
RAG
Silwood
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Key contacts and supporters cont... Other Union staff contacts There are also various other members of staff who work for the Union who’ll be able to help you in your role.
Hannah Blandford h.blandford@imperial.ac.uk Sports Partnership Administrator
Hannah is the contact for all sports fixtures, BUCS competition entries and facilitiy booking requests. Look at Sports Management training for details
Rob Osborne union.coms@imperial.ac.uk Sales & Marketing Coordinator
Speak to Rob if you need help with your communciation plans or technical help producing publicity materials
Alistair Cott webhelp@imperial.ac.uk Systems Coordinator
Alistair is repsonsible for eActivities, speak to him if you discover an error, after reading the eActivities booklet
Alex Mckee a.mckee@imperial.ac.uk Central Services Manager
Alex is responsible for the Union’s buildings and Workbench, please read the Operating Workbench booklet before raising any questions with him
Jim Donaldson beitconference@imperial.ac.uk Functions Coordinator
Jim is responsible for operating the Union’s function business. Have a read of the Requesting Spaces training to see what help he can provide
Malcolm MacPherson m.macpherson@imperial.ac.uk Entertainments Manager
Malcolm is in charge of the Union’s Ents team, get in touch with him if you are hosting an event in Metric or you are running a We Are Metric night
Union System Administrator union.sysadmin@imperial.ac.uk
The system administrators look after the Union’s webserver where Club, Society & Project websites are hosted. They are student volunteers
Rebecca Coxhead r.coxhead@imperial.ac.uk Goverernance Coordinator
Rebecca administers all of the Union’s committees, get in touch with her if you need to raise an issue or require an up to date version of Union policy
Mayuri Patel mayuri.patel@imperial.ac.uk Head of Finance
Mayuri is in charge of the Union’s finance, complex queries can be directed to her. Read the Finance Overview and Finance Operations training though
Robin Pitt r.pitt@imperial.ac.uk Operations Manager
Robin is in charge of the Union’s staff - any issues surrounding staff performanace should be directed to Robin
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Student Activities Centre (SAC) What is the SAC and where is it? The Student Activities Centre where all services and support for volunteers is coordinated from. The centre is located is a specially built facility on the mezzanine level of the second floor of the main Union Building in Beit Quadrangle.
What is the SAC for? The Student Activities Centre team can assist with any queries about the day-to-day running of Clubs, Societies & Projects, as well as queries regarding any volunteer role. Services provided in the Student Activities Centre include:
Club, Society & Project Administration
• Free computing, scanning and blackand-white printing facilities • Free telephone and fax services. • A pigeonhole for each Club, Society & Project (this is where mail is delivered) • Document laminating • Free first aid kits • Borrowing a range of equipment • Free post facilities • Coach & minibus bookings • Minibus introductory sessions • Room requests Advice Information
• Finance information, forms and reports • Club, Society & Project documentation and records
Contact Details Email: activities.centre@imperial.ac.uk Ext: 020 7594 8066 (int x48066) Fax: 020 7594 8123 imperialcollegeunion.org/sac
Opening Hours Monday to Friday, 10.00-18.00. Open during holidays except during College Closure.
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Requesting spaces to use For many activities you may want to use a room on campus. Depending on where you would like to book, there may be different processes in place. All the information about this and the various rules associated with using spaces is contained within Requesting Spaces training. This training is available as an eLearning module and is compulsory for anyone booking or requesting spaces. There are some rooms on the South Kensington campus that are managed by the College’s Conference Office rather than the Union. These rooms include the Great Hall, Queen’s Tower Rooms, the Seminar & Learning Centre and the Senior Common Room. If you wish to use these spaces then you should undertake the College Events training. Many rooms on various campuses can be requested for Union groups and volunteers at no cost via the Student Activities Centre’s online request system, imperialcollegeunion.org/roombooking This is made possible through an agreement with the various College departments, as they are not obliged to let students use their spaces for nonacademic purposes. Imperial is fortunate enough to have many sports facilities, which can be booked for long and short term use by contacting the Sports Partnership Administrator.
Room booking requests can only be made as late as two weeks in advance of the date you would like to book because of the amount of time it takes to process the high number of requests and various approval stages which are necessary. Only request to book as many slots as you need. There are many groups seeking to use space. Similarly, if you have booked a room and you subsequently find that you will not need to use it, please cancel your booking. Please note that you cannot make room bookings in your department’s building through the student office. You must book spaces you wish to use – under no circumstances should you just turn up and start using a room.
Room Etiquette Always leave spaces tidy, regardless of the state in which you found them. Make sure you return the furniture to the agreed room layout, again regardless of the format in which you discovered it. I f you find a space in an unsatisfactory state then report it, otherwise you may receive the blame from the subsequent users. Treat spaces well, leave them tidy and don’t break anything. REMEMBER: What you do can affect every group’s use of a space. Key Information Page 11 imperialcollegeunion.org/training
Organising Activities & Advertising Organising regular Events & Activities is something that most volunteers will spend a lot of their time in office doing. There is specific guidance available for organising different types of events online at imperialcollegeunion.org/ training. When going about planning your event or activity, identify what the aim or objective is. Is it a social event? Or to raise funds? It is important that everyone has this in mind for the subsequent planning stages.
Funding Events & Activities How is the activity or event going to be paid for? It may be the case that you have been allocated some money from the Union to support this, otherwise you may need to seek sponsorship or recoup the cost from ticket sales. Regardless of what method you use, you should complete an event budget and have this approved.
External Guests If you have invited a guest or speaker to your event, you’ll have to provide details of who they are when you submit your request for space, so that College Security know who is meant to be on campus. More information about approval of speakers can be found online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training
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Food, drink, marshals & rights There are specific rules surrounding providing food and drink at events organised through the Union and on Imperial’s campuses, see the Requesting Spaces training for more details. For large events you may have to nominate marshals from within the organising team to assist with evacuating areas in the event of an emergency. Specific guidance regarding marshals is available online, and anyone acting as a marshal must undertake the Marshalling Events eLearning module to learn about their responsibilities.
Organising Activities & Advertising cont... Performance rights must also be taken into account, so it is important to read the small print. Even for things like showing DVD’s in lecture theatres. It may be the case that you’ll have to pay for the use of copyrighted material. If you have an queries with regards to copyrighted materials please contact the Membership Services Manager. Careers events can be very beneficial to your student peers, but should be approached with caution. More information can be found on this topic by looking online at imperialcollegeunion. org/training. Some types of careers events are suitable to be organised by volunteers, others should be organised by the College Careers Advisory Service.
Publicity Good publicity is said to be worth about 70% of a successful event or activity, so it shouldn’t be underestimated. A set of publicity rules has been agreed between the Union and the College, these govern all types of publicity you may undertake, these are available online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training. The College and Union have teamed up to harness the benefits of electronic advertising. If your group has got some photos or videos you would like to share, then you can upload photos to Flickr or videos to YouTube. Tagging these with IMP150 may result in your group being featured in Union or College publications. There is more to advertising than posters though. You can afford to be really creative in this aspect, such as customising clothing or items related to your club activity. Also don’t forget the power of social networking sites such as facebook and twitter, and make sure you follow the Union @icunion. The ‘What’s On’ calendar on the Union website, imperialcollegeunion.org/whatson is a great way to advertise events. Details of how to add items to the What’s On calendar can be found in the Operating Workbench booklet.
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Safety Safety must be an important consideration for every volunteer. Everyone has a responsibility for the safety of the people participating in events and activities.
able to arrive quickly enough. They can also arrange for an emergency service to come to any campus if required.
What if something goes wrong? For every event or activity you organise a Risk Assessment should be in place. In the specific training for your role Risk Assessments will be covered, including where and how to submit them. The idea of a risk assessment isn’t to stop activities, but to ensure that you’ve thought how to minimise any existing risks, and thought through what you would do if an accident did happen and how you would manage the situation. This way, you won’t have to think on your feet in an emergency.
Activities on Campus If you are undertaking your activities on any campus at Imperial you are not required to fill in an activity registration, however there are specific rules are procedures that must be followed, these are outlined in the Requesting Spaces training and in the specific guidance for different types of events. However, if there is a problem, you can call security on 020 7589 1000 from any phone or dial 4444 from any internal handset. They can provide first aid or guide you through a situation on the phone if they aren’t
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If an accident occurs off campus there are a few simple things to remember and do: • Do call for help. The emergency number in the United Kingdom is 999. If you have travelled abroad, remember to look up the emergency number of the country you are going to, before you leave. Give it to everyone in your group. • When the situation is stable, report the incident to College Security on 020 7589 1000. Security is manned 24 hours a day, every day of the year. • Do not talk to the press or admit liability for an incident. The Union should not find out about an accident from national newspapers! While this might sound serious, every year incidents do happen so it is crucial everyone knows what to do. Make sure you add the phone number for security into your mobile phone. You should submit an accident report form to the Student Activities Centre with 48 hours of your return.
Safety cont... Accident Reporting In the event that an accident has occurred, it’s very important to report it. You do not get into trouble if you report an accident, but the aim is to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future. In order to do this you should fill in an accident report form. You can download these from the website imperialcollegeunion.org/accidents, or ask for one in the Student Activities Centre. There are accident report forms in the folders found in all minibuses. Accident reporting is in line with College policy, which fulfills the College’s legal obligations in this area, so it is import that you comply with this procedure.
The information provided will help the Union and the College in the case of an emergency involving participants of events or trips. The registration must be carried out online using Workbench, details are contained within the Operating Workbench booklet. It will literally take two or three minutes. The information required falls into two parts, namely: • Part A: Details of where, when & what the activity is, who is in charge, as well as departure and arrival places and times. • Part B: Details of who is participating, their names & CID numbers. Depending on the activity being undertaken, the following pieces of information need to be provided, these are summarised in the table below.
Activity Registrations Registration of activities is mandatory for all Clubs, Societies & Projects.
Increased Risk Activities
Other Activities
On Campus
None
None
Off Campus but within M25
Part A & Part B
Part A
Beyond M25
Part A & Part B
Part A & Part B
Residential Activities
Part A & Part B
Part A & Part B
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Safety cont... The list of Increased Risk Activities is: • Airsoft • Basketball • Caving • Canoeing • Clay Pigeon & Rifle Shooting • Climbing • Cross Country • Cycling • Football • Free running • Gliding • Hill Walking • Hockey • Ice Hockey • In-line Hockey • Kickboxing • Kite Surfing • Lacrosse • Martial Arts (all types) • Motorsport • Mountaineering • Orienteering • Parkour • Paintballing • Parachuting • Polo • Riding • Rugby • Rowing • Sailing • Skiing • Snowboarding • Squash • Surfing • Wakeboarding • Water polo • Waterskiing • Windsurfing • Yachting
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It should be noted that the level of information required is relative to the activity being undertaken rather than the Club, Society or Project undertaking it. For example the Yoga Club, who usually undertake their activities in a room on Campus, generally would not be required to register their yoga sessions. However, if the Yoga Club decide to go on a sailing trip then they would need to register that activity. Conversely, the Sailing Club must register each of their trips sailing, but if they decide to have an evening of Yoga on campus then they would not need to register that activity. The only exception to this registration scheme is for regular sports training, such as the Hockey Club training at Harlington on a Monday evening, or the Boat Club training on the River Thames each morning.
Finance Any activities which are undertaken by volunteers which involve handling money must be operated through the Union’s finance system. This is a legal requirement and one you cannot avoid. You cannot start an external bank account for activities which you conduct as part of your role as a volunteer at the Union, particularly for your Club, Society or Project.
2011/12; this will improve the speed of which reimbursements can be made and the information made available to those responsible. Reimbursements will also be made by BACS (electronic transfer) directly to people’s bank accounts.
The Union’s finance system makes dealing with money easier and fulfils all necessary legal requirements. It also offers free use of the online sales facilities through the Union’s website imperialcollegeunion.org.
Specific mandatory training is required for those who are responsible for groups with money or organise and run activities which cost or generate money. These are the Finance Overview and Finance Operations training modules, more information is available online at imperialcollegeunion.org/training. All the finance training is available as eLearning modules, so people can take it at their own pace and refer back to it later on.
Most of the issues surrounding finances are concerned with Clubs, Societies & Projects – these groups should all have an elected treasurer to deal with their finances on a day to day basis. The systems for dealing with finances for volunteer groups will be mainly online for
Don’t under any circumstances steal money or other items from the Union or its associated groups. The penalties are severe - this can be anything from a reprimmand to a disciplinary which can affect your continuation as a student of the College. If you are responsible for a group with its own funds lodged in the Union don’t allow your group to become overspent, not only will you get in trouble, but you’ll also make a mess for your successors. It is important you keep a very close eye on the finances of your group - mistakes can happen.
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Finance cont... Online Transaction Pages
Reading the Transaction Pages
In order to keep track of what money different groups have available an online set of transaction pages is provided. These contain all transactions relating to your Club, Society or Project which have been transacted through the Union’s finance system. You can view Club, Society or Project’s online accounts at:
When navigating to the transaction pages you will need to click on “Club & Society Admin” on the left hand side of the screen, then click on “Transaction Pages” from the submenu. Click on the magnifying glass icon to open open the search box, enter the name of your Club, Society or Project and click “Find Next”.
https://eActivities.union.ic.ac.uk/ csadmin/finance
The transaction pages specifically for your Club, Society or Project will be displayed. The page will default to the tab for the current financial year, and a summary of the details for your group.
These transaction pages are maintained by the Union’s Systems Coordinator and are based on the information you provide about your transactions. To help you understand the transaction pages in full it is advisable to look in the Finance Overview booklet and eLearning. The pages have been designed to be as easy as possible to read and provide as much information as possible in the most simple format. The transaction pages update instantly. The pages update as soon as transactions are put into the Union’s main finance system – if something hasn’t appeared within a few days of you submitting it then contact the Clubs & Societies Finance Officer.
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Click on the Transactions Summary tab to see an overall summary of your group’s financial position. Click on the Transactions Lines tab to view details of each financial transaction.
Finance cont... All transactions are available in a format which can be copied easily into Microsoft Excel. Below is an example a transaction entry relating to an enterance fee for a competition.
Items that appear in yellow on the transaction pages relate to cheques which have been issued to people but not yet cashed by them at their bank. It is important that you encourage people to cash their cheques quickly – afterall, it is their money. Below is an annotated version of the transaction page showing the Transaction Summary tab:
Submenu navigation Financial years
Transaction Summary Tab
Funding code tabs
Transaction amounts
Natural Account Codes Main Total Activity Codes
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Imperial College Union Beit Quadrangle Prince Consort Road London SW7 2BB
Tel: 020 7594 8060 Fax: 020 7594 8065 Email: union@imperial.ac.uk Twitter: @icunion imperialcollegeunion.org