1 STUDENTS’ UNION. 18,000 STUDENTS YUSU exists to improve student lives. We aim to positively impact student lives so they enjoy their time at university and feel part of a supportive community that values all students. YUSU seek to change the student experience at York for the better.
University of York Students’ Union
IMPACT REPORT 2014-15
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CONTENTS 04
REPRESENTATION
06
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
12
WELL-BEING
24
COMMUNITY
28
COMMUNICATION
28
COMMERCIAL SERVICES
28
INTERNSHIPS
29
FINANCIALS
30
THANKYOU
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INTRODUCTION
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
INTRODUCTION THE YUSU MISSION IS SIMPLE… REPRESENTATION, PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES AND RUN SERVICES FOR ALL STUDENTS. This impact report is just a small segment of our mission in action over the last 12 months…. YUSU soared an impressive 5% in the annual National Student Survey, for making a positive impact on the lives of students’ at the University, way above the national average of 1%.
WE’VE GROWN RAPIDLY AS AN ORGANISATION • Sport participation has increased dramatically • 5 new Commercial Services venues in 5 years • Doubling staff population in 4 years • Offering proportionally the highest number of clubs and societies per student • Tripling the size of our large scale events in 5 years • Consistently in the top 10 election percentage turnouts in the country
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YUSU is at an exciting point. We have refocused. We went back to basics in 2014 we asked thousands of students and key stakeholders what they want us to prioritise over the next 5 years.
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Students made it clear that, representation is our core business and representing student views to the University was the most important role of YUSU, along with providing student opportunities, well-being services plus campaigns and a sense of community. The foundations are there, however we have big ambitions to increase participation and student satisfaction with the Union, with the overall aim to put students at the heart of everything at York.
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2014/15 AT A GLANCE... • Thousands of students consulted on issues that matter to them and developed a new 5 year strategy
• The largest scale YUSU events including the biggest Roses varsity ever to be hosted in its 51 year history
• Hundreds of volunteering opportunities continued and made available
• Training for students to learn new skills and lead the organisation
• Commissioned a Give it a Go programme
• Biggest Commercial Services surplus in history
• Remained in the top 10 election turn-out for a
• Gold Green Impact for YUSU Commercial
students’ union in the country
Services
• Campaign of the Year Runner-up in the annual NUS Awards for the NightSafe and river safety
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
REPRESENTATION YUSU PROVIDES A STRONG DEMOCRATIC STRUCTURE TO ENSURE STUDENTS ARE LISTENED TO AND CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THEIR LIFE WHILST AT UNIVERSITY AND FOR FUTURE COHORTS OF YORK STUDENTS. YUSU INVESTED £140,135 INTO ITS REPRESENTATIVE AND DEMOCRATIC STRUCTURES IN 2014/15. OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS YUSU WILL INCREASE ITS IMPACT FOR STUDENTS IN THIS AREA AND BY 2020 80% OF STUDENTS WILL AGREE THAT YUSU EFFECTIVELY REPRESENTS THEM. ELECTIONS YUSU remains in the top 10 of universities for election turn out. 33.838 votes were cast with 5065 individual voters, 28% of the student body. The successful candidates this year were...
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T N E S E R P WE RE ALL 18000 STUDENTS BEN LEATHAM
YUSU PRESIDENT
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“Representing all students, regardless of background, is one of our top priorities. On a regular basis we go out amongst our membership and listen to their concerns and suggestions, we coordinate representative networks for some of our hard to reach and minority student groups and have established an accessible and rigorous policy process.”
YORK SPORT UNION PRESIDENT
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“It is vital that the student voice is heard and elevated. We are fundamentally here to represent students and ensure their ideas, suggestions and proposals are rightly listened to and not ignored. It is our role to get out onto campus and regularly speak to all areas of our diverse university population.”
GRACE CLARKE
ORK STUDENTS’ UNION
CHRIS WALL
STUDENT ACTIVITIES OFFICER ‘Students need a voice. Without it the University cannot meet one of their main aims, educating and improving the lives of students. It’s an incredibly important job to ensure that students get the best deal for the things they care about. Whilst more students are spending time on their degree, it is important the time they do commit to their activity is the best it can be. That’s why representing activities and what students want is important.’
“I represent the student body through my connections to the liberation networks and the colleges. Through planning events and holding regular meeting with these groups, I am able to stay in touch with the wider student network and ensure that my projects and policies reflect the views and attitudes of the student body. Particularly those concerned with well-being and communities.’
SCOTT DAWSON
COMMUNITY & WELL-BEING OFFICER
THOMAS RON
ACADEMIC OFFICER “As a Union it is our job to fight in the students’ corner and our best to ensure they have the best experience possible. It is a privilege to make sure that the money they are paying is actually put to good use ensuring they have good degrees and a good chance of getting a job. By having strong representatives, who are not afraid to challenge their departments, we ensure that we have a critical and engaged student voice”
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
YUSU WORK TO ENGAGE STUDENTS THROUGH REPRESENTATION TO LEAD THEIR ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE.
STUDENT REPRESENTATION ON SENATE With low student engagement with University Senate a review found that adapting how student reps are nominated to Senate could improve engagement, moving away from a cross campus ballot. Following this review YUSU Department reps will now elect 3 fellow Department reps to sit on Senate, building engagement through their regular interactions as a team and with their Course reps.
FACULTY BOARDS Following the establishment of Faculties at the University YUSU ensured students are represented on Faculty Boards. Faculty boards now have a robust method of student representation, with 1 Department Rep, 1 graduate student rep and the YUSU Academic Officer.
PERIODIC REVIEWS
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Every 6 years, each Department within the University is reviewed to ensure academic quality of the teaching and student experience.
COURSE REPRESENTATIVES 2015 • 337 candidates stood for 209 positions. • 68% of seats received nominations. • 50% increase Course Rep nominations, from 224 in 2014 to 337.
DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVES 2015 Every department at the University of York now has a Department Rep in place!
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For each review, YUSU creates a Student Submission which asks students to assess the weaknesses, strengths and areas for improvement within their Department. YUSU Student Representatives also share insight for the Periodic Reviews, providing valuable insights into the direction students wish their department to take.
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SUBMIT YOUR IDEA AND REFERENDUM 17 ideas were submitted by students in the last academic year. Several of which were actioned by the Sabbatical Officer team and others worked on as campaigns.
Each year YUSU is responsible for putting together the University Challenge team to represent the University academic prowess on a national level. York smashed fellow Russel Group University and 4 times champions, Manchester 265-90 to go through to the second round. York then came up against Durham and was defeated 210 -160 where they went out with a respectable total
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UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE
• Should YUSU lobby the University to apply for Living Wage Employer status with phased implementation from the Living Wage Foundation? 864 for, 49 against, 11 abstentions • Should YUSU also conduct a research project into a ‘Student Living Wage’ in conjunction with an independent research body such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Trust? 778 for, 64 against, 54 abstentions
score of 370.
YUSU OFFER STUDENTS SIMPLE FEEDBACK SO ALL STUDENT VIEWS INFLUENCE THE DIRECTION OF THE UNION. GENERAL ELECTION 2014 – WHAT STUDENTS WANT TO SEE YUSU collaborated with educational institutions across the city to compile a collective student voice. As a result students gave their opinion on issues such as mental health, housing, finances.
QUESTION OF THE MONTH Every month students are asked on topics submitted through YUSU’s representative structures. In the previous year’s Question of the Month has been used to understand the issues regarding the environment, influencing university investment in recycling options.
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STUDENT LIFE SURVEY Since 2010 YUSU has built up a strong research element focus to its work. To coincide with the new strategy the Student Life Survey will gain insight and opinion on student life at York and will be used to develop the union. Launching the week 1 of the spring term, the student life survey will replace the Student Experience survey.
YUSU PETITION SITE One of the Union President, Ben Leatham’s key projects this year is a YUSU petition site. This will make it simple for students to petition on the issues that are important to them.
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‘The reason I made this a key project was because I wanted to provide a mechanism where students can feel empowered and make change politically.’
POP-UP SU Pop-up SU takes services to students all over campus. Launched in Freshers’ week 2015 hundreds of students have got to talk to the Union and benefit from providing feedback about their early uni experience as well as competitions and give-aways.
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YUSU IS FOR ALL STUDENTS AND IS THERE TO GIVE STUDENTS A VOICE ON LOCAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL ISSUES IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS. YUSU’S LIBERATION NETWORKS WORK TO PROVIDE STUDENTS A LOUDER VOICE ON THE TOPICS THAT MATTER TO THEM.
LGBTQ DISABLED STUDENTS NETWORK • Access Your Future returned even bigger for a third year, and secured grant money from YuStart. The event attracted collaborators from across the city and the campus, as well as speakers from a broad range of backgrounds including Paralympian Elizabeth Wright. • All 4 motions that DSN proposed at the NUS Disabled Students’ Conference were passed. • First ever Disability Sports at Roses - Sitting Volleyball! • As recognition for their continued work for disabled students at York, the disabled students network have been nominated for an Inclusive Networks Award, Health & Wellbeing Network of the Year alongside national companies as well as other universities.
INTERNATIONAL Regular coffee mornings and afternoons form the crux of the ISA, including a turnout of over 250 international students for their Fresher’s Week intro morning. • 700 people signed up to the ISA mailing list in Fresher’s Week alone. • ISA Winter Ball at Ask Italian in December, attended by 250 people • Managed to run seven trips this year in places like Cambridge, Whitby & Oxford • Global week! With over 20 societies taking part in the Cultural Performances, Beverage Festival & Food Fiesta
David Kato Memorial Lecture - The network were awarded £1100 by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, in memory of David Timms, to continue their work with the David Kato Memorial Lecture, a series they created to raise awareness and give a platform to international LGBTQ human rights issues.
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The YUSU Networks and their Officers gathered an incredible 15 YUSU Award Nominations, including a Lifetime Achievement Award for LGBTQ Officer Maddie Boden.
LGBTQ History Month was arguably the biggest impact for the LGBT network. They held two or more events every week over the month including: • LGBTQ History timeline in YourSpace for the whole of February. This included contributions from network members on elements of LGBTQ History they wanted to highlight. • Lectures by top LGBTQ academics in the field. Paul Johnson from the Sociology department spoke about the LGBTQ communities’ relationship with the European Court of Human Rights and Paul Baker from the English department at Lancaster University spoke on Polari, Britain’s secret gay language in the mid-20th century. • Pride film screening by York Student Cinema and David Lewis, a member of Lesbians and Gays support the miners (LGSM) to speak more about the politics behind the movie and the organisation. The event raised £311 for LGSM, the majority of which is going to help the Turkish Soma disaster miners. • Sexposè: The Threesome was another run-away hit. LGBTQ worked with Womens’ Network and FetSoc to fill the largest lecture theatre on campus to capacity and talked sex, gender, sexuality and everything in between. Over 1100 people filled in the Sexposè survey.
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO GAIN SKILLS AND GREATER EMPLOYABILITY. YUSU FACILITATES 170 SOCIETIES FOR, WITH AND BY STUDENTS. YUSU GAVE GRANTS TO SOCIETIES ADDING UP TO £52,261 IN 2014/15. HERE’S WHAT STUDENTS TURNED THAT MONEY INTO…
SCOUTS AND GIRL GUIDES YORK OR SAGGY FOR SHORT… A key achievement for SAGGY this year has once again been the running of ESCAPE. Escape is a 24 hour adrenaline-fueled wide game aimed at Scouts and Girl Guides aged between 14 and 18. Teams of 4-7 young people spend 24 hours navigating their own route while being pursued by teams of adults. Escape is the biggest entirely youth-led event in the whole country.
CHESS SOCIETY Chess society won the local league’s knockout cup, and finished second in the league season. Twice competing against other unis in the British Universities Chess Association (BUCA) Championship and also in the inaugural Northern Universities’ Chess Championship (NUCC) which York hosted. Chess society finished fifth in BUCA and second in the NUCC.
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WE HAVE T H O U SA N D S T I N U T R O P P O OF FOR STU 12
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DANCE SOCIETY
• 1st place Advanced Street • 3rd place Advanced Contemporary • 3rd place solo - Alice Balhatchet LOUGHBOROUGH DANCE COMPETITION, (LARGEST INTER-UNIVERSITY DANCE COMPETITION IN THE UK!) • 2nd place Advanced Jazz
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DURHAM DANCE COMPETITION
‘Still buzzing!’ - Dance Society student DANCE TOUR TO CROATIA! ‘FESTIVAL CROATIA DANCE COMPETITION’ • 2nd Overall ROSES 2015 • Won Jazz, ballet and tap • Overall winners gaining 4 points towards the overall score for York! • Nominated for Student Group of the Year at the YUSU Awards
TIES UDENTS
‘I’m super proud there’s so much thank you for all your dancey support this year we couldn’t have done it without you!’ – Dance society student
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GUARDIAN STUDENT MEDIA AWARDS NATIONAL AWARD SUCCESS FOR YORK STUDENT MEDIA
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VITAL STATS
• Publication of the Year – York Vision
• 150+ URY members
• Columnist of the Year – Charlotte Hogarth Jones – Nouse
• URY is 48 years old • 10,000 unique listeners per month across campus • YUSU granted URY £5,610 in 2014/16 • URY won an I Love Student Radio Award for Best Audience Initiative with their coverage of Freshers week 2014, YorkNext.
2012 • Publication of the Year- Runner up – Nouse • Student Digital Journalist of the Year – Jonathan Frost – Nouse
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“I’m thrilled that Fresher’s Week picked up an ILSR Award.” - URY Member
• Student Publication of the Year Runner up – York Vision
• The station was also nominated for Best Outreach Project for Getting Cold for Charity
• Student Critic of the Year - Runner up - Jonathan Roome
• URY’s Jay Glover was nominated for Outstanding Contribution to a Student Radio Station
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(Credit to Amy Bishop of student publication, Nouse.)
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York at the Guardian Student Media Awards:
Building on URY’s success at the I love Student Radio awards URY has received six nominations for this year’s Student Radio Awards, improving on their single nomination, and subsequent silver award, last year. The awards recognise the best in student radio across the country and are supported by BBC Radio 1 and Global. Big names in national radio can be found on the list of previous victors, including Scott Mills, Simon Mayo, Greg James and Annie Mac. The nominations for URY include the Best Live Event, Best Technical Achievement and Best Sport Programming. Rebecca Saw has an individual nomination for Best Newcomer and outgoing URY personality Harry Whittaker has earned two nominations for Best Male Presenter and Best Entertainment Programme. (Credit to Rob Middleton of student publication, Nouse.)
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• Publication of the Year – York Vision • Publication of the Year Runner-up – Nouse • Best Reporter – Patrick Greenfield – Vision • Best Critic – James Tyas – Nouse
ORK STUDENTS’ UNION
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
‘My involvement in Nouse was, and continues to be, enormously beneficial to me. It started me on my career path, and I’m now working for BBC News as a result of my involvement, and the Guardian Award I received during my time there’. Nouse gave me the opportunity to run a high traffic website, work with great people, and build lasting friendships, which, in turn, has afforded me a great career, the opportunity to start my own business’ and lots of good industry contacts.’
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JONATHAN FROST – PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT BBC
VITAL STATS • Nouse is 51 years old • 30 Nouse members • 3,000 free papers distributed across campus • YUSU granted Nouse £4,112 in 2014/15
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“Volunteering is a wonderful thing to do because it helps make the world a happier place. For me, it completely changed my life. It has given me purpose, support and direction for a career that doesn’t have to be restricted by my limitations and will allow me to work with consideration of my personal wellbeing.” - Heather Lysiak - Highly Commended Student Volunteer at the YUSU awards.
RAISING AND GIVING (RAG) RAISED £70,000 FOR CHARITY IN 2014/15
VOLUNTEERING
INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
YUSU RUNS 15 VOLUNTEERING PROJECTS.
• Climb Kilimanjaro for RAG and Childreach
TEA AND COFFEE CLUB
• Run Amsterdam for Worldwide Cancer Research
Tea and Coffee club exists to bring adults in later life together and share their stories.
• Raveathon - Red Nose Day ‘Thank you for supporting Red Nose Day, the money you raised help support our work with young people in Africa access an education. Without frequent donations from students in the UK we could have not achieved raising the number of children attending primary school in Africa by over 60 million since 2000.’
‘The project has a range of volunteers, which changes over the course of the year. This term, on average, we have around 8-10 volunteers for our hour-long weekly sessions. I love being part of project that really does make a difference in people’s lives.... even just an hour of your time can make a difference to someone’ BABYLON Babylon teaches foreign languages in schools. ‘We’re rapidly growing and signed up 100 volunteers this fresher’s fair alone. It’s so rewarding and a great way to get unique, creative school experience’
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SEXPRESSION Sexpression educates young people about sexual health and the stigmas around it. ‘Our project has 40 volunteers who trained for the first time or re-trained this year. Being part of York Sexpression means that young people in the local area are having conversations about something that relates to an incredibly important part of life for most people: how we relate, healthily and unhealthily, to our intimate partners; and how we can learn to understand our own sexualities in safer, more fulfilling ways. For me, it also means having interesting conversations and playing fun games with young people who are curious and engaged, the joy of which cannot be understated.’
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SKIP
Creating edible gardens on campus for all to enjoy.
Working to teach creative writing in Schools.
SKIP (Students for Kids International Projects) HYMS aims to improve the lives of children in Kibaha, Tanzania via sustainable interventions in health and education.
KEEN (KIDS ENJOY EXERCISE NOW)
TEDDY BEAR’S HOSPITAL
Sports and activities with children with disabilities.
We aim to promote healthy living and alleviate concerns about hospitals and doctors through fun activities and play.
INKWELL
KIDS CAMP A week long residential with children who are desperately in need of a break. Held during Easter and Summer MARROW Marrow works to raise awareness off, sign people up to and raise money for the Anthony Nolan stem cell donor register, a service for people suffering from blood cancers, such as leukaemia.
THEATRE IN SCHOOLS Theatre in Schools is an exciting project that sees volunteers going in to local primary schools to run drama sessions as an after school activity.
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EDIBLE UNI
VIVA VOCE Creating and publishing a free audio magazine for young visually impaired adults.
MEG (MUSIC EDUCATION GROUP) Working with predominantly children to teach them music. MINDS IN MOTION Helping people with Dementia and their carers. OPEN MINDS OpenMinds aims to educate secondary school students about mental health and improve their help seeking behaviours.
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
WE RECOGNISE THE EXCELLENCE OF STUDENTS WHO WORK TO IMPROVE STUDENT LIFE AT YORK. THE YUSU AWARDS 2015 WAS A SPECTACULAR EVENT HELD IN CENTRAL HALL. EDUCATIONS PROGRESSIVE - JAZ MILLAR PROJECT SEXPRESSION Contribution to Diversity LGBTQ’s Passionate Voice Volunteering project of the Year This courageous student is the LGBTQ convener This unparalleled volunteering project dramatically and perpetually campaigned for the liberation of increased the number of sex education sessions it trans*people – running awareness campaigns, teaches in multiple schools across York. fundraisers and grew the participation of trans* people in the LGBTQ network. NAOMI BARROW Contribution to student well-being, Well-being warrior This distinguished campaigner raised awareness on mental health and the student body; she organised and delivered a far reaching World Mental Health Day event.
SELINA POPE Academic representative of the year Pursuer of Inclusive Learning Making sure no student is left behind; she pioneered the ‘maths skills scheme’ for PEP students, widening participation in the future for all first years.
POLICY PIONEERS - HARRY WHITTAKER YORK STUDENT THINK TANK Greg Dyke award for student media URY’s Society of Year Driving Force
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This top-notch society gave students the chance to input their voice, discuss and debate current affairs and pressing issues through its growing policy labs.
BRENDAN SHEA Outstanding Community Volunteer King of KEEN This remarkable student dedicated much of his time to the KEEN project supporting children with special needs around York.
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This exceptional broadcaster is the most listened to on URY, he won a national award this year providing he is a true radio talent. This motivational student leader has masterminded a new approach to Big D, alongside being a course rep and encouraging more students to engage with opportunities in the charity sector.
ORK STUDENTS’ UNION
MADDIE BODEN YUSU lifetime achievement award York’s Pride Pioneer
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS PROJECT Student group of the year Health’s Honesty Bomb This remarkable project has worked tirelessly to break down misconceptions around mental health in an engaging and creative way.
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This world-class individual has worked tirelessly while at university, and as LGBTQ Officer given students a real sense of pride in their identity, community and who they are.
ELISABETH DAVIES Outstanding contribution to student life Derwent’s Breakout star This motivational student leader has masterminded a new approach to Big D, alongside being a course rep and encouraging more students to engage with opportunities in the charity sector.
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
SPORT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF MANY STUDENTS’ LIVES. YUSU INVESTED £85,000 IN SPORTS CLUBS IN 2014/15. SPORTING TALENT SANTANDER SPORTS SCHOLARSHIPS – STEPH CLUTTERBUCK Steph Clutterbuck, a second year History student, was awarded a £5000 Santander scholarship through YUSU for her elite sporting talent. Steph has ambitions to appear in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. “I aim big. I am extremely competitive and driven- I’m not afraid to admit that. I don’t settle for anything less than what I want in anything. Not in school work, not in sport. I won’t stop until I get there.” The scholarship means Steph can afford to buy equipment, coaching and the adequate amount of food she needs to fulfil her 3,000 calorie a day training diet, all of which she admits, would not be affordable without help and Steph sees the funding as critical in realising her Olympic goals. (Credit to Tom Harle of student publication, Nouse.) YUSU negotiated with the university and has secured investment for a permanent rowing coach at the University of York for the 2015/16 academic year.
PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME 2014 saw the launch of our brand new Performance Programme. The scheme provides support and training to our high performing athletes and clubs, promoting excellence and maximising opportunities to improve sporting performance. • 19 scholars, some of Olympic standard all receiving a bursary of between £150 and £300 • In association with the Alumni and Development Office Santander provide our two most elite athletes with a £5,000 bursary each. Achievements of Performance Programme Scholars and Teams include: • GB Rowing Representation • GB Water Polo Representation
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• GB Canoe Representation • Wales Lacrosse Representation • England Karate Representation • Fencing Trophy Finalists • Futsal took part in the Super League and Futsal FA Cup
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NICK BIGHTMAN, BOAT CLUB PRESIDENT:
VX Jack R. Brown won the world cup 2014 ranking him 1st Senior in the world, Charlie Ford finished 2nd Youth in the world cup 2014 ranking him 2nd youth in the world, Jack finished 5th in the world cup 2015 ranking him 5th senior in the world, we were university festival champions 2014, Jack won the national V2 league 2015 and came 2nd in it 2014, Charlie came 2nd in the national V2 youth league 2015.
SWIMMING AND WATERPOLO For the first time in the clubs history the women’s water polo team got through to the UPolo national finals in Cardiff. They faced tough opposition with teams such as Loughborough and Sheffield Hallam which are well known sports universities and the BUCS Premier league champions. They put up a good fight to finish 3rd in the country (beating Loughborough 1st on a count back of points difference). HOCKEY
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‘I have a strong belief that the introduction of a high quality full-time coach will provide our athletes with the experienced guidance necessary to help us make the next step up in terms of performance and allow the club to develop at a rate not previously possible in its entire history.’
Their Mens 1sts and Mens 2nds went up in Yorkshire league this year and their Ladies 2nds got promoted in BUCS. Also, they were unbeaten over the Roses weekend with their men’s side winning every game. And all of their 6 teams finished in the top 3 in their respective BUCS leagues.
POOL AND SNOOKER The Snooker club won the BUCS Trophy (ranking us 9th in Britain) and their Captain Tommy Lewis now plays for the Emerging England team. The Pool club got to the final of the Northern Universities Championship and were unlucky in the final. The club looks stronger than ever this year and want to be ranked 1st in Britain by the end of the year for Snooker.
YORK BUCS VITAL STATS • Ranked 36th, 2 positions higher than 2014 • 6 league winners • 3 teams reached the Northern Conference Cup Finals • 2 teams reached the National Trophy Finals • 3 individual medallists in canoe, judo and athletics • Grace Clarke, YUSU Sport President has been elected as BUCS Student Officer for 2015/16
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YORK SPORT UNION HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE The College sport offer has grown substantially. We now engage 12 more sports through the college sports programme. Weekly fixtures are played in 21 leagues, as well as one day tournaments. “College sport is one of the strongest and best aspects of York University” – College Sport participant “I think being part of a college makes it easier to get to know people and make friends, especially because of college sports and events.” - College Sport participant
ROSES York beat Lancaster with a record number of points clear, 227.5 to Lancaster’s 141.5. • 51 year history • 50 sports • Hundreds of fixtures • 3 days
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• Thousands of students • 1 Carter James trophy The opening ceremony attracted 7,000 students and members of the local community to enjoy campus. Central Hall was transformed to a boxing ring to a sold out student crowd. Roses 2015 saw the most diverse gender representation in its 51 year history. Women’s boxing was showcased as part of the opening ceremony and there were nearly 30 women’s fixtures. York also hosted the tournament’s first disabled sport – sitting volleyball. Inclusivity in Roses is on the rise. Roses 2015 really was the biggest and best yet. England Football Manager, Roy Hodgson opened the proceedings – the first time a high profile celebrity has done this.
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PHYSIO PROVISION Building on the implementation of the subsidised oncampus physio service started in 2013-2014, YUSU’s YuFund bid to expand the service was successful. YUSU now run 10-30 minute clinics weekly.
Tristan Burd, 4th Year Economics, Men’s Rugby Club President: ‘The on campus physio service has been extremely valuable and benefited both myself and the rugby club massively. Playing a contact sport like rugby means that you often pick up small niggles and injuries during the season and without proper attention these can become serious concerns and result in players missing a number of matches. Physios are essential in helping to asses sporting injuries and play a vital role in ensuring that players return to the sport quickly, but more importantly when they are ready and fully recovered. Without the on campus physio many players would not have access to this service as physio can often cost upwards of £25 per session and the requirement for repeat appointments usually means that it is well beyond a student budget.’
ATHLETIC UNION FEE Due to increasing facility costs at York, in order to sustain club facility usage whilst providing opportunities for the York Sport Union to develop, YUSU consulted with clubs over a 2 month period on the introduction of an Athletic Union fee.
York Sport Union, working with Stonewall took part in the nationwide campaign participation by breaking down the barriers to sport. The Rainbow Laces project was a huge success with hundreds of students purchasing the laces, so successful was the campaign it has continued into this academic year.
YORK SPORT UNION AWARDS TEAM OF THE YEAR Men’s Badminton 1st
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Over 100 students and 30 clubs have benefited from the service since its implementation in January 2014, continuing YUSU’s strong relationship with local business, Highthorne Physiotherapy Ltd.
RAINBOW LACES
MOST IMPROVED CLUB Octopush ROSES TEAM OF THE YEAR Boat SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR Tom Grant SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR Claire Thomas SERVICES TO SPORT Caitlin Graham SPORT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR Tom Harle MOST IMPROVED SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR Anna Cook COACH OF THE YEAR Junior Roberti
Clubs voted for its introduction at the York Sport Union AGM.
CONTRIBUTION TO DIVERSITY IN SPORT Jitka Jizerova
The fee has generated over £40,000 income which has sustained facility usage and has paid for the development of: Focus Sports, Physio, Pre-season Training Camps and Contingency Grants for clubs to apply for when they need emergency funding.
COLLEGE SPORT FRESHER OF THE YEAR Chloe Tennant-Fry COLLEGE SPORT TEAM OF THE YEAR Derwent Football SERVICES TO COLLEGE SPORT Alex Millar
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
WELL-BEING YUSU IS HERE TO MAKE STUDENTS’ LIVES BETTER. YUSU PROVIDES ADVICE AND SUPPORT FOR ALL STUDENTS AND IS THERE TO MAKE STUDENTS’ LIVES BETTER.
‘I always look forward to coming to the events. I met my closest friend, and it’s really helped me not have a total breakdown from depression since coming to university. It’s a lovely and supportive environment, and I am so glad you guys exist’ – Society Member The Advice and Support Centre or ASC provides information and advice that helps students who are experiencing difficulties – whether this relates to academic work, living on a budget, or getting along with housemates. YUSU ASC is independent from the University, we are uniquely placed to offer advice and support particularly for students who are reluctant or unsure about how to approach the University. We offer a confidential space to talk through concerns, provide guidance and support on University procedures (such as Appeals, or Academic Misconduct investigations) and signpost students to relevant partner services.
PROACTIVE APPROACH Food for Thought is a new programme of workshops that we have been piloting over the year. We know that food is a great way of bringing people together and fostering community. Making food is also a practical skill and essential to keeping healthy, eating well and saving money. Working in partnership with Student Support Services, colleges, and student associations, we have put together innovative workshops: • Knead Some Dough: bread making and budgeting • Slice of Life: Pizza making and getting tips for house-sharing
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• A total of 49 students attended these sessions. 86% rated the workshop 5 out of 5; with the remaining 14% rating it 4 out of 5.
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• 100% of those attending said they would recommend the workshops to a friend. • This year, another session “If the Cookie Crumbles: Cookie-making and confident friendships” is being piloted, as well as more of the workshops above.
SUPPORT WHEN IT’S NEEDED: We believe it is important for students to know who we are, and last year we spent a lot of time out and about around campus promoting our services. This included: • Information Sessions on Hes East and Hes West every other week promoting ASC, Student support services, and useful information for students. • A drop in at Health Sciences every Wednesday morning. • Healthy and Wealthy sessions with Student Support Services, promoting Healthy Eating, How to de-stress, and Managing your money
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SPECIFIC SESSIONS ON MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES Over this time we have seen a rapid increase in our 1:1 casework, with students seeking advice on a range of issues. These are predominantly around support with Academic Appeals, and guidance on preparing for Academic Misconduct hearings, but also include more general welfare issues, accommodation, and mitigating circumstances. 107% increase mitigating circumstances cases in the past year. This year we worked with almost 40% more students than over the previous year. We aim to ensure that every student that needs independent and confidential advice knows how to contact us.
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
NUS AWARDS YUSU came runner-up for Campaign of the Year award which recognised our contribution to the river safety campaign in York, beating off competition from hundreds of other students’ unions. The student and wider community of York were shocked by the spate of deaths in York rivers in just three consecutive months. In response, an emergency river safety summit was held and a sub group to the Safer York Partnership were tasked with the River Safety Campaign, with the key objective of preventing river-related incidents across the City of York. As a key partner in the campaign, YUSU started the ‘NightSafe’ scheme; specifically designed to tackle the issue of student fatalities connected to the river after nights out. Kallum Taylor an ex-president at YUSU explains the purpose of the scheme:
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‘NightSafe is a student-led street volunteer scheme where a group of students go out every student night and basically patrol key routes giving out water, sandals, food making sure if they see a student alone they get seen to and making sure students get home properly.’ The River Safety Campaign was and still is, delivered through multiple-partners to ensure the campaign is as far-reaching as possible. Key partners from across York including emergency services, commercial boat operators, North Yorkshire Police, The York Evening Press and the city’s two university students’ unions came together to contribute to the campaign. Several channels of activity have now been implemented to prevent future tragedies.
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NightSafe was launched to coincide with Fresher’s week 2014. 62 student volunteers including; 12 team leaders were recruited and trained by local charities and authorities to ensure the safety of students and residents. Every YUSU student night across the year is patrolled by NightSafe and offers an invaluable service to people out in the city centre. One student said: ‘During Freshers’ week I lost all my flat mates and I didn’t have their numbers yet, the girl from NightSafe gave me some flip flops and got me in a taxi back to my halls. It was so good that there was another student who was sober that could sort me out!’ Another student said: ‘When students kept disappearing after nights out and being discovered in the river, it was quite shocking. It is nice to know there is someone there preventing this sort of thing.’ From the very beginnings of NightSafe, the studentled initiative was praised by both local and national politicians with reference being made to NightSafe in the House of Commons. Jackie Roberts, Mother of the university student, Megan Roberts who drowned following a night out in York said specifically about NightSafe: ‘From a parents perspective I would like to thank them wholeheartedly for what they are doing.’ In a 3 month period NightSafe helped; 29 University of York, 8 York St. John students and 14 local people on nights out alongside handing out 3,000 bottles of water, 700 sick bags, 500 foil blankets and 200 pairs of flip flops to York revellers.
ORK STUDENTS’ UNION
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Students have shown outstanding commitment to the schemes and volunteers have contributed just over 12,000 hours equating to, somewhere in the range of, £78,000 worth of wages. Julia Mulligan – Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire said about NightSafe, ‘This is really innovative scheme that students have developed and I am pleased it is proving to be successful. I would like to thank all of those involved for helping York a safer place.’ In support of the scheme Ms Mulligan has also donated £750 for new radios and the scheme has been heralded as such a success by North Yorkshire Police, the authority has granted a further £5000 to YUSU to fund NightSafe for the 2015/16 academic year. Cllr Ashley Mason who is the vice chair of the North Yorkshire Police and crime panel said: ‘There is no doubt that their efforts reduce the strain on the NHS ambulance trust and hospital. The Superintendent of York echoed my views as did council officials. I hope this service goes from strength to strength and continues to have the support of YUSU and the University.’ The River Safety Campaign has also influenced other cities work on river safety. YUSU have shared their best practice and the lessons learnt when implementing the scheme, guiding the development of a similar scheme run by students in Durham, where there was starkly similar demand for the service.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID “I’m particularly impressed with the high impact of this campaign and the fact that students have given up such a huge amount of their own time and effort to make it a success. This is an incredibly important campaign that has the capacity to save lives, and has a wider positive impact not only for students but also for the wider community.” - Laura Bates, Everyday Sexism “This was just such a phenomenal campaign, with such an important motivation. The number of students engaged the number of volunteering hours and the reach into the community has been just fantastic.” - Charlotte Hill, Step Up To Serve
As a side, NightSafe has received a volunteering award from Higher York, the partnership agency for FE and HE institutions in York, due to the opportunities the initiative provides for students to gain new skills.
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UNIVERSITY OF YO
COMMUNITY WE BRING TOGETHER ALL STUDENTS. THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF COMMUNITIES AT YORK AND YUSU HAS THE LARGEST NUMBER OF CLUBS AND SOCIETIES • All sizes
• All beliefs
• All ages
• All religions
• All cultures
• All types
• All genders
• All students
YUSU IS WORKING WITH THE COLLEGES Following a presentation by Charlotte Bonner, NUS Communities Programme Manager; all colleges took up the NUS energy saving ‘Student Switch Off’ initiative. Wentworth College came out on top however on average students have used 10% less electricity than in the baseline year and this year have saved a whopping 141,266kWh of electricity. That’s the same amount of energy it would take to make over 4,400,000 cups of tea!
GSA AND ISA The University of York is rare. York is one of the few universities to offer a distinctive Graduate Students Association and an International Students Association, specifically addressing the needs of these demographics.
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COMMUNICATION • 13,909 Facebook Likes 2,240 more in a year
• 1,080 Instagram followers • 10.2K Twitter followers
COMMERCIAL SERVICES All profits generated goes back into student-led activities and the development of the union. 95% of staff employed in our YUSU outlets, are students. £66,114 was paid in wages to students in the 2014/15 academic year.
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• 4.6K member of the Official University of York Freshers Facebook Group 2015
YUSU commercial services have also achieved the Gold award for environmental impact
INTERNSHIPS YUSU commercial services runs an internship programme for York graduates. RORY CARTWRIGHT – THE KITCHEN@ALCUIN ‘At York I studied History, which was wonderful, and due to the minimal contact hours gave me a lot of scope to develop my own style of work and play balance. I decided to apply to be a YUSU CS intern chiefly because of the experiences gained in the preceding year working for CS in the Courtyard. I became enamoured not only with the ethos of the organisation, but its dynamism and intense drive to grow and expand, all for the betterment of the student experience. The people helped too, of course! The size of CS meant that working for just one venue in reality gave you access to going on for a hundred other CS employees a huge pool of people to get to know. Finally, it was witnessing the two previous CS interns grow and change over the course of last year
that convinced me that that was something I was interested in. The opportunity to learn new skills at a management level with minimal previous experience was one not to be found just anywhere, and i could hardly fail to snap it up when it came around! Through this year I aim to achieve several things. The first, as mentioned above is the experience at managing people and venues that will prove valuable in a future (and as yet undecided) career path. I also aim to gain a sense of personal satisfaction out of various projects and initiatives for which i will be taking the lead. Finally, I want to solidify the connection between myself and the university that gave so much to me during the last three years. ‘
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FINANCIALS YUSU IS NOT-FOR-PROFIT. ALL SURPLUS FUNDS CREATED THROUGH YUSU COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY IS REINVESTED INTO THE ORGANISATION TO PROVIDE STUDENT-LED ACTIVITIES. The 2014/15 financial year looks like this…
WHAT’S COMING IN?
Other grants or funding YUSU Events & Marketing
WHAT’S GOING OUT?
Commercial Services
Representation & Well-Being Democracy & Community
YUSU Events & Marketing
Student Opportunities
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University block grant
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Commercial Services Wage Costs
THANKYOU THE NEW STRATEGIC PLAN WILL GUIDE THE ORGANISATION TO GROW IN ITS 4 CORE FUNCTIONS: REPRESENTATION, STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES, WELL-BEING AND COMMUNITIES. Students have lead YUSU to make a real difference to the lives of many, not just to students and not just exclusively in York but, across Yorkshire, the UK and globally. We are extremely proud of our students here at York. The passion and enthusiasm from our students to make a difference is what makes YUSU so successful, a huge thank you to all our volunteers, sports clubs, societies, department and course representatives who have made it happen. Special thanks also go to the University of York and our 2014/15 elected leaders Sam Maguire, George Offer, Cassandra Brown, Chris Wall, Jemima Busby and our external trustees Robert Brech, Neil Irving, Kevin Hall and Jack Chadwick. 2014/15 has also been made possible by key partnerships and funding in particular Sport England, Higher York, The National Union of Students (NUS) and the Safer York Partnership which has enabled YUSU to drive forward innovative and successful projects.
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