November FTO's Recap

We know that it's a busy time of year with exams, so for those of you who want a shortened summary, here it is!

Quick Summary

Cameron

• National Student Housing Week
• Improvements have been made to our Student Union Democracy
• Progress has also been made to a variety of ongoing initiatives
• Sexual Health and Guidance (SHAG) week, is being planned

Holly

• Academic Congress in the Borders and in Edinburgh
• Who doesn’t love a free Hot Drink?
• The new Student Partnership Agreement (SPA) is in motion
• Many exciting and insightful project progress

Sebi

• Started the month with Sustainability Week 2024
• The last Sustainability Forum EVER! (*of this semester 😉*)
• The Green Gown Awards
• Our Christmas Community Meal was awesome
• The first ever Winter Fest was just wonderful

Rachel

• Even more free hot drinks
• Watt a wonderful Winter Fest
• The New Black Voices Advocates are ready to go!
• The Student Partnership Agreement (SPA) is ready for 2025
• Our BIG 6 survey took centre stage

Cameron

In November, Cameron led the impactful National Student Housing Week, a campaign focused on raising awareness about the ongoing student housing crisis as well as lobbying for the government to make legislative reform. The week featured engaging events, including: 

• Sofa on Campus: A creative awareness event discussing hidden homelessness with students and staff. 

• Chatting with press: Cameron gave interviews and spoke with press about the student issues and why the Scottish Government needed to make the changes students are asking for.  

• National Rally: Held outside the Scottish Parliament, where Cameron delivered a powerful speech addressing the failings of the Housing Bill and advocating for urgent changes. 

• The week concluded with strategy discussions and planning for the next phase of the campaign. 

The Representation Review Survey concluded with an incredible 700+ responses, providing valuable data on student needs. Cameron worked closely with the strategic review team to analyse this data, organise focus groups, and prepare proposals for Parliament aimed at creating a more inclusive and effective student democracy that can achieve material change for students.  

Cameron made significant progress on several critical initiatives during meetings with university officials and stakeholders: 

• Report + Support Platform: Cameron supported Rachel in helping to progress this new system that would better allow support students facing harassment, discrimination, or facing any issue to report it in a simpler, less intrusive and more student friendly manner. 

• Crisis Support Strategies: Cameron also met with the University executive to discuss how we can better ensure that students have access to robust support during challenging times. 

And last but certainly not least, Cameron has devoted a lot of time towards the initial brainstorming and planning of the Union’s first-ever Sexual Health and Guidance week (SHAG). Through student focus groups and collaboration with other unions, this event will look to emphasize: 

1. Empowering Sexual Health and Safety 

1. Promoting Sexual Liberation and Inclusivity 

1. Fostering Consent and Healthy Boundaries 

This event will take place next semester, addressing vital topics in an engaging and positive way. 

Holly

The next Academic Congress meeting was held down in Galashiels this month and Holly was largely involved. The Academic Congress meeting gave a great insight into the student experience down in Galashiels to make improvements to student life in the future.

The final Academic Congress meeting of the semester was held here in Edinburgh. This meeting was held between students and key University staff to put measures in place to improve your student experience in the new year.

To beat the recent drop in temperature and the increase in student stress as we head into the exam season, Holly has been involved in brightening up these darkened days by offering up free hot drinks to students around campus throughout November.

Holly has also been involved in the discussions surrounding the creation of the new Student Partnership Agreement (SPA). These discussions involved the global student representatives who worked collaboratively for three days to form the new agreement alongside the University to improve student life here at Heriot-Watt.

Holly is involved in many projects as part of her role and has been extremely pleased with the progress made to actionable feedback, consolidating resources for consolidation week and looking at student engagement. All these insights will help us to improve support and resources for students in the future.

Sebi

Sebi was largely involved in the planning, organising and running of Sustainability Week 2024, and didn’t he do well! Right here at the Student Union, we gave students the chance to take a break from their studies and get involved in a variety of FREE events surrounding sustainability. These events ranged from, a Re-Loved pop-up clothes shop on the bridge link and a clothing swap workshop to a bingo night and pub quiz. With such a great variety in events, it meant everyone could get involved. The pub quiz raised over £70 for Shrub Coop an Edinburgh based Net Zero Hub and the Bingo Night which was held down in Galashiels organised by the Social Sporting Society was great fun and had some crazy festive prizes on offer. We even gave away 150 FREE Keep cups to students throughout the week to reduce one use plastic/paper cups. Overall, the week was a huge success and got students thinking of ways they can make small changes to enforce a large collective change in the future. 

Sebi also hosted the last Sustainability Forum meeting of the semester, which was co-hosted by our special guest, Emily Stone, who led a recycling campaign workshop to be launched next semester.

The Green Gown Awards were held in November of which Sebi, Cameron, several members of the Sustainability Forum, and the University’s Global Environmental Sustainability Team were all in attendance. The evening was held at Dynamic Earth which made for an already exciting evening, and on top of this, the Heriot-Watt Student Union Sustainability Forum were shortlisted as a finalist for our student sustainability engagement. This means that the efforts of our Sustainability Forum are not going unnoticed, and we would love to see as many students joining us next semester for more Sustainability Forum meetings.

Sebi and the team were involved in serving up over 150 delicious portions of Christmas lunch to students as part of our last Community Meal of the semester. Our Christmas Community Meal is always the most sought-after Community Meal, and this year was no different. The Student Union was packed full of hungry students who did not leave disappointed, and the Christmassy atmosphere made for a lovely afternoon. 

We also hosted the first ever Winter Fest here at the Student Union. The day was jam-packed full of Christmas cheer with many events on throughout the day to get students in the Christmas spirit. Sebi took part in the 2.5km Santa Dash, met a real-life reindeer and bought some student made Christmas crafts at our craft fair held in Zero’s. So, it’s safe to say he enjoyed himself, and so did the students who got involved. Bring on next year’s Winter Fest!

Rachel

Similarly to Holly, Rachel has also taken time out of her busy schedule to hand out some free hot drinks to students in November to counteract against the cold, because who doesn’t love a freebie?

Rachel couldn’t believe her eyes! The Union was PACKED full of students as part of our Winter Fest celebrations on Wednesday the 27^th. 2024 marked the first ever Winter Fest here at the Student Union, and the turnout was incredible. Rachel says “The energy and festive vibes were amazing”. 

Rachel was also heavily involved in the planning and conducting of interviews surrounding our newly appointed Black Voices Advocates who are will be amplifying Black voices in semester two. So, stay tuned!

As previously mentioned in Holly’s highlights, Rachel was also impressed with the work toward The Student Partnership Agreement, describing this as “a key piece that sets out how the Student Union, Student Council, Student Association, and the University will work together to support students over 2025”.

We also created and launched our annual Big 6 Student Surveys which look to gather students’ insight into various areas such as, accommodation, finances and more. We cannot stress how helpful these surveys are as they form a large part of our action and funding here at the union as we value the voices of the students more than anyone. ‘We are students first, always!”.

From everyone here at the Student Union, we hope that all of your exams go well, and we can't wait to welcome you back in the new year! See you soon!