Tuesday 15-08-2023 - 15:30

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year as Student Life President, and I am delighted to be heading into my second term having achieved so much for our Simmies. 

Making Welcome Fest tickets more affordable and delivering better value for money were some of my biggest manifesto aims, and I'm very proud to say that we achieved this. The tickets were up to £25 cheaper than last year, ad we had 7 more events plus an extra week! We delivered an inclusive programme of events, with events to cater for all students, with mixers for commuting students, international students and maturure students, and these events made several returns throughout the year.

Bringing back a weekly schedule of events for the first time since Covid was another big aim for me this year. We started this during the second week of Welcome Fest, and Karaoke was, as ever, a big hit! Since the start of the year, we have held over 25 karaoke nights and pub quizzes which have been fantastic, and it has been wonderful to see students getting involved, growing in confidence and making friends each week. 

We collected over 700 responses to our surveys about Student Heart Phase 2 and Simmie Safety, and students' responses have helped us to inform the University on what students feel are the biggest issues for them and what students want from the new space which will open in time for September 2024. 

Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week - 27 Februry - 3 March. To encourage students to show kindness in everyday life, something St Mary's is brilliant at anyway, we orgnanised and set up a 'compliment box' where students could submit a compliment or positive message for other students/staff. We received nearly 200 compliments, with around 10 for staff. 

George and I were so grateful to be afforded the opportunity once againto speak at Spring Graduations. It was fabulous to see, and be involved in, another celebration of our Simmies. 

On 29 March, for the first time in 5 years, we held Varsity on campus and brought the trophy home! I wat to say a massive thank you and well done to all the teams that played on the day. Win, lose or draw, all our wonderful students and staff played a part in making the day as fantastic as it was!

Following the Varsity win, we held Sports Dinner on 31 March at Kempton Park Racecourse. It was a truly wonderful night spend celebrating the successes of our spectacular sports teams and club members. 

For Deaf Awareness Week, each member of the SMSU team learned how to introduce themself, signing "hello, my name is X and my job here is Y". We also worked with out incoming Inclusion VP, Beth Kelly, a deaf student to organise a competition to win 2 Summer Ball tickets by sending a video signing "Hello my name is X and I'm excited for Summer Ball". Beth also delivered a fantastic presentation on what it means to be Deaf, misconcenptions about the Deaf community, how it can feel to excluded as a Deaf person, and how to make sure everyone feels included in all activities, from Rugby training to eating lunch. 

On 5 May, we held our first ever SU Awards night. Over 100 students attended, and it was wonderful to celebrate all of your successes with you. On the night of the awards, we presented 14 students and 3 societies with awards for their achievement in a range of areas from volunteering to SMSU Values. We also presented Simon Williams and Claire McLoughlin with Lifetime Membership Awards to thank them for their contributions to the success of SMSU this year. 

Summer Ball took place on 12 May and I think the pictures speak for themselves... it was fabulour to celebrate the end of the year/end of the THE STUDENTS' time at St Mary's with you, and Louisa Johnson was just an added bonus!