Thursday 11-06-2020 - 08:00

It's been another busy and exciting year for Bristol SU, packed with literally hundreds of events, opportunities and activities for you to sink your teeth into. It’s also been an interesting year with some unexpected twists (to say the least) but there have also been some pretty big wins for students. Let's have a look back at some of what we've achieved this year... 

Welcome Week 

Welcome Week 2019 was our biggest and best yet. Despite the rain and the mud you still turned up in your thousands for the Welcome Fair on the Downs and queued round the block for plant-potting. 

New networks  

At the start of the year we introduced two new networks; the Care Leavers and Estranged Students Network and the Mature Students, Parents and Carers Network. We’re really pleased that these networks are already providing us with a way to greater support all aspects of the student experience at Bristol. 

Global Lounge  

The launch of the Global Lounge at the start of the year has provided Bristol SU’s International Students’ Network, BME Network, cultural societies and more with lots of opportunities to celebrate the diverse cultures and communities that we have in our student body. We’ve partnered on events from the Pan-African Festival to Global Carnival and are looking forward to more next year! 

Sustainability 

It’s been another bumper year for sustainability with a big highlight being Greta Thunberg’s visit to Bristol. We held lots of events for sustainability month including a student led showcase and a panel event led by George Bemrose, Student Living Officer. 

George also managed to secure meat-free Mondays in student halls, a veggie saver menu in the Balloon Bar and has been lobbying the university to adopt Ecosia as their official search engine. 

Democracy 

Every year at Bristol SU holds a healthy dose of student democracy but this year has had some particular highlights. Back in term 1 we had our highest ever turn-out for October elections which was matched by our busiest Student Council. 

Over 42000 votes were cast in our March election to vote in the new full-time officer team as well as many other positions. Bristol also re-affiliated to the NUS thanks to your votes. 

New Spaces  

As the Bristol Uni campus expands we’ve been securing more spaces for students in the heart of campus. We’re looking forward to the opening of the SU Loft and Beckford Bar in Senate House as well as an expansion of the current Bristol SU Living Room. 

We also opened four new SU Living Rooms across campus in different halls of residences so that you have more space to relax and take a break from your studies. 

Student Group Achievements 

Julio, Union Affairs Officer, introduced Bristol SU Group of the Month to provide more opportunities for student groups to get recognition for the great work they do throughout the year. Over 70 different student groups have taken part in the Balloon Accreditation Scheme including 41 who achieved Gold Balloon status. 

A huge congratulations to Chaos, Pitstop and the 93% Club who all scooped up awards at the National Societies and Volunteering Awards. 

Register to Vote 

Led by Undergraduate Education Officer Hillary we ran a huge register to vote campaign ahead of the general election in December. This included local hustings chaired by our very own Jason Palmer. 

Equality and Diversity 

Equality and diversity has been a huge theme this year with a lot of progress made in this area. Jason Palmer, Equality, Liberation and Access Officer, helped to secure the adoption by the university of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. Jason has also secured equalities officer positions on student group committees. 

We’ve supported a lot of network campaigns in this area from Black History Month and LGBT+ History Month to Care Allies and a Disabled Students’ Survey. 

Most recently, we’ve shared a statement of solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement and are following this up with a wider campaign. 

Intramural  

Intramural Sport has continued to go from strength to strength this year with 11 different sports now part of the programme (including e-sports!) and over 2400 students regularly taking part. 

International Student Support 

This year was the first year we’ve had a full-time international students’ officer, Julius Ogayo, securing greater support for international students at Bristol. Julius was one of the student leaders to welcome the government’s announcement of a new 2 year post-study visa extension for International Students from 2021 and ask for this to be brought forward to 2020. 

Julius’ motion to introduce an academic writing centre on campus also passed at our Annual Members’ meeting this year. 

PG Representation 

Postgraduate Education Officer Chris has been working to improve postgraduate representation at the university. He’s brought forward a proposal for a new model of PGR student representation, and has successfully introduced PG halls rep positions this year. 

Accessible Sport 

Amy, Sport and Student Development Officer, has worked hard to ensure greater accessibility to sport this year. She led the Take Pride in Sport campaign, including distributing lots of rainbow laces, and supported nearly 2000 students to get involved in This Girl Can week. 

Amy’s also been working on making the #WeAreBristol club development process more accessible and giving non-BUCS clubs access to more support. 

And some of the moments which haven’t been so great... 

Let’s face it, this year there have been a few moments we’d probably rather forget but they’ve still been an important part of the year. 

Newport 

Remember the accommodation crisis at the start of the year? Since that moment George, Student Living Officer, has been working tirelessly to make sure that students don’t face the same issue again. Students won’t be housed in Newport any longer by the university, and the university have increased their bed capacity for next academic year. 

Strikes 

Your Education Officers helped to support UCU colleagues and the strikes to ensure we retain the best quality teaching staff at the university and to support PGRs who teach. They also worked closely with the university to try and ensure that students weren’t unfairly disadvantaged from the strikes. 

Covid-19 

Since the University moved to working and teaching remotely, Bristol SU has continued to support students. There’s a lot of work that’s happened in this area but just some of what the team have managed to secure: 

• We pushed for students living in University allocated accommodation to not have to pay rent for the final term if they weren’t planning to return to that accommodation. 
• Issued an open letter to accommodation providers across the city and local MP Thangam Debbonaire to ask for additional support to students 
• Successfully lobbied the university for an increase to the Financial Assistance Fund and International Hardship Fund meaning there is more financial support available for students in need. 
• Gathered feedback from over 500 students to find out their concerns and what support they need. We have taken this to the University and used this research to inform the key things we are asking for. 
• Academic considerations including:  
  • Automatic extensions for students who need them   
  • A new, streamlined Extenuating Circumstances process for students who need it   
  • Ensuring the needs of disabled students, parents and carers and international students are explicitly considered in the policy and design of assessments   
  • The ability to retake an assessment without penalty  
  • Bringing the date forward for when finalists will be told what their “safety net” is, by three weeks so more students get answers sooner 
• Setting up the Bristol SU Online Living Room and hosting regular activity. 

2020/21 is going to be a very different year for many of us – but we’re looking forward to seeing what it brings! 

Find out more about what Bristol SU does for you at www.bristolsu.org.uk/impact