Friday 31-01-2025 - 14:09

Hello everyone, Summer here! 🌞

Hope you are all doing great this term and had a happy Holidays and New Years! We have had a busy first month of the year and have a lot to come your way.

First we did some officer training with Dows which was incredibly useful as always. Next we all completed YGAM training which taught us skills in Gambling and Gaming addictions so now we can understand these addictions better as a union. Thank you to the YGAM team for providing this!

In regard to officer campaigns, Lily was busy launching her Self-Care campaign in conjunction with our CSU Wellbeing week. The campaign was centred all around how you can find time to look after yourself, there was videos over on our Instagram page, with daily challenges as well as free resources given out following our partnership with Loreal. I did a campaign with the help of student services staff on how students can access support and who your student services staff are. You can find these as videos on our CSU officer Instagram and soon to be on our website as a blog. You can find different key staff in departments such as disability, mental health & wellbeing and student experience. 

 
On the 15th of January, I chaired the in-person AU forum. It was great to see so much attendance and great to hear student feedback. For those in sports teams, societies and any other students of the university, please feel free to contact me or the other officers if you want support.

Lily’s Pad was back again for Big Fat Quiz of the Year. It was so nice to see so many of your faces, In February we have a Galantines special over in the CSU Building on the 10/2/25 2-4pm. Make sure to check it out and make sure to keep an eye out for a valentines day event!

We also held events for our Wellbeing week which took place from January 27th to 31st. It was a week focused on helping students find their feet at University, make friends to reduce loneliness and learning practical skills to enhance their mental health toolkit. CSU events such as Therapy dogs, vision board making and speed friending, as well as showcasing wellbeing events from other university departments including volunteering, chaplaincy and AU occurred with us having over 35 events on offer for students across Chester, Warrington and Birkenhead campus and aim to make a significant impact on student wellbeing through this campaign. 

I will be doing my next summer social board game night on the 5th of February so make sure to book on our website and pop along! 

Our 2nd edition of the Chester Students' Forum (CSF) was a great success, hosted by Adedayo. We were joined by our local council authorities, who provided updates on community safety measures, and the NUS President, who shared insights on the Amended Renters’ Rights Bill and its impact on students. While we had hoped to have our MP join us, she was urgently called to Parliament on the day. It was fantastic to see students actively engage in the discussion. We took note of the key housing concerns raised and will be working to address them moving forward.

That is everything from me, hope you have a great February and speak to you soon!

 

Summer x