“33% of Salford students are unsatisfied with their ability to make friends"
Officers help the SU make decisions on where to direct funding, how to support societies and what events we can put on throughout the year to entertain our students. Within all these areas we think about the impact of loneliness with our students. Social events that officers has supported and advocated for in recent years include:
- Grand Iftar
- Holi celebrations
- Winter Wonderland
- Salford at Pride
- School networking events
- Friendship Valentines
- International Food Festivals
“UK students on the maximum student loan should have an additional £1906 per year, if loans had kept pace with inflation"
The rising cost of living has had a big impact on student lives, and our officer teams have been very aware of this when championing for you as students. Officers have lobbied hard for increased hardship funds and for cheap food and drink on campus in recent years. They have recently ensured that there would be price deductions in the student shop and the team collectively did some work in 22/23 on hot food and the £1 jacket potato meal deal. In years previous officers have worked on giving international students who were suffering financial hardship a chance to pay fees in smaller instalments and an increased international hardship fund after the university had created funds that mainly catered to home students.
“Only 40% of students think they will be able to afford their accommodation”
One of our previous officers was the first to secure funding from the university in order for us to provide housing advice through our SU Advice Services.
As of the last month our officer team have discussed The Renters’ Rights Bill with our local MP. Although recent developments have meant that landlords are limited to requesting only 1 month’s rent upfront, this isn’t always the case for international students who can be charged considerably more. Forming a relationship with the MP will keep these conversations going and work towards improving the housing crisis that many Salford students face. Not only this but they have previously lobbied in Parliament for no more student guarantors and have shared personal experiences of the struggles this has created.
“Nationally, 71% of PhD students have signs of at least mild depression”.
Campaigning for students wellbeing and security is something that all of our officer teams have done throughout the years – and we are aware that students across schools and year groups struggle with their mental health being impacted whilst at university.
Here are some officer wins in recent years that have helped improve the wellbeing and sense of belonging at university:
Combatting discrimination on placement:
Last year one of our officers worked hard to listen and act upon the testimonies of students who had unfortunately had to deal with discrimination during their NHS placements. They made sure that students voices were elevated and heard by the right people in positions to take the positive steps forward and start creating change. They also worked with our marketing team to put out materials on how to be a better bystander and to support your peers through incidents such as this.
Defining Islamophobia:
This year our officer team has worked hard on finding ways our university community can combat islamophobia and make a safer, happier environment for all of our students when studying at Salford. As a part of this they were able to work with the university to devise a clear definition of what Islamophobia is, strengthening our Report & Support services and listening to feedback from students.
Social Prescribing:
Our officers have been working directly with our Advice and Wellbeing team to help find the right members of staff to help with our new social prescribing scheme. This is something that has been collaborative with the university and local NHS services – and is in place to help students who are struggling with their mental health in social situations.