Hello, hallo, hej and hi.

A whole month has passed in a blink of an eye and I’m excited to say a big hello and hej hej as your new Activities Officer - I’m really looking forward to working with you all during the year ahead! I know what you’re thinking, and, yes, I miss David too. I had a great handover with him which introduced me to all areas of the SU and Activities world. I’m grateful for all the support and guidance David has given me and I hope to be able to continue his great work this year.

My first two weeks were jammed packed with my first Board of Trustees meeting, introductions with both SU and university staff, Open Days, strategy meetings and so much more – I’ve had a fantastic welcome to the SU and a huge thank you as well to the rest of the Officer Team who are all genuinely so passionate, kind and caring – I can’t wait to see to see all the (crazy) projects and ideas this year.

As I did during my election campaign, I’ve set my manifesto up under four key priorities to cover: Helping Student Groups, Leading on Sustainability, Improving Student Opportunities and Supporting Student Wellbeing. I’ll be providing updates on my manifesto points throughout the year!

I’ve been meeting key staff from the university to learn about their priorities and to see different areas where my manifesto can link up. We’ve also started work on our Top 10 plans which is already looking very exciting – more on this to follow! I’ve also been in meetings around the future of the Chaplaincy and how we can ensure faith representation for all members of our community, thank you to all of our Faith and Cultural societies who came along to share their thoughts and views.

On Monday, I also attended the Green Impact SU Awards where the SU were awarded ‘Good’ for our sustainability efforts and projects this year. It was great to hear more about the scheme for next year and I’ll be looking at ways that we can boost our rating. Even though new committees haven’t officially started, I’ve loved seeing the passion of our student body. A big shoutout to People and Planet who are already planning ahead of Freshers’– I’m keen to get more student sustainability representation across campus so if this interests you as well, please get in touch and read the Sustainable SU Action Plan which was created earlier this year.

There’s so many things I would like to achieve this year but most importantly I want to hear from you! Drop me an email, book in a meeting with me or come visit me in either 1E 3.21 or The Edge!

Sam