Clodagh's round up
Hi everyone, now that we are coming into the final few daysof term one (!!!), I thought I would give you a quick insight into what my last few weeks of 2022 as VP Activities looked like!
Challenge Clodagh
Challenge Clodagh has been a success in term one, I have spent 9 weeks with 18 different sports and societies groups; from Rugby to Cheerleading, Psychology to Walking society. I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know other student leaders and getting stuck in with their tasks they set me. For example, I joined the LJMU Survivor's Society and handed out kindness cards out around campus in celebration of World Kindness Day. As well as this, I also went along to the LGBTQ societies Trans history quiz, in honour of Trans Visibility Week. Admittedly, I did not do overly well in the quiz, but I did learn a lot and am better off for it! They finished off the evening with a few rounds of Pictionary, which got quite competitive 😊
The final week of November, Challenge Clodagh placed me with the Golf team at ‘On the Green’. The club's president, Angus, gave me a lesson using the simulator at the venue before we played a few mini games. I really enjoyed myself and will be back at the venue for another session soon!
BUCS Wednesdays
In the first week of November I had a full Wednesday free which allowed me to get some admin work done in the morning and then join the both the Women’s 1s hockey team and the Men’s 2s in Formby! These were my first ever hockey games, and I must have been obvious in my confusion as to what was going on, so the committees and members were very kind to explain what was going on. Despite an afternoon of rain, I had a lovely afternoon, and it was great to see another one of our student groups in action.
I also went down to St Helens to see Rugby League. I somehow managed to land myself a seat on to the subs bench which offered a great seat to watch the game, but also allowed for the players to give me a live commentary. The boys played exceptionally, earning a nice win and topping off the couple of days I spent with them during Challenge Clodagh.
Due to my schedule, some weeks I didn't get to see as much of the BUCS fixtures as I would have liked. However, in between meetings and Challenge Clodagh, I always tried to sneak 10/15mins of whatever games were going on in the sports hall. For example, I managed to see the last 10 mins and victories for the Netball 1s and 3s, allowing them to progress into the next round of the cup.
Meetings
Now on to the less exciting, but possibly just as important parts of my weeks!
I caught up with JMSU staff, who are supporting me with the development of our Transgender Policy. This was to plan the Coffee, Cake and Change event to allow students to have their input in the language and contents of the policy. Towards the end of the week, I then attended the Cost of Living workshop, which is in partnership with LJMU to find ways we can best support our students through the crisis. Check out the JMSU COL webpage to find out more!
Other examples of meetings I've attended are the joint APP consultation with LJMU, an introduction to student futures and all the services they provide, a meeting with the Student Advice and Wellbeing team about a Student Support fund for members of student groups and finally the big one, the JMSU November Trustee Board. Two exciting, further meetings to mention was the first with the Dean of the Faculty of Health, Raphaela Kane, where we discussed how I can help support the students within the faculty and potentially how to further develop the existing relationship between herself and the students. The second was our initial meeting to big planning our big events for term two, and all the I can say is that you should all be VERY excited for term two and to watch our channels for any and all announcements!
FInally, my November meetings came to a close with the Student Officers monthly catch up with the PVC of Student Experience, Board of Governors meeting preparation and the BUCS Northwest meet-up – which is always a nice chance for me to catch up with other Student Officers at other SU’s, see what they are up to and share best practise with each other.
Alongside this, my term one has consisted of other notable things such as LJMU sports and societies nights, attended Christian Owens' Trans Visibility workshops and even got an interview with Humans of Liverpool to name a few. I have made some fantastic connections, new friends, and found newly-loved hobbies I definitely want to try again. I hope you all have a safe and happy break, and can't wait to see you all again in January! Why don't you take a look at our student groups today and you might find one just right for you.
Clodagh xx
