Cost of Living - the next steps
We know the cost of day-to-day living is at an all-time high, and so we asked students to complete an online survey to let us know how the Cost of Living was impacting you. Thank you to all of you who took the time to share your feedback – the results sadly revealed that students are being forced to prioritise everyday life over their education, across five main areas including food, travel, fuel and water, course materials and socialising.
Students should not be forced to make these choices and we believe Government need to tackle the Cost of Living crisis at a national level. We are committed to supporting all students through these difficult times, and here is a summary of what we are doing so far:
On a national level…
- We have signed NUS’ open letter to the Chancellor requesting more targeted support for student from the Government - can get involved with NUS’ campaign by signing the petition here.
On a local level…
- Working with LJMU to provide a series of free student lunches across the academic year
- Providing free Give it a Go sessions – ie The BIG night in, FIFA World Cup nights, and Christmas wreath making.
- Hold Clothes Swap events
- Continuing to organise events and volunteering opportunities across campus e.g. Unplugged Wirral Workshop (Parents & Carers) and Porridge Party.
- Working with LJMU catering to develop and promote its food offer
- Continuing to work with LJMU to provide free period products in toilets across campus.
We know that more work needs to be done, and we are working closely with the University to increase and improve support for all LJMU students as a result of the crisis. We have used your survey feedback to create a list of asks from the University, across five key themes. We want the University to:
- Improve academic support
- Put money into student’s pockets
- Reduce student costs
- Enhance advice and guidance
- Create a home from home.
Further details on the asks we have put forward to the University can be found here.
We will continue to work closely with LJMU to explore the feasibility of these requests and update you on our progress. In the meantime, should you need support dealing with the effects of the Cost of Living, please make use of the services available to you:
JMSU Advice service
LJMU Student Support Services
LJMU Student Support Fund
If you would like to chat to us about Cost of Living and/ or support our work, please reach out to us on Twitter: @JMSU_Officers
