Justin Groves, a final year Undergraduate studying Applied Ecology and Conservation at the University of Reading has written an interesting guest blog for us about volunteering and the Student Eats project......

I had just been appointed President of Reading University Botanika Society when I was asked by RUSU to attend a meeting about a new vegetable growing project on campus. RUSU had received funding from the National Union of Students (NUS) to develop a vegetable garden and given that Botanika undertake just that sort of thing, we were very keen to get involved.

It was by sheer chance that during the summer holidays, whilst on my Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) placement on biodiversity, that I stumbled across the rather derelict and forgotten Bridges Hall Walled Garden. I could instantly see the potential to make this area an excellent social and sustainable growing space for students to enjoy. As with any project, it has taken time and patience to get off the ground, but since the end of January we have had a great team of students visiting each week and overseeing its transformation.

As a result of the NUS 'Student Eats' funding, which supports institutions across the UK in cultivating their

own student-led growing sites for fruit and vegetables, we took the decision to change the name of the Botanika Society to Student Eats Botanika and amalgamate it into the NUS  initiative, so that RUSU and the society did not conflict. This has allowed the society to lead the project and has provided our members with the most fantastic space within which to work. The task ahead is considerable, given that the garden has not been tended for over five years and as a result is very overgrown.Plans were drawn up of the intended layout of the garden, although this has changed and evolved over the period as the garden has started to establish itself.

Since January, around a dozen student volunteers have helped out at every session; despite some of the most atrocious weather. Together we have worked tirelessly in reclaiming at least a third of the garden that had been lost to scrub, marking out beds and giving the shed a much needed tidy!

Since the start of the year, over 260 hours have been put into this project by volunteers and with spring at last here, this will increase as the lighter evenings make volunteering to help much easier for both for students and members of the community.

We hope to grow the student volunteer base further, as well as involving RUSU and University staff and the local community. The project has funding for a three year period and after that the challenge will be that the garden will need to sustain itself by way of selling the produce to generate money to cover the running costs.

The more volunteers we have involved the better and joining the volunteer team is simple. Check out our Facebook page and blog, or pop in to Student Activities Centre in the Students' Union to have a chat to the Volunteer Co-ordinator about the project.

Hope to see you at the Walled Garden soon.

Justin Groves
3rd Year
BSc Applied Ecology and Conservation

Why Interns Need to be Paid

Last week, you may have seen in the news that Reading Football Club advertised a year long unpaid internship for a ‘first team performance analyst’. This sparked controversy amongst internship campaigning organisations as the internship was not only unpaid but did not pay travel expenses. As this internship was offered at our closest premiership club, I thought I would state RUSU’s position on unpaid internships.

RUSU believes that all workers should be paid for the job that they do. However, we do recognise that students will wish to gain experience in their desired careers to improve their chances of getting the jobs that they want on graduation. Unpaid internships inhibit students from low-income backgrounds from having a chance to get the experience that some professions require.

Students who wish to make their CVs more attractive often volunteer their time to partake in all sorts of activities. These activities include work experience but also include volunteering in the conventional sense. This is fantastic and it is often these students who get the best jobs after university. However, it is important that students get the best opportunity to get a job because they have the correct skillset for it and not because they can afford to run a car for a year and give up lots of their time for free, like Reading FC are asking students to do. It is also vitally important that whoever gets the job or internship, can afford to do it.

Intern Aware, an organisation that campaigns for an end to unpaid internships, has released statistics that show that only 25% of interns are able to make ends meet with the compensation offered for their time and that over 65% of interns rely on family members to help them financially when they are committing their time.  The harsh financial times we are in make it even harder for families to help out students when they are forced to work for little or no pay.

The London School of Economics estimates that living in London for a month will cost a young person, on average, £1,000. The average length of an internship is three months (so £3,000 in total). Therefore, if a first year undergraduate University of Reading student enters into a London-based internship this year, they would have committed themselves to:

·         £9,000 in tuition fees

·         An average of £5,400 in living costs while at University

·         £3,000 for the internship

So that is a total of £17,400. Over three years, that is £52,200! That is equivalent to approximately two weeks pay of a Reading FC footballer,but crippling to a student from a low-income background with no help or job,but with a desperate ambition to be successful in later life.

I encourage all students to get the best that they can out of their University experience and to prepare themselves for the competitive job market that they will face after graduation.

I also encourage employers to pay their interns. They provide you with valuable work, they will be more loyal to you if they know that they are appreciated for what they do and you will be helping to increase the chances of those who have been given the smallest of opportunities in life,if you pay them for their time.

If you are a student and would like to receive free financial advice, please visit the Student Advisors in the RUSU Advice, Representation and Campaigns centre (ARC) or email the advice team. Also, if you would like to find paid internships, visit the Job Shop in the RUSU building.

If you are employer and would like to advertise a paid internship in the Job Shop, please visit the Job Shop online.

James Fletcher
RUSU President

Win or lose, standing for election is a great experience.

So RUSU Elections week is fast approaching and this is a bittersweet time for current Student Officers.

On the one hand, we get very excited about seeing potential candidates come to our offices to talk to us about being a Student Officer next year. However, on the other hand, we realise that we are ‘on the home stretch’ in so far as our tenure in office is concerned.

I have been thinking about my own experience of RUSU elections throughout this period, as I have actually run in two.

In 2011, I ran to be a Student Trustee and in 2012 I ran to for President with different outcomes from each. In my first election, I didn’t win. Emotionally, I am now able to watch both this election and the one I won on RU:ON’s website. As you can see from the stills on this page, the look on my face in both elections at the time the results were being announced is quite different. Note the vast change in the facial expression and choice of shirt.

There is something to be said for my experiences in both elections though. In both, during the campaign weeks, I met some amazing people who I would never have otherwise met. I also learnt a vast amount about a variety of student experiences on our campus. As we all know, no student experience is the same and candidates find this out extremely quickly during campaigning. All the candidates are helpful and supportive towards each other. They drive you on, no matter how tired you are.

There are a variety of activities such as Hustings (candidate’s question time) that may push you out of your comfort zone, but someone much cleverer than I once said, that’s exactly where you are most alive. I suppose what I am trying to say, is that elections are a fantastic experience and it’s not all about the winning, but what you gain along the way.

So have a think. You could be sitting in my office next year, experiencing all the great things I have.

Elections nominations are open until Thursday February 14th, 4.00pm. Student Officers are always available to speak to you about any questions regarding the elections process. All of our diaries are on our doors so don’t hesitate to come and talk to us.

If you do decide to stand for any of the positions, good luck. Win or lose, you won’t regret it.

James Fletcher
President

Being a Student Officer is the Best Job in the World!

Without sounding like a huge cliché, being a Student Officer is the best job in the world! Without starting your own multi-million pound business, you will never be able to have so much influence over the way a large organisation is run for years (or probably decades!)

As President, I am responsible for line managing the RUSU Chief Executive, so it is my job to make sure that the organisation functions on a day-to-day basis.I am a director of the two companies that RUSU wholly owns, including our own nursery.I am Chair of the Trustee Board of the multi-million pound charity that is RUSU and I am a member of the Council of the University; rendering me a trustee of that organisation with a budget of almost a quarter of billion pounds.

It is an absolute pleasure to represent Reading students and I primarily do that through committee work in the University. Whiteknights House is home to the chief offices in the University as well as the two main committee rooms. This becomes a President’s second home and it is at these committees that most of the decisions that affect students’ lives are made.

I also work nationally with the National Union of Students (NUS) as well as NUS Services Ltd (the huge group-buying consortium that stocks our shops and bars). I also am interviewed by the local and national press regularly on a variety of issues that affect students. This is a real buzz and I think it is one of the best bits of the job.

The most important thing about being a Student Officer is that you are passionate about making a difference to students’ lives at Reading. Running in an election is a fantastic experience and, if you win or lose (and I’ve done both), you learn so much and you meet people that you thought you would never meet. I have had the pleasure of meeting a huge variety of people in this job (including HM The Queen) and that’s what makes it so special.

I really encourage anyone who even has the smallest thought that they would like to run to be a Student Officer, to come and speak to one of the current Officer team. You are always more than welcome to come and chat about it with any of us.

If you would like to hear more about what the Students Officers do, then come along to Student Officer Scrutiny (SOS) on Tuesday 22nd of January in the RUSU Boardroom

It truly is a fantastic job and I would recommend it to anyone!

James Fletcher
RUSU President

Who Will Be Next? A Job Representing Students and Leading a Charity with a Multi-Million Turnover!

So the first term is over and your current Student Officers have made it through. It was hectic, stressful but crazily enjoyable to spend the term working for you. Honestly, this is the best job in the world.

It may seem mad but we’re now looking at you. We’re looking to see who will be running your Students’ Union next year! Every year thousands of students vote for five of their peers to represent all students at Reading. Those who win the elections will get the opportunity to be paid to work full-time for one year and lead RUSU.

It only seems a few weeks ago that I was nervously filling in my nomination form and trying to find some way to fill in my Spark* questions for their elections issue. I spent hours trying to create perfect answers that were funny, while keeping within the word limit! I’m pretty sure I failed massively.

I remember this time last year I was about to begin one of the most stressful times of my entire education. My dissertation deadline started to come in sight and my family begun asking what I wanted to do next! I imagine nearly all of last year’s 29 candidates felt the pressure. Running for election was the best choice I made. And the Spring Term of 2012 turned out to be the hardest and greatest time I ever had at university.

And now it’s your turn! This is your opportunity to lead an amazing charity and ensure that the Students’ Union and the University are doing their best for students. This job is like no other. I’ve gone from stressing about my grammar in essays to helping the Student Media streams progress and looking at the ways that students can make change in the Union, University and wider community. I’ve gone from ‘speed reading’ Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake to implementing our Gender Equality Policy that was passed at Student Voice.

It’s weird and daunting to think of leaving this job, but I’m so excited to see who’s going to get the chance to do this next. 

You may have been thinking of running for a while, or maybe it’s something that you’ve just heard about and think you’d be amazing at doing. Either way you’ve still got a few weeks to think about it.

Nominations open the Monday of Week 4 (4th February) and close Thursday of Week 5 (14th February). If you have any questions at all, come into the office when you’re back. The Student Officers are based above the RUSU reception and are always happy to talk to you. Otherwise, email us, tweet us, call us – all our details can be found here.

Campaigning to be a Student Officer teaches you so many things and it’s the most amazing opportunity!

Think one of your mates would make a great Student Officer? Send us an email titled 'I recommend' and tell us why. We’ll get in touch with them to encourage them and tell them about the process. 

See you all when you get back, it’s a little too quiet without you here.

Ceri Jones

VP Democracy and Campaigns

Volunteering - Benefits All Round!

Recently I attended a seminar by the Clore Social Leadership Programme. 2011 Chlore Social Fellow Laura Hyde, has worked in the student movement for a number of years and reported on the “Strengths of the Student Movement and its Relationship with the Voluntary Sector”. 

Preparations for the tea party


It quickly became apparent to me that what I have known to be true since starting my job as RUSU President, is now being expressed quite eloquently in her report.

She writes: “Students’ Unions are amazing organisations doing some excellent work, having a significant impact on individuals and wider society – they just need to tell more people!”

A truer statement has never been uttered. RUSU (and by ‘RUSU’ I don’t just mean the five Student Officers and RUSU staff. I mean the thousands of students who are engaged in a huge number of ways) is an amazing organisation.
 

I could use this blog to describe in vast amounts of detail, exactly what is great about everything we do, such as our advice service, our commercial services, our brand new lettings agency and, of course, our representative function. However, I am going to talk about volunteering as this is very fitting to the findings of Laura’s report.

RUSU runs a wide variety of volunteering opportunities for students. These provide you with the opportunity to get to know the area you live in, acquire key transferable skills and fundamentally enhance your university experience, whilst supporting and benefiting the local community. It is always a great pleasure for the Student Officers to talk about students’ involvement in volunteering when we meet with members of the local community.

Here is an outline of just a few of the great volunteering activities that RUSU has been involved with recently:

• 708 students have signed up to receive a weekly volunteering newsletter updating them of new opportunities to build links with the community and develop personally. This is a 250% increase on the number of students signed up last year.
• An amazing £4,342.09 was raised by RAG (Raising and Giving) in the first 9 weeks of this term.
• 50 local elderly residents will be attending a Christmas tea party catered for by our Baking Society with decorations made by the Domestic Do It Yourself Society (RUDDIYS). Entertainment will also be provided by our very own Dance, Breakdance, Tap and Modern, Gospel, Music and Swing Dance Societies. This event is a great collaboration between volunteering and societies.
• An on campus a 'Uni Bike,' bike hire scheme has launched with five bikes already having been hired out and new ones being donated from the local community.
• The Baking Society have been cooking with the residents at the local 'Lakeside Care Home' every Wednesday afternoon during term.
• The Community Choir has succesfully performed three concerts since September and will be celebrating its first anniversary in February 2013.
• A Homework Club has been started at a local Primary school with an average of 10 children attending each week.

As you can see, RUSU is hugely benefitting the voluntary sector within Reading and the wider community and we encourage as many students as possible to take part in these and other exciting volunteering opportunities.

If you are looking to personally develop as well as make good friends and meet new people, please consider volunteering. We as a Students' Union will provide you with lots of support and you never know, you could even get to see yourself in the local press as has previously happened!

If you wish to find out more about the opportunities available, pop into the Student Activities Centre in the RUSU building.

James Fletcher
RUSU President

Sexual Health Awareness Week Review

Last week we held RUSU’s first ever ‘Let’s Talk Sex,’ Sexual Health Awareness Week.

Generally speaking, students have a lot of sex – but not always safely – and for that reason it is incredibly important to keep an active check on sexual health. Unfortunately going to a sexual health clinic remains a taboo and this is one of the main things RUSU is attempting to change!

In an effort to tackle this stigma, RUSU attempted to break the world record for the most sexual health screenings carried out in 24 hours - the aim being to encourage people to come en masse, hopefully highlighting how simple getting tested really is!  In addition to asking individuals to get involved, we also encouraged competition between committees of JCRs, sports teams and societies by offering free Summer Ball tickets to the committee who got the most people to come and get tested. The competition got pretty fierce but in the end it was cheerleading who won and got an amazing 39 people tested!

After 24 hours the grand total tested was 528 people, smashing Surrey Union's record of 460.

We were over the moon with this result! The nurses at the clinic were also incredibly impressed and very surprised! (They thought we'd only get 50!) I hope this campaign has demonstrated how simple testing really is and emphasised the importance of having regular check-ups – it is recommended to do so every 6 months. Tests can be picked up from the clinic or university medical practice at any time.

Other events in the week included a sex ed. class run by ‘Sexpression UK’, a screening of ‘Philadelphia’ hosted by LGBT who also spent the week raising money for National Aids Trust (NAT), along with the RAG and RUBaking societies selling world aids day ribbons and cakes! Collectively they raised around £250!

Finally, the campaign culminated in the ‘Safe Sex Ball’ held on World Aids Day. We had some excellent Moulin Rouge décor (including a giant windmill!) and some class performances from the likes of UniTrash and Fleur. We had a great time on the night and a near sell out during Week 8 suggests we didn’t do too badly.

Thanks to everyone who was involved in the success of this week, particularly the Student Officers and Ben (our LGBT Part-time Officer) who really deserves a huge portion of the credit for any successes. Lastly, thanks to every person who came to an event, who got tested and who packed out 3sixty for the Safe Sex Ball. I’m really proud of what we achieved in this campaign; hopefully it will help trigger a change in attitudes towards sexual health at our university!

Happy Week 9, work hard and play safe!

Sophie Davies

VP Welfare and Representation