Oct 10^th was World Mental Health Day and we ran a campaign telling you about the  services you can access to support your mental health and wellbeing whilst at university, for example Life Lounge, Student Space and the support you can find through the NHS.  Especially important at this time.

Our SU President Ansh, held a virtual informal tea and talk afternoon which challenged the stigma of mental health.   

To celebrate and explore Black History Month, Bolton SU, Salford SU, Manchester SU and Man Met SU came together to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the 5th Pan African congress.  There was a wide ranging programme including; a poetry reading by Jackie Kay, two panel discussions responding to the question “What Does Pan African Mean to You as a Black Youth” and “The Legacy of Colonialism, are People of Colours Still Suffering this?” Dance and musical performances were also commissioned.

Because we could not put on any events on campus this year, we reminisced on Facebook about past events, and Boluwatife Oyesola, currently  a PhD student but also the first female international student from Nigeria to become the Students’ Union President in 2018-19, spoke about what being black means to her.

We hosted a Netflix party showing the film "13^th."   This film explores the intersection of race, justice, and mass incarnation in the United States.

Student Voice

Throughout October, the engagement team had shout outs in lectures to talk about the SU’s services, support and Course Rep recruitment. Course Rep training via Zoom and Moodle followed at the end of the month. Students have been very engaged with training, and to date we have recruited 243 Course Reps. Representatives for Education Committee and School Board have also been recruited and trained.    

We are supporting our Societies to carry on and host events safely online.  It’s important to create and encourage a community feel amongst you, something you may be missing at the moment. 

We continued to give impartial advice to students on a range of topics including benefits, appeals, mitigating circumstances and complaints. If you need to contact us use the ‘Contact an Advisor Form’ on the website.

Halloween

We had a very scary Netflix party, and watched Halloween, and had an online pumpkin carving competition.  The winner managed to create a scary pumpkin with flames rising up, it was very impressive.  Thank you to all who took part.

We ran a ‘Let’s talk finances’ campaign and gave you information ranging from our top student money tips to free local days out and the best Bolton bargains.  We also told you how to get help from the University and the best student banks.  All information is still available on the website.