Money Flushed Away- REDUCE HALL FEES

On the 26th of January we saw students taking direct action against the ridiculously high hall fees imposed by the University.

The march took place across campus to deliver a petition signed by over 2000 members of the Guild of Students. I spent a lot of time last week helping with preparations for the campaign.

This included door knocking halls of residence- I visited Elgar Court, Aitken Wing, Tennis Courts and Victoria Halls. I also created the e peition and Facebook event, in addition to making calls to gain media coverage.

I did a bit of banner painting and placard making as well (and spilt purple paint over my new trousers (gutted.)

The march was a big success... it was great to see the number of students prepared to come out and campaign. There were some brilliant chants led by key activists in the campaign and the atmosphere was fantastic. Ed Marsh from NUS came along to the event to show his support and I know was very impressed with the level of enthusiasm displayed.

Well done everyone who got involved!

Local MP supports the campaign here
Coverage from the Birmingham Post here
Coverage from the Birmingham Mail here
Coverage from Kerrang Radio here (go to afternoon/drive with Kate Lawler and listen out for the news bulletins)
NUS Coverage of the event here

On Campus Agency Update

Back in November (?) Guild Council I put a motion to support the establishment of a Guild run Job Agency.

We have been working hard to make this a reality and a model has been agreed and will be written into next years budget.

Students will apply to the agency through Jobzone recruitment, and will be trained courtesy of the Guild. A new member of staff in Jobzone will be responsible for finding these students temporary work. All of the employers will have to go through an accreditation process in order to recruit through the agency, will be subject to continuous scrutiny and will be expected to be demonstrably responsive to our feedback.

To begin with, we are going to trial the model with on campus jobs, and as the agency develops there will be scope for external employers too. Hopefully everything will be good to go in September so look out for it next freshers!

Walk in Health Centre - VICTORY

Manifesto promise: "to promote the ongoing campaign for a sexual health clinic on campus or in Selly Oak".

I have mentioned a few times both in my blogs and my Guild Council reports my progress with this promise, and how I have been lobbying the PCT to address sexual health provisions for students at the University of Birmingham, either on campus or in Selly Oak.

The PCT have now officially announced the opening of a walk in centre in Selly Oak for June 2009!

This centre will operate 8am-8pm 7 days a week and provide GP and Nurse services, in addition to bookable apppointments for both registered and unregistered patients.
The centre will also offer sexual health services, including emergency contraception, referrals and testing.

NUS Extraordinary Conference Take 2

This note isn't the first to go up about EC2... and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last.

Birmingham sent 17 delegates to conference, on a mandate to vote in favour of NUS reform proposals. I'm happy to say that they passed with an overwhelming majority.

More on Worker's Rights...

Check out the mentor website here