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SUBU Annual Review celebrates success

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The 2014 Annual Review celebrated SUBU’s 20th birthday by showcasing another year of achievements.

The event, on Wednesday 4 June, was presented by the elected Full Time Officers, who highlighted all the great activities the Students’ Union at BU (SUBU) have been supporting, funding and making happen in 2013/14. Among the guests were Chancellor Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Vice Chancellor Professor John Vinney, Conor Burns MP, members of the University board, SUBU Board of trustees and previous SUBU Full Time Officers.

The Students’ Union at BU has been in operation for two decades and has grown with each passing year; supporting, developing and entertaining every new cohort passing through BU’s doors. This year was no exception and SUBU have plenty of successes to shout about.

One of the key achievements for 2013/14 was SUBU’s RAG (Raising and Giving) charity activities which raised over a quarter of a million pounds. The funds were split between local charities and worthy causes around the UK including, Dorset Blind Association, Autism Wessex, Alzheimer’s Society and Children with Cancer UK.

Volunteering increased by 40% this year with 734 students giving a helping hand to both local and national projects. The Big Feed was one of the more successful projects, managing to collect and deliver four tonnes of food to local families and food banks. Student engagement in extra-curricular activities, like volunteering, is a major player in affecting employability for BU students and it is high on SUBU’s yearly agenda.

The ‘Lock it or Lose it’ burglary prevention campaign helped to cement community relations this year as SUBU joined forces with Arts University Bournemouth, BU staff, local police and councillors. Combined with the newly created SUBU Community Warden team, this resulted in a 19.6% reduction in crime around Winton and 41% reduction in bin-related complaints from residents. The four new wardens managed to clock up over 50 miles of patrolling around the local area, helping to improve integration and relations between students and locals.

As if that weren’t enough, SUBU’s strides towards becoming a more ethical and environmentally friendly organisation were recognised with a Gold status NUS Green Impact Award.  Next year will see SUBU getting even more green on campus.

Encouraging student engagement in democratic decision-making and student representation also took a major step forward this year. Earlier in the year representatives from six other Students’ Unions were invited to Bournemouth so that SUBU could share their practices and expertise in student engagement. SUBU President Murray Simpson said,

“We’ve been highlighted as a feature of good practice for our evidence based feedback by the QAA, and believe a partnership approach with BU has enabled this to happen. We’ve come on leaps and bounds with welfare and democracy this year, and the Annual Review is a fantastic chance to look back and celebrate these successes.”

As a final visual treat, the audience experienced a nostalgic romp through the history of SUBU in a slide show of the last 20 years. The future of SUBU was also discussed, with a focus on the Union’s new home in the Student Centre and welcoming the new SUBU staff for 2014/15.

Lock It or Lose It campaign launched

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A new campaign launched by the students’ unions at Bournemouth University (BU) and Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) will encourage students to lock their homes and keep belongings secure.

The Lock It or Lose It campaign is supported by United Taxis and the Universities’ Safer Neighbourhood Team, and was launched by attaching 2,000 dye-cut padlocks on properties around Winton.

 Each padlock contained information on how to keep properties secure. United Taxis contributed to the event by sending out text messages, detailing similar information to students who ordered vehicles.

Murray Simpson, President of the Students’ Union at Bournemouth University (SUBU) said: “Although we have seen a reduction in burglaries over the past year in Bournemouth, we are seeing more burglaries happen during the day and we think that burglars are targeting specific properties at specific times of the day.”

Serving as visual reminders, it is hoped the padlocks will reinforce the campaign’s message that residents need to ensure properties are kept securely locked at all times.

Both SUBU and the Student’s Union at AUB (AUBSU) have also worked hard to promote security information internally.

Ben Musitano, AUBSU Student Union President, added: “We have been trying to promote information around AUB through poster boards as well as much as we can. Hopefully our student body will understand that burglaries in this area are actually quite a big problem.”

The Lock It Or Lose It campaign will also release a video focused around burglary prevention and safety in the local community. Murray Simpson summarized the overall purpose of the campaign as trying to “instill a new culture where people are safe and secure.”

PC Andy Scarratt, of The Universities’ Safer Neighbourhood Team, advised students in particular to work as a team to combat potential break-ins.

“If there are 5 of you in the house, get to know if you are the last one leaving and what time people going to be back”, he said.

“The danger is that students just forget about it.”

He also believes that the work conducted by SUBU and AUBSU to launch new initiatives such as Lock It Or Lose It is key to ensuring students’ possessions are kept safe, adding that it is important “to remind students that this is a time of year when you need to come back from Christmas with your new Christmas presents – and to look after them.”

By Alex Geraghty, Second Year BA (Hons) Media and Communications Student