Leeds Beckett Students' Union
| Institution | Leeds Beckett University |
|---|---|
| Location | City Campus and Headingley Campus |
| Established | 1970 |
| President | President: Meg Robinson |
| Vice presidents |
VP Education: Jack Harrison, VP Activities: Aidan Thatcher, VP Welfare: Kelly-Anne Watson, VP Equality & Diversity: Ro Sewell |
| Trustees |
Chair: Carolyn Black Vice Chair: TBC |
| Members | 32,020[1] |
| Affiliations | National Union of Students of the United Kingdom, British Universities and Colleges Sport |
| Website | www.leedsbeckettsu.co.uk |
Leeds Beckett Students' Union (formerly Leeds Met Students' Union) is the university-wide representative body for students at Leeds Beckett University, England. It exists to represent Leeds Beckett students in University decision-making, to act as the voice of students in the national higher education policy debate, and to provide direct services to the student body. In 2012, it was voted the second best Students' Union in the city of Leeds and 39th nationally. In 2016 it was voted 6th best SU in the country.[2]
The Executive Committee
The executive committee of Leeds Beckett Students' Union carries out the decisions of the Board of Trustees, General Meetings and Student Council. The committee is composed of the full-time officers, each covering a specific area of the running of the Union and of the student experience.
Full-time Officers
| Year | SU President | AP Education | AP Welfare & Equality | AP Development & Community | AP Democracy & Comms | Athletic Union President |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007/08 | Jodie Tumelty | Brian Summerson | Alice Cudworth | Jaqueline McNee | Jo Piddington | Niki Bird |
| Year | SU President | AP Education & Representation | AP Welfare & Campaigns | AP Activities & Community | Athletic Union President | |
| 2008/09 | Lewis Coakley | Will Watson | Vicki Baars | Ben McDougall | - | Niki Bird |
| Year | SU President | AP Education | AP Community Wellbeing | AP Development | AP Diversity | Athletic Union President |
| 2009/10 | Lewis Coakley | Will Watson | Liam Challenger | Ben McDougall | Vicki Baars | Matt Bergh |
| 2010/11 | Liam Challenger | Carley Birkin | Jo Johnson | Megan Taylor | Jawanza Ipyana | James Perry |
| 2011/12 | Yasser Rhanja | Tashi Thornley | Jo Johnson | Jon Clough | Jawanza Ipyana | Lewis Wildridge |
| Year | SU President | VP Education | VP Welfare | VP Activities | ||
| 2012/13 | David Alcorn | Tashi Thornley | Mia Tamarin | Channing Brankin | ||
| 2013/14 | Millie Cooper | Ollie Richardson | Megan Kearney | Chloe Coles | ||
| 2014/15 | Jay Malpass-Clark | Saffron Rose | Amy Waine | Stephen Ross | ||
| Year | SU President | VP Education | VP Welfare | VP Activities | VP Equality & Diversity | |
| 2015/16 | Jay Malpass-Clark | James Starnes | Sarah Gillborn | Harry Walters | Grace Lawrenson | |
| 2016/17 | Joe Murray | Meg Robinson (Acting President) | Kelly-Anne Watson | Harry Walters | Maddy Andrews | |
| Year | SU President | VP Education | VP Welfare & Community | VP Activities | VP Equality & Diversity | |
| 2017/18 | Meg Robinson | Jack Harrison | Kelly-Anne Watson | Aidan Thatcher | Ro Sewell | |
| 2018/19 | Jack Harrison | Charlie Hind | Jess Carrier | Aidan Thatcher | Ro Sewell |
Equality & Diversity Reps
In 2012, Leeds Beckett Students' Union became one of the first Students' Unions in the country to introduce paid liberation officers. This decision contributed to the Students' Union winning the NUS Equality & Diversity Award that year. After three years, following a majority vote of the democratically elected Student Council, the decision was made to introduce a full-time paid Vice President Equality & Diversity in recognition of the importance of delivering meaningful change in the area of Equality & Diversity. The work of this role will support and be directed by a number of liberation reps (i.e Women's, LGBTQ, etc) on Student Council to ensure that campaigns are always led by the students to whom the matter affects. The success of this work, alongside the implementation of liberation group committees resulted in the Students' Union winning the NUS Equality & Diversity Award again in 2016.
| YEAR | WOMEN'S OFFICER | LGBTQ OFFICER | INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' OFFICER | BLACK & MINORITY ETHNIC STUDENTS' OFFICER | STUDENTS' WITH DISABILITIES OFFICER | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012/13 | Paula Smith | Beccy Smith | Kristine Rogne | Aurelie Disasi | Graeme Brittles | |||
| 2013/14 | Embla Magnusdottir | Callum Strode | Iulia Popa | Ayesha Khatun | Graeme Brittles | |||
| 2014/15 | Dorothy Loraine | James Smith | Meher Dhingra | Guilaine Brutus | Robin Kaye | |||
| YEAR | WOMEN'S REP | LGBT+ REP | INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' REP | RACE & ETHNICITY REP | STUDENTS' WITH DISABILITIES REP | MATURE STUDENTS' REP | STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS REP | TRANS REP |
| 2015/16 | Amy Cousens | Alix Doran | Ade Ayo | Thembi Nkau | David Niman | Samantha Scarlett | Aimee Binns | - |
| 2016/17 | Imogen Day | Rosie Sewell | Dhivesh Ramdoyal | Rue Makuve | Alix Doran | Emilia Lewandowska | Aimee Binns | Kaiya Rose |
| 2017/18 | Maddy Andrews | Jo Jackson | Duw Uwadia | Hellen Ndungu | Evan Mortimer | Abdi Hassan | Susanna Hanley | Leigh Mackay |
| 2018/19 | Sophie Donkin | Jack Maycock | - | Sherry Iqbal | - | - | Jessica Taylor | - |
Student Council
The Student Council is the largest student-led decision making body of the Students' Union, responsible for debating and passing student policy, and holding the full-time Officers to account for their work.
| Year | Chair of Student Council |
|---|---|
| 2009/10 | Jo Johnson |
| 2010/11 | Amy Cooke |
| 2011/12 | Amy Cooke |
| 2012/13 | James Smith |
| 2013/14 | Declan Mulholland |
| 2014/15 | Declan Mulholland |
| 2015/16 | Declan Mulholland |
| 2016/17 | James Starnes |
| 2017/18 | Charlie Hind |
| 2018/19 | Jack Ryan |
Affiliations
Leeds Beckett Students' Union is affiliated to the National Union of Students.
Facilities
The union on the City Campus has an independent advice centre for students and a bar The City Bar which contains two live music venues called The Stage which has played host to numerous bands including Coldplay, The Libertines, Theory of a Deadman and The Zutons, and Stage 2.
The Headingley campus also has its own bar called The Union.
Union venues
The City Bar
The City Bar (formerly The Met Bar) is the Student Union's flagship bar based in the City Campus. It has a 400+ capacity bar and canteen which serves a variety of food. Regular events are held in the venue such as Time Out Tuesdays, a societies night and Fank Thuck it's Friday! on Fridays. The Bar also hosts FUEL, the biggest alternative club night in Leeds which regularly sells out.
The Headingley Bar
Previously known as Beckett's Bar, and The Union, The Headingley Bar is the Students' Union bar based on the Headingley campus. The bar is open throughout the week and available for hire at weekends. It plays host to Sports Team Socials on Wednesday nights.
Student activities
The Students' Union has a range of activities to get involved with. There are numerous societies that any member of the Union can join and these range from Religious and Cultural groups to the My Little Pony Club and Poker Society. The Students' Union also offers a wide variety of volunteering opportunities that students can take advantage of, which is organised through the Volunteering Department (formerly CALM (Community Action at Leeds Met).)
The Students' Union also has an active LGBT (lesbian gay bi & trans) society. Leeds Beckett LGBT society has hosted numerous events in the city and on campus including the well known Controversy week of March 2009 (which featured events focusing on bi-phobia, Transman, non-binary gender model, sexual liberation and Intersex).
The Students' Union also has an active Islamic Society. Leeds Beckett Islamic Society hosts a number of events in the city campus and at Headingley, including Charity Week, the aim of which is to raise as much money as possible to help needy children around the world.
Athletic Union
The Athletic Union is separate to the Leeds Beckett Students' Union but maintains historically close links and holds three seats on the Student Council. Leeds Beckett regularly features well in the fixtures of university sports in the UK. Varsity fixtures between Leeds Beckett and Leeds University prove to be highly popular and competitive each year, with Leeds Met winning currently unbeaten overall.
References
- ↑ "Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2010/11". Higher Education Statistics Agency. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet) on 2012-05-17. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
- ↑ The Guardian (28 September 2012). "The worst student unions: how does yours compare?". London. Retrieved 31 January 2013.