On Monday i met with Rhys Dart (Regional Development and Training Officer -NUS Wales) and Scott Farmer (Interim Director - Nus Wales). It was a really positive meeting and a great chance to work with Scott during his interim term helping move NUS Wales forward.
In the afternoon Simon Darvill and myself attended the University and local residents forum. We were extremely pleased with our highly positive report and plan for community procedures - even if the acronym is not the best Community Residents Action Plan !
We also made progress alongside the University on a planned "tenants poster" showing both rights and responsibilites for all students living in private sector accommodation.
On Tuesday and Wednesday I attended a mental health first aid course along with a variety of staff members from throughout the University. Mental Health First Aid is an ambitious new project, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, designed to train trainers to teach Mental Health First Aid throughout Wales.
The course does not train you to be a therapist, counsellor or mental health professional, but rather;
* give initial help to someone experiencing a mental health problem
* deal with a crisis situation or the first signs of someone developing mental ill health
* guide people towards appropriate help
The course was absolutely brilliant, a really productive opportunity to understand a variety of issues relating to Mental Health. Much like a regular first aid course it is aimed at preserving life and promote recovery. If you are interested in finding out more visit;
This week was Isoc's (Swansea University's Islamic Society) Islamic Awareness Week , and an excellent one at that. With Mosque and Executive Officer VRSA Mahaboob Basha heading up a number of meet and greets, i was lucky enough to have a number of fantastic opportunities to understand more about Islamic Culture and Swansea Universities Muslim Community.
On Friday i was invited to speak following the regular prayer session to the Swansea Muslim Community. It was a great opportunity to meet a variety of students and i really had my eyes opened. What i started to realise was that virtually every Islamic student, regardless of their home country (Libya, Saudi Arabia, India etc) had come to study, and more importantly felt at home in Swansea due to the fantastic Muslim community already here. Our primary aim as a Students Union is to ensure that students are supported and cared for throughout their time at Swansea. Through a variety of Welfare campaigns, services and procedures we attempt to further this aim. Thankfully we don’t do this alone whether its Student Support Services or a Personal Tutor there are a huge variety of ways that students are supported. What is fantastic is that the Mosque is a massive support network alongside these others, supporting a variety of different students from so many different backgrounds.
On Friday night i attended the Malasian Societies Night in the Taliesin with General Secretary Luke Young. The night was designed to help people understand the diverse history and culture within Malasia. It was a great night, even if both Luke and I shamed ourselves with some “Interesting” Bollywood dancing on stage! – many thanks Akash!!!!!
On Saturday we began the elections graft as i managed, alongside Deputy X-treme Station Manager Ben Shaw, to get 2/3rds of the sabbatical candidates in to the radio studios to record their manifestos, reasons for voting and of course their campaign songs – oh if only the elections were won on songs rather than slogans!!!!
