Welcome Week!!!

Hi guys, this has undoubtedly been the busiest and most exhausting week of my life. Just for a change, i thought of instead of writing an essay, i'd present it to you in numbers!

5,000

the approximate number of Freshers that have arrived this week!

20,000

the approximate number of membership handbooks distributed to students so far. For an online version just click here!

400

the approximate number of RAs, Mentors, Freshers Fest Crew, Hall Ambassadors and Officers involved in helping Moving-In weekend run smoothly.

11,000

the approximate number of people that came through the Guild doors on the first day of Welcome Week.

160

the approximate number of student groups, societies and projects that showcased themselves at this year's society fairs, spearheaded by Emma Packham.

500

the approximate number of people who visited the brand new 'Wellbeing Zone' spearheaded on Tuesday by Katie Ford and Johnny Davis.

31

the number of pints of blood donated by students and staff on Friday with Johnny Davis' fulfilled promise to bring the National Blood Service back on campus.

3,200

the approximate number of students that i personally have spoken to over the last 10 days through training, course induction talks and freshers fest welcome talks.

8,000

the approximate number (exact number soon to be confirmed) of students that your officer team have spoken to over the last 10 days (including those i spoke to).

200

the approximate number of parents that Fabian Neuner spoke to this week in special talks.

4,000

the approximate number of students who have bought Freshers Fest packages (if you didn't manage to get one, fear not you can still get in to most nights on the door, just ask your RA).

2,200

the approximate number of NUS cards sold this year. Cards are available all year round for anyone who wants them.

23

the number of pennies from every pound you spend at the Guild that goes directly back in to services that support you!

1

the number of cars we found mysteriously flipped over after a heavy night out at the Guild.

95

the number of hours i worked last week, visiting halls of residence, working in the Guild and helping out in the nighttimes with Freshers Fest!

1,000,000

the approximate number of hugs that 'Chilly the Chill Out Polar Bear' has received this week.

xEd/.

Freshers...Have Your Say!!!

Just about to start your first year here at University? We want to make your freshers experience as fantastic as possible, so tell us what you'd like to see from your Guild of Students!

You could win an iPod!

Click here to get started...

Not on the Vale? Not a problem!

Over the last few weeks i have been inundated with calls, emails and personal visits from students and parents worried sick about what their university experience is going to be like because they failed to get their first choice accomodation on the Vale Village.

As an ex-Vale student, i love the Vale as much as anybody else, but does it really deserve to be held up higher than any other hall village? Is a lakeside view really that important?

I have had the extremely rare fortune of being a Hall President to two very different halls, and as such i like to think that i've learnt some valuable lessons about the range of accomodation we offer here at Birmingham.

Hall 1:

In my first year i lived in Tennis Courts, and was elected RA President in December 2006. Tennis Courts is a very large hall situated on the Vale. Comprised mainly of Freshers, Tennis Courts houses 700 residents.

I LOVED my time in Tennis Courts. The community atmosphere was fantastic, the socials were amazing and the memories are some which i will treasure forever. When asked, i reckon by far the majority of TCers would say that they lived in the best hall of residence at University.

Hall 2:

In my second year i was asked to take over as Emergency RA President for Queen's Hospital Close (QHC). QHC is a smallish sized hall which is privately owned and situated in the City Centre (well away from campus). The term before i took over, the University had intended not to use QHC as an official hall for the following year. However because of horrific overbookings, the University was forced to buy back bedspaces from QHC, with Freshers being allocated a place in a hall that they didn't even know existed. As such, i had to lead an RA team that had been set up at 2 weeks notice.

I accepted the post with a fairly large degree of cynicism. I wanted to make sure that QHC residents were still able to have a Freshers Week despite all the cock-ups, but i never imagined that QHC would be anywhere near as good as Tennis Courts. Having led a 700 strong TC army for the last year, i refused to believe that anywhere could even come close to being as brilliant.

How wrong i was! Despite the difficulties QHC residents stepped up in a manner i would not believe possible. During Freshers Week they charged out to the clubs and shouted down halls twice their size chanting 'QHC!' as loud as they possibly could. They attended sports trials, pub quizzes, tours of the city and many other events. Best of all, when it came to electing their own RA committee to replace my emergency team, they did so with a voter turnout that beat every single other hall across the University. In short, 300 students, none of whom had put QHC down as ANY choice, let alone their first, came together to create an incredible hall community that far outclassed some of the more established halls on the Vale. Why? Because they were given the chance to get involved and they took it.

I guess the point of this blog is to reassure those who did not get their first choice accomodation that no matter where you end up, you will have the chance to enjoy an incredible Freshers experience. Living in a hall is like joining a private community, and it instills a sense of patriotism in you. One of the most important parts of my job, (through leading the Hall Committees, lobbying the University, organising Welcome Week etc) is to try and make it so that you come away at the end of the year genuinely believing that you wouldn't have wanted to live anywhere else.

So if you've got a place on the Vale, congratulations! And if you have got a place somewhere else, congratulations! You're a student at the University of Birmingham, and you're going to have an incredible year!

As ever if you do have any concerns of queries just get in touch, that's what i'm here for! e.sparkes@guild.bham.ac.uk

If you have any comments about this blog (whether you are a new fresher or an older student) then feel free to have your say!

Re-Use Volunteering!

Thanks to the Sabbs, RAs and random people who got involved in helping at Jarratt Hall for the annual Re-Use scheme!

Re-Use is a fantastic project whereby students moving out of halls can leave stuff they don't want behind for students moving in to halls to use if they so wish.

Not only is this environmentally friendly, but it also brilliant for international students who obviously can't pack too much on a plane.

I don't think any of us have EVER seen so many coat hangers, saucepans, drying racks or (scarily) meat cleavers in one place!

Weekly Report: Week 6

In my weekly reports i try to keep you updated on all that i have done (both big and small) over the last seven days

I'm conscious that much of what i have to report this week is rather dull. This is partly because a lot of my work this week was preparation for things happening next week, but it's also because a lot of what i did this week was in fact rather dull. That said, i now feel more ready than ever for Welcome Week and all the shenanigans that that will bring.

This week i:

- Conducted a series of interviews for candidates applying to be Freshers Fest Crew. I'm happy to say that we have successfully recruited a cracking team of people. In essense, Freshers Crew are responsible for the smooth running of the Freshers Fest programme, so good luck with that guys! ;)

- Finalised preparations for bringing QHC back online as an official hall of residence. Most of the old RA committee are back in post, we have a plan to put student mentors in, we've got money in the budget and we've successfully included QHC in Freshers Fest plans. Well done to all involved! For the full story on the situation with QHC click here

- Attended the Hopstility and Accommodation Services (HAS) OSCARS ceremony. HAS is responsible for a huge range of the services the University offers, not least of which being the halls of residence. The OSCARS is HAS' way of celebrating the achievements of its staff, and it was very useful to meet everybody and talk to them about where they fit in to the organisation. For more info on the OSCARS click here

- Sat on the first Remuneration and Human Resources Committee of the academic year, of which myself and Johnny are members. This is essentially as interesting as it sounds, but vitally important to the running of the Guild.

- Worked alonside the other sabbatical officers on the University Open Day this Saturday. It's crucial that the Guild has a visible presence at Open Days, as the Students' Union is an integral part of the 'University Experience'. In the past we haven't been so hot on this as an organisation, but it was great to be out meeting applicants on the Open Day and talking to them about all we have to offer. This was especially exciting as we were able to show applicants the brand new retail area of the Guild, which has just been refurbished.

- Continued to respond to emails, phone calls and even personal visits from worried freshers and their parents who have still not finalised their accommodation plans. With all halls of residence now almost completely full, many students are having to make their own plans for accommodation. This can be incredibly scary and daunting and i see it as a crucial part of my job to offer advice and support wherever i can to those people.

- Chaired the first ResExec of the academic year. ResExec is the forum through which all RA committee members meet to discuss plans and exchange ideas. Thanks to everyone who came along so early in September and here's to a great Welcome Week!

That's all for now, more exciting stuff next week i promise!