It’s here, our top 13 Wins of Autumn.

How has a month gone by since our last update already? As the nights get darker and there is a chill in the air, we’re still working hard, so take a look at what we’ve been working on at City Students’ Union.

1. We've launched our work on Academic Communities, where we're collaborating with schools and reframing some of our course-based societies to make them more accessible, offer them more support, and improve the employability and skills of their members.
    
2. We completed the student check-ins project, calling over 2500 students to offer support, signpost to services they need, and check on general wellbeing.
    
3. We hosted three open forums for students living in halls, first year students, and postgraduate students to discuss important issues to them and give valuable feedback about their experience.
    
4. We’ve been supporting students through our brand-new Short-Term Loan scheme. Students can apply for up to £200, interest free and repayable over 6 months. The loans are intended to help you in an emergency, and we are likely to approve loans where you are clearly struggling and where a loan would make a clear difference to you financially.
    
5. We worked with staff from various student services to pilot the International Cafe virtual events.
    
6. We approved 9 brand new societies, including academic-based communities, cultural groups, and faith-based societies!
    
7. In 2019/20, over 2394 students were an active member of one of the 121 societies we had at our Students’ Union. From these 2394 students, 419 were nominated for a Students’ Union award due to their commitment and dedication to their society. 
    
8. We’ve been working on the impact of our student societies in the community, in 2019/20, our society leaders fundraised over £2000 for the local charities.
    
9. In the Students’ Union, we currently now have 21 active academic societies from Law to Business to Music. These provide networking and mentoring opportunities to develop your skills and a place to create your student community. If you course doesn’t have a society yet, why not create one?
    
10. Based on your feedback, we have moved our rep training online to ensure it is accessible and easy for every student to use. The training content has been improved and tailored to each individual school and type of programme rep (new/returning). 
     
11. On a partnership between the Students’ Union, students and University staff, we have created a community agreement outlining our mutual responsibilities and aspirations as a community during the current global COVID-19 pandemic. 
     
12. We’ve completed a remote research project into the experience of Disabled students at City, specifically aimed at creating an accessible and supportive community that strengthens their voice as a group at the University. As a result, we are now creating a plan to set up a Disabled Students Network.
     
13. We’ve completed a remote research project into Race Equality at City, University of London aimed at understanding the racial equality and inequalities in the student experience at the University.