Activities Officer Updates

One of my main priorities going into November is the launch of the sensory rooms. This has been part of a multi-year campaign I’ve been working on, and I’m really pleased to see it coming to fruition. I also extended an open invitation to all CELs to attend the launch event later in the month.

I’m excited to see that Community Engagement leads are working with their communities via the WhatsApp community group chats – which is an initiative I have led on and implemented. If you are not already in a community chat please do join – they are one of the easiest ways to be more informed on what the Students’ Union is doing for your community.

I am looking forward to continuing my work throughout the year, which includes work such as this and more. I’m especially excited to be celebrating Disability History Month in November, which I have been working on in collaboration with Nico and the rest of the Students’ Union.

Community Engagement Lead Updates

Alex Powell – LGBTQ+ Community Engagement Lead

I recently hosted my Queer Words event, which went well! For future events, I’d like to focus on increasing engagement overall to make sure as many students as possible are included in the work I’m doing.

My Trans Awareness Training is also nearly ready to launch. With the Student Conference coming up soon, I’m really looking forward to delivering a shorter version of the training there. I’m also planning for other upcoming events, including LGBTQIA+ History Month, which is coming up in February of 2026.

I’m also happy to announce that the gender expression fund is up again for a third year running. You can read more about the fund by clicking here

Natalie Ho – International Community Engagement Lead

I’ve been doing a lot over the last few months as a CEL, such as my International Students’ Board Game Night on the 15th of September. The event went well — around 30 students attended in total. Building on that success, I shared my plans to organise more community-building events, including a Speed Friending session, some movie nights, and other similar activities to keep the momentum going.

I’ve also been focused on making sure students are up to date and building community with each other on our International Community WhatsApp group. Engagement was quite low before the board game night, but it’s recently improved which is great to see. I’ve noticed that people tend to respond more with reactions than with actual text messages, which is something I’m keeping in mind when planning future communications.

I’m looking forward to planning things for International Welcome week, so keep your eyes peeled for more information on other fun things I have planned!

Nico Hlaing – Disabled Community Engagement Lead

Most of my recent time as a CEL has been focused on planning for Disability History Month, which is coming together well. I’ve been developing several event ideas, including a crafternoon session, as well as social media content such as short videos to raise awareness and celebrate the month. Make sure you look on the SU events page to see what I, in collaboration with the rest of the Students’ Union, have managed to create.

Obonganwan Akpabio – Women’s Community Engagement Lead

As I’ve only just started my role, most of my time has been spent on looking through the Women’s Community WhatsApp groups. I’ve noticed that reaction-based content tends to generate more interaction within my community, which has helped me shape the kind of posts and updates I share to keep members more engaged – leading to a really engaged community overall.

I also outlined my main priorities for the rest of the year as a later-starting CEL. My key focuses are to boost engagement within the community and to increase the number of sign-ups within my community — both of which I see as essential to building stronger connections and participation.

Getting in touch:

Thank you for reading though this month's Community Executive Updates!

You can find out more about what we have going on, or how to join a community through the communities page.