Joint nomination:

Nottingham unions realised that local elections were a good way for students to show political muscle- bringing communities together to agree a common agenda that is shared internally in the students’ union.

• They employed student leaders that were identified in societies, media, religious, sports clubs, across both Notts SU and Tent.
• They spoke to students to get personal stories of safety in the city
• And their one ask of students was to mobilise 1000 people to an assembly with the candidates to be asked to adopt the people’s agenda with 5 key asks including one on student safety.
• They got all the candidates to commit, including one to get 400 CCTV cameras in taxis across the city
• Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/406547836078169/?ref=ts
• They got a massive 1000 people to the assembly in the end, a mix from both unions.
• Led to doubling turnout in SU elections a few months later, as they used student leaders who had come through the PCC campaign to spread the word about the SU elections.

One of the key things they mention is that it was students who drove this campaign, they actually had no staff dedicated to it at all!

They key thing is this campaign won things for students: improved safety for students and also built the unions a strong relationship with the eventually successful PCC. It showed what can happen when students call on those in authority to answer to the collective power and voice of students.

Perhaps more importantly it developed students as leaders and taught them how to organise students on campus. Never before had the unions seen 1000 students at an event! They used the campaign crucially and transferred the lessons to their sabb elections, doubling turnout and thus producing a new generation of engaged students; students that understood that the union was there to win things for students. It also led to this campaign: http://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/makethechange/widgets/ which is about students setting the agenda for the things they want the union to campaign on and the things they want to change.

Event info from Trent accessed here: http://www.trentstudents.org/campaigns/news/index.php?page=article&news_id=349453

PCC Elections - Have your say!

Sign up online and help your Exec hold the Notts PCC candidates to account!

Nottinghamshire Police Crime Commissioner Accountability Assembly

Monday 12th November, 6.30-8.30pm

No doubt you’ve seen the advertising campaign that’s currently up around the City, and also in the news recently, about the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections that are being held on Thursday 15th November.

What are PCCs?

The Police and Crime Commissioner will be responsible for holding the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police and the police force to account on the public’s behalf. The Police and Crime Commissioner will oversee how crime is tackled in Nottingham, and will aim to make sure the police are providing a good service.

What’s happening before the election?

Before you vote in the PCC election on 15th November, you’ll have a chance to see what the candidates have to say on the issues that matter to you as a student living in Nottingham.

Why does this affect me as an NTU student?

Clearly, it’s important that the PCC candidates take into account the huge student population of Nottingham, and all of the issues surrounding safety and crime that affect all students.

That’s why NTSU President Jonny Ellison and VP Welfare & Community Charley Greening will be holding the candidates for Police and Crime Commissioner to account at Trent Vineyard on 12th November - and they need you to come along and show your support.

A really big turnout of NTU students will show the candidates that we deserve to have a huge say in the local community, and that they need to take the student vote into consideration when deciding where to spend the budget. Also, it’s vitally important for the candidates to consider the city’s less safe areas (for example, the forest recreation ground and arboretum area) where there is a large NTU student population.

Between University of Nottingham and ourselves, there at 61,000 students in this city - which could easily swing an election. By NTU Students turning up in full force to this event, the PCC candidates will take notice of us and what we expect of our local police force.

How do I sign up?

This is a FREE ticketed event, so just sign up online so we can contact you about meeting times and collecting your ticket. Free transport from Boots Library will be available on the evening of the 12th.

Any questions? Email your VP Welfare & Community, Charley Greening, [email protected].

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Similar messaging on the event from Nottingham SU, accessed here: http://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/ents/event/3874

In light of the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections taking place on November 15th, we are hosting this exciting and engaging event. This will give you the opportunity to hear from and interact with the Nottinghamshire candidates. The candidates are:

• Paddy Tipping (Labour, former MP)
• Tony Roberts MBE (Conservative, former Councillor)
• Dr Raj Chandran (Independent, retired GP/police force surgeon)
• Malcolm Spencer (Independent, former Sergeant and Police Federation Adviser)

The event will be chaired by John Hess, Political Editor and East Midlands Correspondent for the BBC.

The position of Police and Crime Commissioner is brand new, and each and every one of you is entitled to vote in this election. The Commissioner will be the highest policing authority within their constituency. The candidate that is elected will be responsible for a five year plan which will dictate the aims and targets of the police, as well as holding them to account.

There will be plenty of opportunities to question the candidates on their manifestos, as well as their views on a wide variety of topics relating to the police, crime and criminal justice.

This will undoubtedly be one of Nottinghamshire’s biggest Police and Crime Commissioner events. It is certainly not to be missed

University of Nottingham nomination:

The University of Nottingham Students’ Union has historically had poor relations with the city council and with local community groups. Students historically have not used their vote, meaning that they have not been treated fairly and policy has passed which is discriminatory towards students, an example being the parking permit charges specifically for students where they remain free for established residents.

This past year, things have started to change in our Students’ Union. In our community and to the City Council, we’ve always said how much our students bring to the city, both financially and culturally. Students make up 10% of Nottingham’s population and make an enormous contribution to the economy, so we questioned why students are being discriminated against? Why are students being treated unfairly? We came to the conclusion that there are two types of power, financial power (how much money people can bring) and people power (how many people can you turn out). Students are fantastic at the first, but we were very poor at the second, and at the beginning of the year, this is what UoNSU set out to work on.

With the Police and Crime Commissioner election, we, UoNSU decided this was an opportunity to get our students using that second kind of power, the power they were lacking.

Through this,

We registered 518 students for voting in the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections

At the PCC Accountability Event, we committed to bringing 150 students and in fact, through our organising and the personal relationships we have built, we brought at least 250 students. 1,000 people came in total from the Nottingham Citizens alliance of 40 different community groups.

Agreed 5 asks at a PCC Accountability Event on 12th November 2012, which would benefit students and our local community:

• CCTV 400 city wide taxis
• Stop and Search receipts
• Contact point for police at Forest Recreation ground (because of a the Trent rape case)
• Police on certain bus routes
• A relationship with Nottingham Citizens

Through our work for the Police and Crime Commissioner election, we have shown that students are able to contribute both types of power. We have subsequently built relationships with key individuals and groups in our community, because we have shown them that we are worthy of these community relations.

UoNSU have developed many relationships, which will now be stated and it will be explained what has come from these important relationships:

Nottingham Citizens, and through this relationship:

• We have developed an alliance with 39 other community groups
• We agreed 5 asks at the PCC Accountability event
• We are currently working on a ‘Clubs Charter’, which is looking at all the different aspects of student welfare in the Night time Economy. We are making five asks, based on student research, and will be asking the clubs to sign up the Charter in order to get accredited.
• Our President went and met David Cameron as a delegate from Nottingham Citizens, to discuss graduate employment, living wage and mental health amongst young people.

Police and Crime Commissioner, and through this relationship:

• We have actioned the Police and Crime Commissioners to place CCTV in 400 city wide taxis
• We have actioned the Police and Crime Commissioners to receipt stop and searches

The local police, and through this relationship:

• The police have actively come and asked UoNSU how to relate to and get key messages out for students, and what issues affect students

Local councillors, and through this relationship:

• We have been involved in setting the local ward priorities for the next five years
• We have organised days of ‘action’ which showed the hard work students put into building and maintaining community relationships – which has been recognised in local print press, BBC East Midlands television and on various student websites.
• http://www.thenationalstudent.com/News/2012-10-14/Making_the_Student_Community_a_Home.html

Leader of the City Council (Jon Collins) and through this relationship:

• We have been offered a place to present a joint campaign plan (to increase graduate retention and improve perception of students in the community) for Nottingham City Council and UoNSU
• We have voiced our disappointment with the fact a by-election with 64% of the ward being students was held when students were on holiday. (We still managed to get 118 students registered for a postal vote).
• We have subsequently been promised that elections will not be held when students are away
• Jon has stated he is willing to have a discussion around the student parking permit charges.
• We have set up quarterly meetings, ensuring that a dialogue between Jon and UoNSU is maintained and that we work together in the future.

Local MP (Lilian Greenwood) and through this relationship:

• Our Community Officer’s response to the Local Government and Communities consultation was mentioned in the House of Commons. Our work is being recognised at a national level.
• http://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/news/article/6001/Sians-statement-gets-taken-to-the-House-of-Commons/
• We have set up quarterly meetings, ensuring that a dialogue between Lilian and UoNSU is maintained and that we work together in the future, especially in the run up to 2015.

Nottingham City Council Staff and through this relationship:

• Our response to the Additional Liscening consultation has actively been sought out
• Waste Management are working with UoNSU to reduce recycling bin contamination and improve waste management services for students

We feel we have made fantastic progress in the past 10 months and the greatest thing is that this is just the start! In the run up to the 2015, we intend to build on these relationships to ensure students are shaping their future and their experience in and very importantly, with, our local community. We, the University of Nottingham Students’ Union are confident in the ability of our students, increasingly powerful in our city and wholly committed to our community.

Nottingham Trent Nomination:

NTSU has been involved in a vast number of community projects this academic year. To date, our ‘One Day Challenge’ volunteering team has organised 62 individual volunteering events, engaging nearly 500 students and many local people too. These projects have worked with many areas of the local community, including refugees, older people, children, people with disabilities, those that are homeless, and people with mental health difficulties. We have not only supported people living in the community, but their local environment too. Tree planting has developed areas that were felled due to an expansion of transport networks. Community ‘Weeks of Action’ have targeted areas in the community that have required waste management attention.

Our community involvement hasn’t just been limited to the volunteering department. We have developed community champion positions for students living in halls of residence, and a halls team committed to providing activities in their wider community. Football sessions have been set up to allow children in the local area who were previously trespassing on local pitches, to now play with students in a positive environment. Students who are living in halls of residence outside the campus are encouraged to create a cohesive community with the people they live next to. Local residents have been invited to a number of events hosted at the University. We have celebrated Nottingham’s diversity through a Global Week project in which local school children were invited to engage with students and community members in a number of arts, crafts and educational projects. As well as this, we have celebrated the many different faiths in the community through a ‘Speed Faithing’ and quiz event, which was well attended by members of Nottingham’s indigenous faith groups, as well as students from the University. In addition to this, we continue to raise money for local charities through our RAG group and ‘Varsity in the Community’ sports competition.

Creativity is at the heart of NTSU’s communication, events and activities. Within our projects we continue to use creative strategies to engage students. A number of student volunteers worked alongside the police on a ‘Love your Phone’ campaign. This involved placing stickers on an unassuming student’s phone with the message ‘Love your Phone’, which has highlighted just how easy it is to steal a mobile whilst in a nightclub. Our community crime awareness campaigns involved placing balloons with crime awareness messages through open windows to highlight the ease with which burglars can target local residents.

We aim to enable every student to have the opportunity to engage in the local community, offering opportunities through a number of strategies. Teaming up with the University, we have provided taster sessions to engage students in longer term volunteering projects. Working with the International Students Support team, we provide opportunities throughout non-term time in order to engage those students who stay on campus year-round. ‘Big Ideas’ is an initiative where students can submit an idea to elected officers which may be taken to the next Union General Meeting, where all students will have the chance to vote whether to accept the Big Idea or not. If they do, NTSU will be committed to put their idea into practice.

Together with the University of Nottingham’s Student Union, we brought a large number of students as well as our media society Trent TV to the Police and Crime Commissioner hustings through promoting the event as the first ‘political’ Varsity series event, instilling some healthy competition that led to many students attending to question the crime commissioners to make sure the student voice is heard in the city.

A number of projects have generated local press and media. Our second term community Week of Action and Interfaith event was featured on Capital FM and BBC East Midlands radio. Our volunteering projects have had stories within our local Nottingham Post newspaper and from the back of this we have a number of enquiries for future projects. As well as this, our student radio presents Sunday surgeries documenting and discussing local projects.

We engage many local stakeholders through taking part in networking events, steering groups and attending local CVS events. When planning our Community Action weeks, many areas of expertise are gained to ensure the project is adapted to the area of need in the community. Usually this will consist of a staff member from the Union and University, the University’s Community Liaison Manager, an Elected Officer, the Neighborhood Development Officer from the city council and local Police Community Support Officers and Police Community Officers. As well as this, we employ expertise from specialists such as the Waste Management Team of the city council or local charities/organisations and Community Safety Projects Officers at local housing trusts. We have developed excellent working relationships as a result of these steering groups.

Our One Day Challenges have engaged with 24 different local community organisations and schools. Following our ‘Love your Phone’ campaign, the Local Nighttime Economy Group reported a noted decrease in reported phone crime in their nightclubs.

During our first Community Action Week, members of the SU exec teamed up with Rushcliffe Borough Council and police officers for 4 days of action in West Bridgford. This involved sharing information packs with window alarms and bin collection rotas alongside Ssh! Campaign leaflets to encourage student residents to be quiet and respectful of their community as well as staying safe. PCSOs reported a number of residents in the area had complimented the team on this project and noted these key issues had improved significantly in the following weeks.

In addition, our Varsity in the Community competition alone is forecast to have in raised in excess of £20,000 for the local branch of Headway.