OF YORKUNIVERSITYSTUDENTS’ UN ION

OUR SUCCESS IS NOT SIMPLY JUDGED THROUGH FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS.

YUSU is a not for profit organisation. All the profit that is made through our commercial arm and the grants that we receive is reinvested in student led activities and charitable causes. The opportunities and improvements we make to our students and the community that surrounds The University of York is what marks our success.

IMPACT REPORT

CONTENTS

ABOUT YUSU

A WORD FROM OUR CEO

RESEARCH AND CAMPAIGNING

WELFARE AND ADVICE

UNIVERSITY AND LOCAL POLICY

SOCIETIES

YORK SPORT UNION

VOLUNTEERING

RAISING AND GIVING

OPPORTUNITIES

WORKING FOR YUSU

STRONG PARTNERSHIPS

NOT FOR PROFIT JUST FOR STUDENTS

MARKETING AND ENGAGEMENT

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

THANK YOU

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

GET IN TOUCH

CONTENTS

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• 16,179 students at the University of York and this number keeps growing.

• Our annual Student Experience Survey revealed 46.9% of respondents believe YUSU is making a positive impact on their student life.

• The National Student Survey 2013 revealed 62% of York respondents agreed they were satisfied with YUSU. A 1% increase since 2012. We are edging towards the average for England of 67%.

ABOUT YUSU• The Times Higher Education Student

Experience Survey ranked YUSU 55 of 105 Students’ Unions in their league table. This is 14 places higher since 2010 and smashed the national average of – 4. YUSU received a score of 5.1 ‘Good Students’ Union’ score narrowly missing out on the national average of 5.2.

• The number of voters engaging with the YUSU elections has grown by 35% since 2011 and a 3rd of the York student population voted in this year’s elections. This is a solid foundation as a democratic organisation, but we want to reach more.

• 164 YUSU societies with over 5,000 York students involved in a YUSU society.

• 62 York Sport Union clubs over 3,000 York students participate in York Sport Union clubs and a growing College Sport programme.

• 5 commercial outlets lowering prices for students with all the profits reinvested in student led activities. In 2013/14 £133,756 was reinvested back into student led activities and charitable activity.

• £40,000 has been channelled into the University college system to provide events, training and personal development opportunities for York students.

• 14 voluntary projects that make a real difference in the community.

• Raising and Giving activity has gifted £78,177.70 for charitable causes.

• Increasing numbers of students accessing advice and support from YUSU.

YUSU exists to promote and defend the educational and welfare interests

of its current and future membership. Employers are looking for more than

a quality degree; The University of York contributes over £240m a year to

the city’s economy and many of our students stay in Yorkshire after they

graduate, bringing new skills and experience to the local workforce. YUSU

provides a range of services, events, activities and opportunities which

impact on the student experience, employability and the wider community.

EVERY STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK IS AUTOMATICALLY A MEMBER OF YUSU.

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YUSU facilitates student opportunities. We help

members to meet new people, learn new skills, to be

happy and healthy, to improve their world, to have

fun. We do this through a growing range of services

and opportunities we provide. Sports and societies,

volunteering initiatives, our growing Raising and

Giving (RAG) program, the representative networks,

the increasing range of social spaces we offer and the

community that we foster make up our investment

into the student experience. The impact report gives

some sense of YUSU’s role in the lives of students, in

the success of the University and the fantastic City

of York.

The future looks very exciting. We will work with

the University and students to achieve a shared

responsibility for ensuring the York student experience

is one of the defining factors of the University of York.

We will ensure YUSU and its members are better

equipped to demonstrate the impact we make on

students futures and in the community. It will see us

widening student participation and maximising the

benefit of participation on students and wider society.

We want to thank all of those who support us; our

staff, our trustees, our funders and partners and most

of all our members. We are proud of our member’s

achievements and, with a fast changing social

landscape; we believe these achievements are an

essential element of student experience that help

them thrive in a changing world.”

BEN VULLIAMY YUSU CHIEF EXECUTIVE

“THE IMPACT REPORT SHOWS SOME OF THE INCREDIBLE THINGS STUDENTS DO TO MAKE THEIR EDUCATION EXPERIENCE IN YORK GREAT.”

A WORDFROM OURCEO

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RESEARCH & CAMPAIGNING

The annual student led YUSU awards recognised some of

the great work York students have engineered to make a

difference.

FIXED FEES CAMPAIGN

The International Students Association succeeded in

securing fixed fees at the point of entry for international

students whose fees were increasing by large amounts

making it hard for international students to budget for their

time at York. This successful campaign has capped fees at a

2% increase for each year of study which has the potential to

save international students thousands of pounds.

The Fixed Fee campaign won the award for

Contribution to Internationalisation at the YUSU

awards 2013/14.

KEY CONTACTS

Key Contacts is a scheme derived from the Access All

Activites Report carried out by YUSU in 2013. The report

showed that students who define as disabled or LGBTQ

are less likely to take part in sport for reasons including,

discrimination and exclusion.

The title ‘Key Contact’ refers to a volunteer from 10 different

clubs to act as a friendly face. The Key Contacts are also

educated on various topics including disability sport,

ableism, homophobia, transphobia and issues surrounding

lad culture. As a result of better awareness around these

issues:

• Men’s Rugby club cancelled a ‘drag’ social and banned

them within their club.

• Trampolining influenced their coach to gain a disability

sport qualification. The club now holds weekend classes

for disabled children in the community.

• Trampolining held a joint social with York’s LGBTQ network

involving both a trampolining session and a pub crawl.

• Octopush held a ‘have a go’ session targeted at York’s

Disabled Student’s Association and the LGBTQ network.

The session was well attended by students from both

groups and since three students have become full

members of the club.

• Women’s Football introduced a welfare officer to their

committee to sustain the Key Contacts scheme within their

club and ensure they were looking after the well-being of

their diverse members.

• Influenced ‘Contribution to Diversity in Sport’ award to

be added to the York Sport Dinner (York’s annual sport

awards).

The Key Contacts scheme won the Contribution to

Diversity award at the YUSU awards 2013/14

GOOD DAY, BAD DAY

A NUS study showed that 92% of students experience

feelings of mental distress whilst at University, caused by

a range of issues: a heavy workload, financial fears and

struggling to fit into relationships (NUS, 2013).

This campaign struck right to the heart of some very personal

but real issues for people on campus. It allowed people to

talk about mental health issues and began to lessen the

stigma attached with such illnesses. It didn’t shy away from

the tough stuff and gave people the ability to join in on social

media as well as contribute through blogs and vlogs. Many

people were allowed to share their story of struggling with

mental health for the first time through this campaign.

Students voted Good Day Bad Day Campaign of the

Year at the YUSU awards.

OVER THE PAST ACADEMIC YEAR THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF CAMPAIGNS THAT YUSU HAS SUPPORTED ON THE ISSUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO OUR STUDENTS.

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ADVICE AND SUPPORT CENTRE

The change in funding arrangements in 2012 has changed the

higher education landscape, more students than ever are appealing

against classification and fail decisions. Due to the increasing

demand for advice and support from YUSU, 2 new members of part-

time staff have commenced their roles as Academic and Welfare

Development Coordinators and are taking on case work. Additionally

the new members of the team have been able to get out to all the

college welfare teams to identify issues affecting our students to

begin preventative projects with colleges in the new academic year.

• Overall casework has dropped slightly (244 from 261 in

2012/3) but the proportion of Appeals has risen from 35% to

47% (91 to 115).

• Summer vacation casework has risen from 66 cases in 2012/3

to 86 in 2013/4; Appeals in this period have risen from 43 to

58.

NIGHT SAFE

Nightsafe has been developed over the last academic year with

the aim of ensuring the safety of our students when on nights out,

attending YUSU events and Official club nights. YUSU have trained

12 team leaders and recruited another 50 volunteers to provide

assistance to students when on nights out to elevate the pressure on

other services across the city and prevent incidents. Working within

the Safer York Partnership, YUSUs’ innovative work has been well

received locally and praised by local and national politicians after

safety concerns of students following the tragic death of 2 students

in York rivers in 2014.

NIGHTLINE

Nightline is a student support phone line run by students for

students. There is no other student support system that is open

at night and York students give up their time to help their fellow

students.

“I was going through a personally very difficult time. Nightline was

an incomparable support.” - Nightline caller, 2014

STUDENT SAFETY

We have trained:

• 412 First aiders 8% more than 2011/12

• 512 Responsible Persons 21% increase from 2011/12

• Introduced Ladder, COSHH and equipment training for our

societies and JCRC’s

THERE ARE SEVERAL ISSUES THAT MAY FACE STUDENTS WHEN AT UNIVERSITY AND THE SAFETY, WELFARE AND AVAILABILITY OF GOOD ADVICE FOR YORK STUDENTS IS A PRIORITY FOR YUSU.

WELFARE & ADVICE

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UNIVERSITY & LOCAL POLICY

YUSU has aided the development of the new university strategy,

consultations across the city about road and traffic safety, planning and

licensing, ward boundaries and funding for community projects. We’ve

also begun to involve ourselves in consultations for services delivered by

the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) for the Vale of York, delivering

a student voice to the deciding body for delivering NHS services in the

region. The welfare team have been working closely with the University

to offer experience and insight into the changed fees landscape. The

YUSU welfare team have assisted the University to rewrite the Academic

Misconduct policy and procedure and the Academic appeal form.

RECOGNISING EXCELLENCE ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY

The Annual YUSU Excellence in Teaching and Supervision Awards are

a student led celebration of excellence across the University. A panel of

judges drawn from the university, YUSU and current students awarded

the prizes. These awards are a wonderful recognition of what makes

York such a good university and what students appreciate as part of

their academic experience which is becoming more and more vital to

understand as the higher education market becomes more competitive.More students than ever had their say with 402 unique

nominations a 27.6% increase from 2012/13, indicating the

real difference excellence in teaching and supervision makes

to the lives of our students. 81 more teaching staff were

nominated for an award in 2013/14 from the previous year.

IDENTIFYING ISSUES TO MAKE BIG IMPACTS FOR ALL STUDENTS

• Lobbied the University library to consult with students over

resourcing key texts. The University then did a full student

consultation so students could get the books that they need

• Making the cleaning of whiteboards more regular to make

text more eligible

• Stopped the block booking of rooms around exam times as

they were remaining empty a lot of the time, now there are

more available rooms for exam study

YUSU HAVE TAKEN A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN RESPONDING AS A UNION TO CONSULTATIONS FROM EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS.

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SOCIETIES

YUSU funded 96 societies last year and this money

went on development of society members through

external speakers, trips away, events, buying in

different materials, performances, competitions the

list goes on. This funding is vital to societies and you

can see the impact it makes with the buzz on campus

and the national presence societies have.

We have trained 95% of society officers on the skills

that are required to full fill the role. These skills

include communication and organisation as well as

marketing and events organisation. All these skills are

directly transferable to the working world for when

they leave university.

SHAPE YOUR SOCIETIES REVIEW

YUSU Activities team consulted with

846 students and as a result YUSU now

understands what support students want when

running a society and is now able to tailor

support offering value for money and leaving

students to lead the way. YUSU has now

developed a strategic approach to societies

making it easier to adapt to what students want

in the future.

21% increase of students participating in

YUSU societies since 2011

SOCIETY OF THE YEAR

York Student Cinema won Society of the Year

for their transformation of the last academic

year with record numbers making up audiences,

low ticket prices and the society has been

praised as a good alternative for students who

do not want to go out drinking. The society has

run numerous fund raising events resulting with

the society self-funding a new digital projector

to improve the cinematic experience for their

audiences.

SOME ACHIEVEMENTS

•YSTV won 3 awards at NaSTA including ‘best

broadcaster’

•7 members of York Comedy society qualified

for the Chortle Student Comedy Awards more

than any other University

•Brass band came 3rd in the University Brass

band championships

THIS YEAR YUSU INVESTED £69,792 IN GRANTS TO SOCIETIES; THIS IS A 5% INCREASE FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

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YORK SPORT UNIONYUSU HAS INVESTED £75,339 IN GRANTS TO YORK SPORT UNION. WE ALSO SPENT £13,346 ON COLLEGE SPORT AND HIRED £64,833 OF SPORT FACILITIES FOR STUDENTS DURING THE YEAR.

Investment in great facilities at York is already having an

effect on the outcomes for teams at York Sport Union. The

value of our strong York Sport Union brand is giving the The

University of York a reputation as a great home of sport. York

Sport President Cass Brown has been elected the BUCS

National Student Director which is fantastic for both Cass

and York because we now have representation on a large

sport’s National Governing Body board; BUCS.

BUCS

• Ranked 38th 5 positions higher than 2013

• 11 teams have been promoted 6 more than 2013

• 5 teams reached the Northern Cup Finals and 3 became

champions

• A gold medal in Indoor Athletics

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

• Futsal reached the semi-finals of the FA Futsal Cup

• VX athlete won the first inter University competition

• 121 students received colours

ROSES

This year was the 50th anniversary of Roses; the largest

university sports tournament in Europe. Thousands of York

students travelled to Lancaster University. Unfortunately

York narrowly missed out on glory however it was the highest

losing total in the tournaments history with 142.5 points.

COLLEGE VARSITY

The 2013/14 academic year held the first ever college varsity

against Durham University. Durham narrowly won and York

will be eager for an away win this year.

PHYSIOTHERAPY FOR SPORTS CLUBS AT YORK

The scheme allows students to attend a 30 minute

physiotherapy session for £5, saving students £25 per

session on average. Since its introduction in spring term

2014, 114 students have accessed the scheme from 26 York

Sport Union Clubs.

“The physio service provided by the York Sport Union is an

incredible resource for sports players, providing top quality

physiotherapy sessions for incredible value. The booking

process is really simple, and Paula is so helpful. It’s exactly

the sort of thing sports clubs need to ensure their players

stay fit throughout the season” - Jonny, Futsal

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FOCUS SPORT PROGRAMME

The Focus Sport Programme is designed to provide specialist training

to encourage elite performance. Currently the programme supports 5

York Sport Union Clubs and the 2014/15 academic year will see the

programme expanding to include 6.

“Being a part of the Focus Sport scheme has generally given our

players the support and confidence they needed coming into

the season, especially within our two first teams, who secured

the phenomenal double of cup wins and securing promotions in

undefeated campaigns. Strength and conditioning, in particular,

made a noticeable difference to the athletes’ speed and power on the

pitch, and the squads have relished the challenge of regular sessions

with Pete Ashcroft. It has been a privilege of which we have taken

full advantage, and the prospect of another season as a focus sport

is a hugely exciting one.” - Claire, Lacrosse.

Some of the achievements of the teams within the

programme include:

• Both the Lacrosse men & women teams won their BUCS

conference Northern Cup finals and BUCS leagues gaining

promotion.

• Swimming and athletes reached the BUCS Championships finals.

• Men’s Rugby 1sts held their position in the BUCS Northern

Premier B League.

• Boat club sent a women’s 8 team to Henley Women’s Regatta to

compete in the Academic 8’s.

VOLUNTEERINGYUSU OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO VOLUNTEER WITH 14 DIFFERENT STUDENT LED PROJECTS AS WELL AS THE CHANCE TO FUNDRAISE FOR MULTIPLE CHARITIES THROUGH THE YUSU RAISE AND GIVE (RAG) PROGRAMME.

Volunteer students at the University of York are incredibly selfless, giving

their time to help worthwhile causes within the community.

Sarah Roughton won RAG Volunteer of the Year at the annual YUSU

awards for her tireless contribution and passion for RAG. She was integral

in the organisation of events activities within her college, making sure

that RAG was a key part of Halifax College.  

Inkwell received the award for Volunteering Project of the Year at the

YUSU awards because of their dedication to nurture literacy skills

through the medium of creative writing workshops for York’s primary

school children. Inkwell has been running for 12 months and in this

short space time they have volunteered over 336 hours in local schools

to run a variety of sessions. Inkwells project work has been recognised

as ‘outstanding volunteering’ and is being used as a case study of

outstanding volunteering for the Government’s work on literacy and

schools.

KIDS’ CAMP

Kids’ Camp gives students the opportunity to volunteer as part of a

residential camp for children between the ages of 8 and 11 years old. All

the children who attend are referred to the project as they are deemed to

be ‘desperately in need of a break’. This year’s two camps have enabled

34 children to take part in a range of activities from archery and climbing

to zip lining, caving and canoeing.

Two volunteers described the best aspect of Kids’ Camp:

“I noticed a development in my confidence and skills with children.”

“Being able to see each of the children grow in confidence as the week

went on, being willing to try things they didn’t necessarily want to take

part in.”

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WINTER WONDERLAND

This year’s Winter Wonderland saw RAG bring the

Christmas spirit to campus with live Reindeers, market

stalls and festive food and drink. The event helped

to support the work of the charity, Railway Children,

who work to provide protection and opportunities for

street children around the world. Railway children

have helped over 126,000 street children in the

past 5 years and we are extremely proud to support

international charities that make a difference all over

the world.

WOODSTOCK

Organised and run by a committee of student

volunteers, Woodstock 2014 once again saw Vanbrugh

College be turned into a music lover’s paradise with 12

hours of live music and entertainment. Three stages,

including a new acoustic stage which allowed solo acts

who otherwise may not have had a chance to perform,

showcased a range of societies and student bands.

This year the event raised funds for York Mind, who

work to provide high quality mental health services

in York. 25% of drugs prescribed on the NHS are for

mental health issues and with the NUS reporting more

students coming forward with mental health problems,

supporting YorkMind who work hard to breakdown the

stigma attached to mental health really can make a

difference to our students and the local community.

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RAISING & GIVINGTHE 2012/13 YUSU RAG WEEK RAISED £10,137.43 AND WAS DONATED TO 6 BENEFICIARIES.

To see what the money raised has achieved one year on:

LOCALLY

The money donated to IDAS enabled redecoration of family

rooms and provided toys and play equipment for children and

young people living in the refuge.

“Making the refuge a pleasant place to be is incredibly

important in making it as easy as possible for women and

children to move on from their experiences of domestic

abuse. We are extremely grateful for the support we receive

from YUSU, so please pass on our thanks to everyone

involved in raising the money” - Sarah Hill – Director IDAS

REGIONALLY

In December 2013 SCT opened their third “Home from

Home” in Yorkshire and the money raised by YUSU went

towards this.

It gives families of children who are being treated in the

Critical Care Unit a place to stay close to their child. Many

of the children on these wards have been transferred from

hospitals that do not have specialist facilities and are

therefore not within close travelling distance from their

home.

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NATIONALLY

YUSU’s voluntary donations have helped to fund a unique project

based in Yorkshire; The Haematological Malignancy Research Network

(HMRN):

The project is revealing a complete picture of blood cancer patient’s

journeys from diagnosis onwards that is helping to improve treatments

and the wider healthcare policy, locally and across the UK.

INTERNATIONALLY

YUSU RAG donated £3937.73 last November. £15 helps one person

gain access to safe water, sanitation and improved hygiene, so RAG

fundraising helped 262 people gain access to clean water and

sanitation.

“By supporting WaterAid’s work, you are helping young people to

spend their time studying in school rather than collecting water. With

your continued support, we will work towards a world where everyone,

everywhere has access to safe water and sanitation.” - Lindsay Wicks,

Community Engagement at Water Aid

All the money that RAG raised could send 10 surgeons to the field

for a week or buy 61 emergency health kits capable of treating 2440

patients.

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OPPORTUNITIESGRADUATES NEED TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD IN TODAYS JOBS MARKET AND YUSU OFFER SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR YORK STUDENTS TO GET AHEAD.

COURSE REPS

Ran three training sessions with a focus on team working and role related

skills, and introduced a VLE induction module, preparing students for

their role and enhancing their skills.

• 148 Reps attended training session

• 172 Accessed VLE

• 71% Glad they attended

• 66% felt more confident and prepared to be a course rep as a result of

attending

DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVES

Considering feedback from Course Reps, 2013/14 saw the first cohort of

Department Reps. Department Reps have completed a 360 review and

many reps were highly commended by the departments they represent.

Areas of improvement have been identified and Department Reps are set

to continue making a positive impact on the academic experience of York

students.

“Dynamic and very positive. She engages extremely well with both

students and staff, and is an excellent representative of her peers at

Staff-Student Forum/DUTC/Board of Studies meetings. She often offers

thoughtful and helpful insights in discussions around student matters in

our department.” - University of York teaching staff member

COLLEGE OFFICERS

46.4% of all college officers were trained in 2013 which is a massive

increase since 2012. 76.4% stated due to the training they felt prepared

to be an officer

PROFESSIONAL CONNECT

Professional Connect is a joint venture with the University careers

service. Professional Connect gives students the opportunity to gain

insight in future careers and network with professionals.

‘It was greats to gain insight into different aspects of public & third

sector. Hopefully I secured myself work experience or an internship

contacts through networking - we’ll see!’ - Professional Connect

attendee, 2014

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WORKING FOR YUSU

YUSU COMMERCIAL SERVICES PAID OUT APPROXIMATELY £255,692 DIRECTLY TO STUDENT STAFF WHOM WE EMPLOY TO HELP RUN OUR COMMERCIAL SERVICES.

The average satisfaction rate with YUSU staff working

in Your Shop and our bars is 77.5% which really

is testament to our customer facing staff and high

standards provided by YUSU.

More and more students have to work alongside their

studies to fund their time at University and with

employers looking for work experience as well as a

good degree; YUSU has employed 113 students in

its bars, shops and offices. It can be hard to balance

working hard and playing hard, but YUSU understands

this fine balance making sure students get the most

out of their time at University.

Here’s what some students have to say about working

for YUSU:

“The best thing about working for YUSU is the

sense of community and cohesion, the flexibility and

understanding the managers have with regards to

University work and all the different skills I am picking

up.”

“It is led by extremely understanding and flexible

employers who take seriously the work/University

balance and act accordingly.”

“It’s a really good job to have as a student as it fits

round my lecture timetable and allows me to go home

in the holidays which is really important to me because

I live far away.”

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Rachel Brown is the YUSU Commercial Services Intern

as Courtyard Assistant Manager. Rachel started as a

Shop Assistant at Your Shop whilst she was studying

at the University of York. Rachel then applied to be

a student supervisor at Your Shop; which is available

for 2nd and 3rd year students to take on more

responsibility and gain valuable work experience.

“I was studying English Language & Linguistics and

got half way through my degree when I realised I

was really not enjoying my course but I was enjoying

working for YUSU, therefore I decided apply to be a

student supervisor and then later I got the role at the

Courtyard as Assistant Manager as part of a 1 year

internship. I have been able to gain qualifications such

as liqueur licence, food hygiene and I have attended

events forums which I am able to put on my CV. I am

now pursuing a career in retail management.”

Elected YUSU President 2012-14 Kallum Taylors said:

“Advice and guidance has always been on hand from

our staff members, and from certain members of the

University community, which is great, and really quite

calming. With this too, we’ve completed 360 reviews

to highlight our strengths, weaknesses and make us

better judge our next steps.”

Over the summer of 2014 YUSU has additionally taken

on interns in Graphic design and IT services.

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STRONG PARTNERSHIPSTHE STUDENT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP, WHICH COMBINES THE FOUR INSTITUTIONS AND CITY OF YORK COUNCIL, GIVES PRACTICAL ADVICE TO STUDENTS ABOUT LIVING HARMONIOUSLY IN THE COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS CHAMPIONING THE CONTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS TO THE ECONOMY AND COMMUNITY OF YORK.

The partnership’s new campaign, ‘York Loves Students’,

gives recognition to students who contribute in a positive

way to their community. New calculations by the universities

involved and higher education institutions in York have

revealed that 75,000 volunteering hours have been logged

by students in the city and, if volunteers had been paid at

the minimum wage rate, the cost of their employment would

have been over £500,000.

CALL IT IN

The Call It In campaign was launched after discussions

between the YUSU Welfare & Community Officer and the

Health & Safety team about the number of students coming

to YUSU to report crime, having not contacted the police or

campus security.

The campaign was therefore launched with several aims: to

encourage and increase the reporting of crime and suspicious

behaviour both on and off campus; to improve access to

support services for victims; and to further educate students

about how best to avoid becoming a victim.

To achieve this, the campaign introduced several novel

services, including an ability to book appointments to see

police, security, Bridge House [SARC], or the Safer Homes

handyperson [to burglar-proof property]; the distribution

of large amounts of innovative personal safety equipment

including over 600 personal attack alarms, security bells,

phone security items, and home & outbuilding security

packs; and a property registration service.

As a valued campaign by the local community the campaign

has benefited greatly from contributions close to £3000 from

partner agencies, including the Police & Crime Commissioner

for North Yorkshire and the Safer York partnership.

YORK LOVES STUDENTS

York loves students is a student community partnership that

encourages students out in the community to give something

back. In early 2014 a group of students did a clean-up of

Heslington Road an area with a high student population.

Coun David Levene, Cabinet Member for Environmental

Services, said: “It is always great to see students taking pride

in the area where they are living and studying. This is also a

really good way for the council to highlight the volunteering

opportunities available to other individuals and groups who

wish to get involved in their local area.”

One local resident said:

“Students get lots of flack for making a mess and at least

this is some recompense. Well done to them.”

GREEN IMPACT

In 2013/14 YUSU applied for Green Impact accreditation

for the first time, which gave us the opportunity to review our

ethical and environmental procedures. YUSU was awarded

working towards bronze and in 2014/15 we will going for

bronze status.

BIG GREEN CLEAN

The Big Green Clean is a group of volunteers who collate

discarded items after students go home for the summer. The

collated items are then donated, sold on or recycled.

This years’ Big Green Clean went really well with over 125

full crates of donated items, 25 of those being food, for a

rough total of 1.880 tonnes of material being donated and

recycled!

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CELEBRATE YORK AND TOUR DE TANG HALL

Celebrate York is an annual event held in the community of Tang Hall in

May which is a day of activities in the community. Tang Hall is one of

the most deprived wards in the City and celebrate York is an event that

local residents can enjoy for free. This year’s event was marred with bad

weather however this did not dampen the spirits for the local community

with hundreds of local residents in attendance.

With the 2014 arrival of the Tour de France in York YUSU worked with

local partners to put on the Tour De Tang Hall to encourage the growing

interest in cycling and engage the local community were lots of York

students live.

Tour de Tang Hall won a York Community Pride award at the annual

ceremony hosted by City of York Council and the York Evening Press.

In the year 2013-14 Vishnu has successfully volunteered with multiple

organisations for various causes. Vishnu volunteered as a park ranger

3 days a week at St. Nick’s nature reserve in York. Every day he helps

clean the reserve, an area of almost 22 acres; it is frequently used by

a significant section of the local community. He has greatly helped in

activities that include the protection of the endangered water vole. As

a volunteer at St. Nicks he has helped promote sustainable living to

the local community. He also works with children from primary and

secondary schools, students from the university, the elderly and people

with special needs on a weekly basis, helping them attain various types

of skills and knowledge necessary to attain jobs. Volunteering to inspire

young children to learn about science and the environment is Vishnu’s

passion; he pursued this passion not only by volunteering at St. Nicks

but at various other events held and run by York cares, Children’s

University, York careers, York STEM and FERA. Examples include the

graduation ceremony for school children in York, by helping organise

the event. Vishnu also volunteered part-time as a student-teacher under

the York students in School programme teaching ‘Science of food and

the environment’ to the children after school at the Osbaldwick Primary

School in collaboration with FERA. Additionally, he volunteered at the

National Science Learning Centre for a family science day to help inspire

and engage, not only children but also parents, in various fields of science

such as ecology, chemistry, and physics. He also volunteers part-time at

the Mayfield Community Trust programme to help protect local wildlife

and biodiversity.

Well done Vishnu!

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VISHNU SUNIL KUMAR WON OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER AT THIS YEAR’S YUSU AWARDS FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO VOLUNTARY PROJECTS IN YORK.

INNOVATIVE WORK

YuStart the UK’s first bespoke University Crowdfunding

platform. Launched in January 2014 YUSU worked in

conjunction with the Universities’ Development Office;

some projects that have got off the ground are:

• York Astrocampus raised £7,000 to continue its

educational work about the Universe with school

children and space enthusiasts. The YuStart funding

will be used for equipment in the new outreach activity

centre.

• 24 choirs raised £1,200 will allow the choir to make

the most of their 17-day tour of China and Hong Kong.

• Student film production raised £105 when creating

the short film Psyched, to fund the costs of locations,

props and specialist equipment.

NOT FOR PROFIT JUST FOR STUDENTS

EVERY PENNY OF PROFIT MADE IN OUR CAMPUS VENUES GOES BACK IN FUNDING YUSU SERVICES, STUDENT LED ACTIVITIES AND GOES TOWARDS CHARITABLE CAUSES.

All outlets perform high in terms of satisfaction with staff working in our

outlets; this is testament to our customer facing student staff.

THE COURTYARD

Satisfaction rate 83.6 – 2.4% increase since 2012/13

2013/14 was one of the busiest years since it opened in 2009. The

Courtyard is also undergoing a refurbishment including brand new bar

and new furniture for York students to enjoy.

THE LOUNGE

Satisfaction rate 68% - 2.2% increase since 2012/13

YUSU’s second licenced space has come into its own this year, with new

furniture and new feel. Its cocktails have proven extremely popular once

again and host a variety of events across the year including the YUSU

and York Sport awards, with a level of professionalism from the full-time

and student staff making this an increasing popular campus venue.

THE GLASSHOUSE

Satisfaction rate – 14.6% increase since 2012/13

This academic year was the second for The Glasshouse, based on the

Heslington East campus. This is an extremely popular venue with its club

nights consistently reaching capacity.

YOURSHOP

Satisfaction rate 77.3% - 4.2 increase since 2012/13

Students can spend money in YUSU shop safe in the knowledge that the

profit will be invested back into their student experience. Additionally

YUSU shop donates some of their profits to charity as voted for by its

customers.

THE KITCHEN AT ALCUIN

The Kitchen at Alcuin is one of the year’s true success stories for YUSU

commercial services. After the announced closure of Café Barista,

YUSU commercial services saw the opportunity to utilise a great space

and completely refurbished the café. Popular with students and staff

alike based on the north side of campus, it also hosts a number of

departmental events throughout the academic year.

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The combined surplus from all YUSU outlets in 2013/14 was

£133,756 which is reinvested into improving and developing

student led activities, providing student advice, running

volunteering initiatives and electing, training and supporting

course representatives.

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MARKETING & ENGAGEMENT

YUSU MARKETING HAS GENERATED £20,460.20 OF INCOME THROUGH ADVERTISING, SPONSORSHIP AND CONTRACTS WHICH IS ALL REINVESTED BACK INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF YUSU.

Fresher’s 2013/14 Comedy night sold out for the first

time and received a 92.4% satisfaction rating from

attendees, 33.1% higher than in 2012 – ticket sales

rocketed by 215% in 2013 compared to 2012 due to

a discounted Fresher’s weekend ticket promotion.

YUSU also hosted the first ever Comedy Night during

Refreshers week and sold out Roger Kirk Centre.

The annual Fresher’s Fair continues to be a huge

success with a 93.3% satisfaction rate. The 2014/15

Fresher Fair is set to be the biggest one yet.

Live and Loud is now in its 3rd year and ticket sales

have grown by 24% since 2011.

Viking Raid continues to be a popular event with

York students to introduce them to the city night

life. Feedback from students attending the event in

2013/14 has resulted in a new route being added so

more students can participate in the event.

Ticket sales have almost doubled for Summer Ball

since 2010. Summer ball was the biggest yet in

2013/14 with 2800 students in attendance, many

stating it is a great cross university event.

‘The best bit about Summer Ball is having the

opportunity to have a final goodbye to multiple friends.’

– Summer Ball attendee 2014.

The YUSU marketing team has supported a number of

colleges to improve events which have turned around

from making a loss to making a profit that can be

invested in developing more student led activities

within colleges.

COMMUNICATION

Our students have told us that they like to be

communicated with through digital platforms the top 3

preferred methods being Facebook, e-mail and YUSU

newsletter.

A Klout score is out of 100 and measures the impact

organisations have on social media. The average score

is 40 and a score of 60+ puts you in the top 5% of

users. At the end of the 2013-14 academic year (27th

June 2014) YUSU had a Klout score of 62.92.

How do we measure up against other similar

students’ unions?

• Lancaster University 58

• Exceter University Students Guild 65

• University of Huddersfield Students Union 58

For the next academic year our social media platforms

will include Snapchat and Buzzfeed, so that we can

engage with our students in more interesting and

varied ways.

• Facebook likes = 10000 - 22% increase from 2013

• Freshers’ Facebook Page = 3418

• York Sport Union Facebook follows = 889

• College Varsity Facebook follows = 847

• YUSU bars = 2141

• Twitter followers = 7200 - 57% increase from 2013

• Instagram followers = 245

• YouTube subscribers = 425

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FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Trading Income

Restricted Funding Income

Block Grant

Other Income

Events Income

Trading

Restricted Funding Allocation

EventsSport

StudentActivities

Democracy &Representation

Academic & Welfare

Other

948398 Block Grant

1690459 Trading Income

375266 Events Income

204602 Other Income

1205416 Restricted Funding Income

4424141 Total

1596255 Trading

356988 Events

314985 Student Activities

341395 Sport

211491 Democracy & Representation

181386 Academic & Welfare

43031 Other

1298060 Restricted Funding Allocated

4343591 Total

TOTAL INCOME TOTAL EXPENDITURE

80550 Surplus

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THANKYOU

With the highest ever BUCS placing, real growth in our community

relations, column inches and praise for our student safety work,

some incredible performances in trading, increases in block grant,

growth in advice team, 1 third of students voting in elections, the

societies review, the opening of the Kitchen at Alcuin and so much

more are testament to a union that busts a gut to help students do

incredible things.

Students have lead YUSU to make a real difference to the lives

of many, not just to students and not just exclusively in York but,

across Yorkshire, the UK and globally. We are extremely proud of

our students here at York. The passion and enthusiasm from our

students to make a difference is what makes YUSU so successful,

a huge thank you to all our volunteers, sports clubs, societies,

department and course representatives who have made it happen.

Special thanks also go to the University of York and our 2013/14

elected leaders Kallum Taylor, Anna Mcgivern, Cass Brown, George

Offer and Dan Whitmore and our external trustees Robert Brech,

Neil Irving, Bethan Forrest, Kevin Hall, Matthew Taylor and Lee

Cook.

2013/14 has also been made possible by key partnerships and

funding in particular Sport England, Higher York, The National

Union of Students (NUS) and the Safer York Partnership which has

enabled YUSU to drive forward innovative and successful projects.

THE 2013/14 ACADEMIC YEAR HAS BEEN A GREAT ONE FOR YUSU

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WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

OUR 2014/15 SABBATICAL OFFICER TEAM

SAM MAGUIRE YUSU PRESIDENT

The next year is a really exciting one for YUSU with a home Roses,

a shiny new website, strategy and loads more to look forward to. The

Sabbatical Officers are working really hard to make sure that all students

at York have a great year and YUSU make a difference to their lives.

This year I will work to give the Union direction. Working with all

members it is time to develop a strategy that reflects their views and

give YUSU long-term focus. The consultation process will run throughout

this academic year with the strategy in place by June 2015. Another

priority for me this year is ensuring that the University of York is a place

where anyone can flourish. We will be campaigning to encourage minority

groups in leadership were our key goal is to have a set of candidates in

the YUSU elections who reflect the demographic of York’s diverse student

body.

CASS BROWN YORK SPORT PRESIDENT

Sport at York is set to thrive next year. With the introduction of an

affordable AU fee, the York Sport Union has more investment than ever

to put back into club development. As well as developing clubs through

education, training and funding more and better equipment, we will

be focusing on attracting the best athletes to York to make the most

of our state of the art facilities. We’ll also be launching our new BUCS

campaign, inspiring our clubs and athletes to strive for the higher ranks

of the BUCS league table. Diversity is also a key area of focus for the

York Sport Union as we seek to broaden the range of student groups that

play sport and run schemes to make as many students as possible feel

included in sport. Most exciting of all though, is that 2015 sees a home

Roses; our annual Varsity event against Lancaster University where York

will fight to bring the Carter James trophy back where it belongs.

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GEORGE OFFER ACADEMIC OFFICER

All students at York are here to study and it’s my job

to ensure they are able to reach their full potential.

Working closely with the course and department reps

this year I’ll be focussing on course design to embed

transferable skills into the curriculum to make our

students better prepared for employment. I will also

be working on diversification of assessment methods,

trying to move away from traditional essays and exams,

and making sure feedback from these is as useful as

it can be. Additionally I want our members to have

more opportunities to expand their horizons through

international study programmes. This year I will also be

working with Academic Societies to find out how students

can best benefit from them.

CHRIS WALL ACTIVITIES OFFICER

I want students to have an unforgettable experience

at York. By the end of this year I would like to see an

increase and widening of the participation in both RAG

and Volunteering. I will continue to support the great

success we already have with our societies and work

with them to be even more effective. I want students

across the university to make the most of their time at

York whilst developing themselves by learning new skills,

whilst making memories and making a real difference to

society.

JEMIMA BUSBY WELFARE AND COMMUNITY OFFICER

Over the coming year, I’ll be focussing on how we can

ensure that students not only have the support they need

for when things go wrong but also provide them with

the tools and resources to look after themselves, to deal

effectively with the stresses of University and to stop

problems before they happen.

I also want to make students feel more part of the city

both by finding new and constructive ways to engage with

the non-student residents around them to make York a

stronger, more diverse and more student-friendly city. I

will work to encourage students to use their power to vote

in the 2015 Council and General Elections to shape the

future of the city and improve things for all residents in

years to come.

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GET IN TOUCH

FIND US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, BUZZFEED AND SNAPCHAT - YORKUNISU

WWW.YUSU.ORGENQUIRIES@YUSU.ORG

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