Hi- I’m Gigi, a third-year Music Industries Management student based in the Leeds School of Arts. I’ve previously served as the school’s Student Academic Representative Assistant, and as one of the LBSU’s community leaders (2022-23). This year, I’ve been working with the NUS as one of their chairperson of their annual liberation conference- a group of student activists fighting for a better university experience for International, Disabled and LGBTQ+ students following my election to their committee board. I’d love to come back and finish off where I started at the LBSU, returning with a tried and tested set of skills and policies to better the welfare of our vast student community, extending my efforts to all studying at Leeds Beckett.

Should you consider voting for me, I pledge to:

1) Increase and streamline access to financial, mental health and wellbeing resources, catering attentively to the needs of a modern, diverse student community- specifically, I will be looking to provide additional spaces to get support and resources for the issues our student community is facing: 

• Resolving timetable issues with course directors to enable students to better balance their work/life commitments, making employment and other life factors much easier to navigate around their studies
• Addressing current issues with public transport, providing additional and alternative support for students struggling with getting to and from their in-person University commitments
• Increasing support and resources for independent living in Leeds- regardless of one’s Home or International student status, I will be increasing and streamlining all current and proposed welfare support for day-to-day issues faced by the student community; this will include but won’t be limited to assistance with student accommodation and housing, proposing a long overdue review and probable increase to student bursary funding to match inflation (in line with the current cost of living), and boosting efforts to support historically neglected student groups such as Parents, Carers, Care Leavers and Refugees

2) Continue current Student Officer’s commitments to the diversification and delegation of Student Welfare to Student Communities, bolstering the influence of the Student Communities and enabling reform from within to challenge systemic and historical challenges faced by a modern student community body

3) Providing bi-weekly physical and remote drop-in spaces to assess resources directly from the LBSU, making both existing and proposed support services much more accessible for all- should I be elected, I will ensure physical drop-in sessions will tie into current cost of living support, providing hot meals

Thank you for taking your time to read through my manifesto for the 2024 LBSU Student Elections- keep an eye out for me during Campaign Week and come say hello if you’d like any more information- I look forward to meeting this year’s bright and brilliant Student Community!!