Charlotte Britton [Archived]

MUST READ: Make moving out hassle free

Thu, 30 May 2013 15:57:00 +0100

So it’s that time of year again, and as our exams finally finish, it’s time to think about packing up and shipping out for the summer. Of course, you’ll be wanting your deposit back so we’ve put some top tips together to make it as simple as possible.

Clean your house thoroughly

Deposits are tricky things, but it’s relatively simple to get yours back. The biggest issue is cleaning.

Ideally, everyone should clean their own bedrooms and help out with communal areas, such as hallways, landings, the kitchen, bathrooms and living room. It could be useful to get together as a house and assign each other specific jobs – that way no one feels resentful that they’ve been working their bums off while someone else goes down to the beach!

I know houses that have eaten up the rest of their food with an end of year feast. Some of the dishes were a bit weird, but it can be a good way to use up food that would be heavy to take home.

Did you have an inventory when you moved in? Now might be a good time to fish it out, and double check everything is in the right place. It's also really useful to take some photos once you've cleaned, to prove there was no extra damage etc. You can email these to your landlord or agent.

We’ve created a cleaning checklist that you can print out, as cleaning at the end of a tenancy is a bit more thorough than your usual cleaning. Think spring clean! Pop a pinny and some rubber gloves on, and download the checklist here:

SU Cleaning Checklist

Sort out your bills and post

You need to let all of your utility companies know when you’re all leaving – give them an exact date and that way no one will have to pay for more than they owe. They will usually ask for an address to send the final bill to – so you’ll have to work out who will receive those.

Don’t forget about other bills that might get sent to your house – like TV licence (did you know you can potentially claim 3 months TV licence back?), your mobile phone bill etc.

Check your university intranet has your home address on it so you can receive your results, and change your address for your Tesco Clubcard and any other post you might have that comes to the house.

Donate things you don’t need anymore

If you live on campus, in the village or in an SAS Lettings house, this year you can donate some of your items you don’t need to charity. Check out our SU Facebook event for more details.

If you can’t do that, consider donating things to charity shops, or friends that are staying on. Just remember to check what charities can take before you bombard them with bags.

Get your bins out on the right dates

It’s really important that you get the right bin bags out on the right dates. If you don’t do it you could get fined by your landlord for taking them away, not to mention it can cause severe disruption to other residents and can really put students as a whole in Swansea’s bad books, which isn’t fair on everyone else!

We know it can be tricky, but try to plan ahead to get as much of your black bag rubbish out on a pink week as possible – that might mean your main clearout takes place a week before you leave.

If you have bags that need to go out and it's nowhere near Wednesday or the wrong 'week', you need to go to the tip. The nearest is in Sketty, and is called Clyne Community Recycling Centre. It might be a good idea to plan in advance for friends/family to help you to take your bags away if you don't have a car. Unfortunately at the moment that's the only option that won't potentially land you and your housemates with a hefty fine.

June/July Refuse Collection dates for Brynmill/Uplands

A pink square means PINK week – black bags with unrecyclable waste, and pink bags with clean plastic

A green square means GREEN week – green bags with paper, green bags with tin and glass. NO black bags. They won’t be collected and you will cause seagull/rubbish armageddon.

Food waste can be recycled every week.

If you need extra pink or green bags, just visit the Union offices on the third floor of union house, left as you reach the photo machine. We have lots there just for you!

Talk to your landlord/agent

Find out exactly what the process will be - will there be a final inspection? When will everyone get their deposit back? Where do you have to leave your keys?

Make sure everyone in the house knows this information. If there is a final inspection, make sure there's more than one of you there to stick up for yourselves if there's any disagreement. It's always better to go around the house with the landlord or agent than to hear about the list of things you have to pay for without being there to argue your case. Taking photographs can be a great way to back yourselves up too - better to be safe than sorry.

If you do have issues with charges, or you're having problems getting your deposits back you can contact the SU Advice and Support Centre for free, confidential and impartial advice.

Is there anything you can think of that we’ve missed?

I'm Coming Out to Talk About Mental Health

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:05:00 Z

Mental health.

As welfare officer of a Students' Union, I've been on training, run campaigns, given out lots of leaflets and I've also chatted and listened to lots of different students who have come to talk to me about their mental health.

It's really important that we talk about it. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of stigma around discussing how you're feeling or coping. A lot of the time we don't tell anyone, worried that we'll be judged, seen as a 'freak' or even sacked from your job.

As well as that, we don't know what to say to people when they do talk about their mental health! It's awkward, you're worried you'll say the wrong thing, and usually end up saying nothing at all - which sometimes can be worse.

That's why I thought it would be a good idea for me to tell you all - I live with (sometimes quite severe) anxiety.

For as long as I can remember I've struggled to cope with anxiety. You might not think of it to look at me - I do lots of public speaking, I run for elections and appear pretty confident.

This is me on a good day - and if I'm not too stressed, most days are good days. But on a bad day, I get so irationally anxious that I have to go and hide - literally - until I feel safe again. I usually also have a panic attack, or at the least a sobbing fit.

This can happen anywhere - in my own house, a train station, the middle of a conference or on the way to a meeting... it doesn't seem to matter. Last weekend I was too scared to go into my own living room, so for 5 hours I hid in my room until everyone had left.

I have finally learnt that I need to take a step back and look after myself, not only to avoid certain situations that set me off, but also to work out ways in which I can deal with them better!

Last night, I stood up in the Student Forum and told everyone about it, and I also told everyone on my personal facebook and twitter. The response I had was so lovely and supportive - and lots of people have already started to talk to me about their own experiences, which is really powerful.

Everyone has a mental health, and everyone needs to be kind to themselves. I've written this hoping that it will help others feel they can talk about mental health - either about how you are feeling, or to have the courage to ask someone else if they're ok.#

Time to Change Wales have some excellent information on mental health and how to talk about mental health - check them out!

Also - I am going to be doing a skydive in May to raise money for Mind - please donate if you can!

What’s it like to be a Welfare Officer?

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:47:00 Z

Nominations open for all of the Full Time Officer elections 24th January.

I love my job! It’s incredibly varied, and to know that you’re helping people and creating positive change is a great feeling. But unfortunately it's ending in June, and you can run to replace me in July. The election is in February!

So what does the Welfare Officer role cover? What sort of things would I campaign and work on?

Health/wellbeing

Mental health
Sexual health
Physical health (like exercise and healthy eating)

Housing & Community

Student housing standards
Raising awareness of tenancy rights (e.g. avoiding bad landlords and agents!)
Standards and rents of university accommodation
Community relations between students and non students
Students’ right to rent – stopping any threats to where students can and can’t live

Money

Budgeting
Debt
Looking after your finances in general

Safety

Personal safety
Safety of belongings (bike thefts/burgulary)

The Environment and Ethics

Recycling (ties in with community relations
Reducing energy consumption
Encouraging the SU and Uni to be an ethical and sustainable organisation

Special projects

For the last two years, I realised that student parents needed support, so that’s been a campaign of mine.

So I have to put all of these things in my manifesto?!

Over the past two years of being Welfare Officer, I have done work on all these things, and a lot more! But this doesn’t all have to be on your manifesto.

You can have your own goals and projects, and other things will come up that you’ll want to be involved in, either from students needing help, the university working on something, or for lots of other reasons.

Your focus of your manifesto should be what you think most needs changing – what is important? What have you been hearing from your friends and course mates that needs sorting out?

What else would I do in the job?

As well as these areas, as an officer of the SU, you also run the SU! You make decisions about the direction of the Students’ Union (like the opening of Fulton Outfitters for example) and you make decisions about staffing and recruitment.

As a team of officers, we often come together too to fight on things like university course cuts, or any major issue that comes up like the dreaded fees last year.

This job is political, in that every decision we make changes the course of the SU and the university too, and with welfare it can also influence the local council – and that is all politics! But it isn’t party political – we are all here to represent our members, which are YOU guys – Swansea students. The vast majority of what we do is based on research by us or others about Swansea students, or students in general – not just our own opinion.

Ok, sounds good. But I don't know if I can win an election!

Please don't let fear stop you.

When I first ran in 2010 I was cripplingly shy and had no idea what I was doing. I was barely involved in the SU, and wasn't actually aware that there was a proper election and everything until I'd commited myself to it!

I did think about dropping out, but with the help of a few brilliant friends, I got out there and talked to people, and the vast majority of people I chatted to were so friendly, and genuinely glad that I made the effort.

I was 180 votes away from winning, but absolutely gobsmacked that 700 people voted for me – people I didn't know thought I had good ideas! The next year, I ran again and won, and the year after that! :)

During election week it’s all about talking to as many people as possible about your ideas.

So please run if you want to do this job, and best of luck!

You can nominate yourself and find out more HERE!

Wellbeing Workshops

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:03:00 Z

Did you know the University Wellbeing Service puts on workshops on most Wednesdays about a range of things that could make you happier, healthier and more productive?

During exams and deadline times, it can feel a bit overwhelming and stressful. Why not pop in to one of these workshops?

All workshops are on Wednesdays from 2.30-4.30pm.

For the workshops below there is no need to book a place. Just turn up on the day at 2.30pm.

Jan 16^th Fulton House LR4 Relaxation techniques

Jan 23^rd Digital Technium 104 Procrastination (How to get things done)

March 27^th Fulton House LR4 How to help and support a friend

April 17^th Digital Technium 104 Dealing with exam anxiety

May 1^st Fulton House LR4 Journaling and writing for personal development

May 15^th Fulton House LR4 Relaxation techniques

June 5^th Digital Technium 104 Life after Swansea

For the following workshops you will need to book a place eitherby emailing wellbeing@swansea.ac.uk or by speaking to the member of staff who you usually see at the Wellbeing service.

Feb 20^th Fulton House LR4 Improving communication 1-communication skills

Feb 27th Fulton House LR4 Improving communication 2-assertiveness

March 6^th Digital Technium 104 Improving communication 3-Managing conflicts and disagreements

Anonymous posts on facebook - cute or creepy?

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:12:00 Z

When I first heard about those groups on facebook where you can post anonymously about someone, I thought it sounded really cute. Sort of like that bit in the Metro paper where people confess undying love for the person they sat next to on the bus last Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the posts I read on the pages I’ve seen are nothing like that.

Most of them take the p*** out of people for the way that they look, and other ones are pretty creepy posts about girls that make me feel uncomfortable.

As its exam time, there are a lot of people in the library. A lot of stressed people too. I wonder what seeing a post about your hair or the way you dress would do to your concentration? I bet it would annoy you, or maybe upset you, especially if you’re not the type of person who can brush off that sort of thing easily. I know I can’t.

Everyone occasionally says something negative about someone else. We all have our own personal taste, and we can’t always resist a quick stupid comment for a cheap laugh from your friends.

But there is a MASSIVE difference between chuckling to yourself about a bad jumper and publicly humiliating someone on a page that has hundreds of followers.

Would you stand up and point at someone in the library, shouting at everyone about how crap their clothes are? No, because everyone would be absolutely appalled, and think you were really rude. There’s no real difference to posting it on these pages, apart from as well as being a twit (I’m trying not to swear), you‘re also being a coward.

Sure, reading them might be funny, but didn’t we get over ‘mass laughing at someone else’s expense’ at school? As soon as I think about the person in the library that is being looked at and laughed about, I stop finding it so funny.

What about the leery ones? As a girl, would I feel comfortable if someone identified me in the library in a way that was really sexual? Would that make me happy, or would that make me feel a bit sick, and a bit freaked out? It has the potential to be a really sweet thing, but the only ones I’ve seen so far have really creeped me out. I probably would get paranoid that people were looking me up and down, or actually deciding the post was wrong and that I’m actually ugly. And all when I’m supposed to be cramming for an exam... great!

And let’s be honest – there is enough funny crap on the internet without having to resort to upsetting or winding other stressed/revising students out. Stupid little cartoons, you tube videos, writing hilarious statuses on your friend’s facebook when they go to the loo... these are all excellent and cause a lot less harm.

So please, in a time where everyone is climbing up the wall anyway– have a little compassion for your fellow student, and laugh at something else. Unlike the page if you agree with me, let it wither and die.

Best of luck with your exams, projects and dissertations.