Hello and welcome to my 11th and penultimate Vice-President (Sport) officer blog!

78 days. Those are the number of days I have left as Vice-President (Sport) and I’m (already) beginning to write my to be released in the future good-bye articles and posts across media outlets. I have found myself reaching a degree of nostalgia.

Aside from these feelings over the past months I’ve realised time does go on, indeed life does as well (as I’ve noted in my now traditional poignant blog titles). Life as being Vice-President (Sport) has continued as if I never left it and I’ve been working to continue the progress made this year and enact positive change for students whilst I still have the opportunity.

Sports Ball 2013:

As I’ve made reference to in recent blog posts we’ve made good progress in terms of Sports Ball organisation. Now myself and a small panel have decided on all awards that will be presented at Sports Ball (and Sports Awards). Now we just have to finish the scripting of the event and arrange one or two other details. My next blog will contain a full review of Sports Ball 2013!

BUCS Points Update:

Good news in terms of the overall 2012-2013 BUCS points table. The University of Birmingham is cementing itself in the top three once again with an almost 300 point lead over fourth place Bath. Can we chase down Durham just over 132 points in front of us? Well, with strong Birmingham BUCS events remaining such as Outdoor Athletics (which I’m competing in the 10,000 metres) we have a slim outside chance:

http://www.bucs.org.uk/bucscore/bucspoints.aspx

NUS National Conference 2013:

I travelled home from NUS National Conference in Sheffield somewhat refreshed that the student movement is more in touch with average students than I thought at a national level. The voting on motions and elections reassured me that we are, in the most past, on track. Well done to all involved! All candidates I back for the 4 Vice-Presidential positions I was entitled to vote for as a higher education delegate won. Dom Anderson (VP Society and Citizenship), Rachel Wenstone (VP Higher Education), Coulm McGuire (VP Welfare) and Rachael Mattey (VP Union Development). Particularly well done to Rachael Mattey who I’m very pleased is part of the leadership of the national student movement next over the 2013/2014 year. She will do a fantastic job and it was fun campaigning for her during the conference!

In terms of the presidency of the National Union of Students I backed Vicki Baars who came home second to winner Toni Pearce – the first NUS president to be elected who has not been in higher education (she has come from a further education background). I also meet Peter Smallwood, who was another presidential candidate who turned out to be a top bloke and ended up getting elected onto the Block of 15 on the NUS National Executive Council anyway. I don’t care even if he is a Conservative to be honest as it’s probably a good thing to have diversity of beliefs on the NUS NEC.

RA Summer Sports Festival:

I have been working with the sports RAs (known as SPRESEXEC) and UBSport’s Sport Development department to create, organise and design a Summer Sports Festival to take place in the month of June. The event is targeted but not limited at those living in University accommodation and has attracted sponsorship that will partly fund the event. I will update you on my next blog as to the progress of this exciting date.

Manifesto Points:

1) Healthy eating/active lifestyle + increasing sporting participation:

As a well disciplined team with 4th year student Maisie Meredith we have organised eighteen completely free exercise (Active Lifestyle) classes for University of Birmingham students over the summer 2013 exam period. We were able to fund this by securing the funding for the classes from HAS (Hospitality and Accommodation Services) and money from the officer campaigns pot to pay for a Redbrick advert to go in the next issue of Redbrick. It is very important from my point of view that students get some sort of relief from the pressure that the summer exam season exerts. As an undergraduate I experienced this three times and particularly in my third year I was very grateful to exercise for providing a welcome distraction from the reality of exams.

The latest meeting of the Guild staff Wellbeing Group took place on Thursday 18th April. Just to remind you all I re-set up this group after it had failed to meet since January 2010. The group is responsible for ensuring the Welfare of Guild employees. The main item on the agenda of this meeting was the extremely important issue of the sabbatical officer leaving party and how we are going to spend the generous budget for this event!

My paper to APRC (Academic Policy and Regulation Committee) regarding the University’s policy on Wednesday afternoon teaching (or restriction of) has been completed and sent off. I will be presenting the paper and it’s reasoning at APRC in mid May. Essentially it is calling for agreement in principle to enforcing the current set of guidelines into concrete policy in preventing any undergraduate teaching taking place on Wednesday afternoons and maximising freedom for postgraduates and those on clinical placements. This is so time is freed to play sport and take part in other recreational activities. I’ve also noted one or two changes to the current guidelines. I’ll let you know the outcome of the committee in my next (and final) blog post.

2) Greater linkages between the Guild of Students and UBSport

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, unfortunately the main event I was linking the Guild and UBSport together with was the International Rules ‘big event’ fixture that was due to take place on Friday 22nd March. Unfortunately the game was postponed until further notice. The good new now is the match has been rescheduled for Thursday 5th June on the Bournbrook show pitch, near the Grange Road entrance to campus. Up until this event I shall be ensuring the Guild and UBSport are as one promoting this event to students, as it will be a great evening. I for one cannot wait!

3) VPS Dedication:

As I mentioned before I’m on the final straight now of my VPS tenure and it’s all about maximising the time I have in the position.

Vice-Presidential Duties:

On the morning of Tuesday 16th April I attended University Fitness To Practice (FTP) as the student representative on the University panel (standing in for President, David Franklin) who were tasked with making a decision on a case that had been appealed from a College Misconduct Committee. It was a day out.

In recent time the Guild has been attempting to resolve a number of misunderstanding with the Medical and Dental School (MDS). Specifically, the Guild has been trying to clear up issues regarding Fitness To Practice procedure and ensure it is fair on the students facing it. I’m of course involved because of the fact that my College this year is MDS in terms of the fact that I have been the sabbatical officer who sits on the College’s LTC and CQC committees.

Speaking of LTC (Learning and Teaching Committee) I attended the lastet meeting on Wednesday 1st May in the Medical School.

I also attend the latest Guild IT Project Board Meeting, term two’s Staff Forum, a number of Student Group Committees and Finance Committee. The latter was of note because the Guild budget for 2013/2014 was on the agenda.

I’m working on my handover to the incoming Vice-President (Sport) for 2013/2014.

BUCS West Midlands:

The next and fourth and final BUCS West Midlands regional meeting of 2012-2013 take place on Monday 29th April at University College Birmingham. This was my last meeting as West Midlands Vice-Chair before a new chair/vice-chair are elected as BUCS Conference 2013!

I also attending the final BUCS Competition Group meeting of the academic year in London hosted at BUCS’s head office on Monday 22nd April. I say final, we have now pencilled in an additional meeting onto the year to take place on Wednesday 26th June also taking place at BUCS head office in London. At the meeting we discussed a number of issues to do with the BUCS competition structures including play-off regulations, the ‘glass ceiling’ and specific proposed competition amendments to sports including rugby league and golf. I feed all information back in detail at the regional meeting mentioned above.

On a final note, I mentioned on my last blog post I was running the Virgin London Marathon (and BUCS marathon) on Sunday 21st April. Indeed I completed the marathon in a time of 3 hours and 49 minutes. This is certainly a time I want to improve on in my next marathon, but on the plus side I raised £500 for Prostate Cancer UK. If you noticed me hobbling around the Guild and campus, you’ll understand why now.

Many thanks,

James Hughes

Vice-President (Sport)

Hello and welcome to my 10th Vice-President (Sport) officer blog!

It’s supposedly ‘Spring’, though judging from the blanket of white outside we appear to still be in the grasps of winter! Nonetheless, we have long since reached the end of the penultimate term of the academic year which is the time of year when sabbatical officers really begin to realise that our days as officers are numbered.

As I write this blog post we have just entered the Easter break on campus which inevitably means things are quieting down now. Also, I must point out that unfortunately I’ve noticed (only to a degree) a sense of becoming a ‘lame duck’ despite still having over 100 days of my tenure left. I’m sure this will increase as we reach July and I’m also sure it happens every year. Hopefully it won’t become too much of a menace.

If you read my last blog you will have noticed a sober mood plus a large degree of depression regarding my defeat in my Vice-President (Sport) re-election campaign during March. If I’m being completely transparent I’m still hugely devastated as I had ambitions to get involved in student politics/sport on a national basis. But there you go, University of Birmingham students wanted a change. I’m sure (with any luck) I will get over this and find pastures new. Fortunately, as I’m UBSport and (to a slightly lesser extent) Guild of Students through and through I’ll be naturally driven to work as hard as possible to make as much of a success out of my time as a sabbatical officer as feasible regardless of the circumstances. I’ll stop feeling sorry for myself now, but I feel it is important to share these emotions after such an experience.

Guild Sports Night:

Believe it or not, the last Guild Sports Night took place a couple of Wednesdays ago on Wednesday 13th March. Amazingly we had over 800 attendees through the doors, which for a final Sports Night of the year is very pleasing. Having done the figures thanks to students loyally supporting the ten Guild Sports Nights they have given me a record budget to spend on Sports Ball 2013. One pound from every four pounds Sports Night ticket goes towards the Sports Ball budget. I’d just like to thank you all for supporting Sports Night over 2012-2013 – it wouldn’t be the same without YOU!

Sports Ball 2013:

With Sports Night organisation over for the year, my attention is now turning in some detail to this year’s Sports Ball:

http://www.facebook.com/events/204381329699319/?fref=ts

With the most major details such as venue, publicity and menu finalised myself and staff are working on the evening’s entertainment and soon the script. Also, the famous annual Sports Ball video is being created as I have only just this minute provided the producer with all content that was kindly provided to me by a combination of sports clubs, societies and student media groups. We are also going for a site visit to the venue of the National Motorcycle Museum on 10th April to assess the situation and planning in regards to the technical set-up of the event. Unfortunately I cannot attend due to NUS National Conference, but staff will be going instead.

NUS National Conference 2013:

Back in November I was elected as an NUS (National Union of Students) delegate (under the banner of James ‘and the Giant Peach’). This means I will be attending NUS National Conference (#NUSNC13) as one of nine Guild of Student voting delegates. At NUS Conference we will be voting on motions that will determine the direction of the organisation and electing NUS national sabbatical officers, trustees and the NUS Block of 15 amongst other positions. The national sabbatical positions on offer are: President, Vice-President (Welfare), Vice-President (Higher Education), Vice-President (Further Education), Vice-President (Union Development) and Vice-President (Society and Citizenship). After research and reading manifestos I will be supporting and voting #1 for:

President - Vicki Baars (JUST ahead of Toni Pearce and Peter Smallwood who also appear to be excellent candidates)

I have worked with Vicki this year and she has proven very friendly and useful. However, on meeting Toni and Peter, they also have some good points.

Vice-President (Welfare) - Colum McGuire

Colum’s manifesto impressed me and his policies are in touch with the student population such as around healthcare.

Vice-President (Union Development) -  Raechel Mattey

Raechel is an excellent candidate and I will be actively campaigning for her at Conference. For one reason or another we have met many times this year for student related things and I’d put complete trust in her. She understands the NUS (currently NUS Wales deputy president) and understands the real needs of Students’ Unions. For example, her ideas around activism coming from student groups are very relevant.

Vice-President (Society and Citizenship) - Dom Anderson

This chose was based solely on manifesto and researching the past experience of the the candidate. The rival candidates are too extreme for my taste whereas Dom seems like a strong, principled individual who has already served a year on zone committee. He’s a safe pair of hands.

Vice-President (Higher Education) – Rachel Wenstone 

I’ve not engaged with any of these candidates personally either like with VPSC – but Rachel has had a successful year and her policies clearly work well. She deserves another year.

In terms of my voting on motions/NEC (NUS Block of 15) I’ll be tweeting live updates on the ways I voted (Guild_VPS). I’ll be using my mandate from 28,000 students who have, via a cross-campus election, delegated the responsibly of voting to me. All 28,000 views matter I will take them ALL into account.

BUCS ‘Big Wednesday’/BUCS Points Table:

Over the 19th/20th March the first BUCS ‘Big Wednesday’ took place, hosted by Leeds Met University. This was formerly know as the ‘BUCS Finals’ because it is the venue for the finals of the Championship and Trophy cup competitions across a range of BUCS sports. The University of Birmingham had representations in the sports of squash, volleyball, hockey, golf and netball who all managed to get all the way through to the finals of either the BUCS cup championship or trophy which is very impressive in it’s own right. Well done to men’s hockey 2nd team, men’s squash 2nd team and women’s squash 2nd team who managed to overcome their opposition to win their respective finals #GoBrum.

Generally in the BUCS points league tables Birmingham are sitting in third place, 200 points ahead of Bath in 4th and 90 points behind Durham in 2nd (please see the link below). Birmingham traditionally has a strong finish to the BUCS season with events such as BUCS Outdoor Athletics.

http://www.bucs.org.uk/bucscore/bucspoints.aspx

Manifesto Points:

1) Healthy eating/active lifestyle + increasing sporting participation:

After two postponed meetings, the sabbatical officer team finally had a 90 minute meeting with UEB (University Executive Board). UEB is made up of the ‘big-players’ in the University such as the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and all of the heads of Colleges and is the committee where all the big decisions are made and policy created. Eventually we got onto my paper that focused on the need to stamp out Wednesday afternoon teaching. After little over five minutes of me presenting the board agreed in principle to the paper’s views on making sure the original May 1999 policy on Wednesday afternoons is enforced top-down in Schools and Colleges as well as gaining a commitment from the University to work with the Vice-President (Sport) and Vice-President (Activities and Development) to update/refresh the policy. I have already taken the initiative with this in the form of drafting/writing a paper for APRC (Academic Policy and Regulation Committee) in May with the help of the Guild’s CEO.

For those of you who don’t know about Cannon Hill parkrun, it is a completely FREE 5 kilometre run for all abilities that takes place in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston every Saturday morning at 9AM. All you have to do is sign up online, then print off your barcode (that will be emailed to you) and turn up on any given Saturday morning (no commitment). I strongly encourage you to give it a go as it is a fantastic, non-elitist sporting way of beginning your weekend!

2) Fighting for value in sport:

Over the week commencing 11th March I took my four sports club New Build mini-forums that I set up this year and are in addition to the VPS’s six traditional sports clubs mini-forums. The New Build sports centre is the really positive £55 million investment into building a new, modern facility to replace the present Munrow Sports Centre. Construction is due to start around June 2013 and finish in the summer of 2015 (all being well).

The point of these mini-forums is to put clubs at the heart of decision made regarding the New-Build sports centre and keeping clubs as informed as possible about the issues that will effect them. The four mini-forums were based around: the pool, the dojo, the large sports hall and the small sports hall. This allowed us to go into specifics. At this point I’d like to thank the Operations Manager and Special Projects Manager for attending each mini-forum for the purpose of providing clear information. One of my key beliefs is to keep student sport, student led and this is a key way I’ve achieved this over the past nine months.

3) Greater linkages between the Guild of Students and UBSport

I’m continuing to make sure I update the Munrow Sports Centre and the Guild with each other’s events and opportunities. This was particularly the case with this term’s UBSport big event INTERNATIONAL RULES. This was a match up between Gaelic Football and Aussie Rules on the Bournbrook show-pitch. Unfortunately the match was postponed because of wintry weather. This was a big shame because I know students that use the Guild had seen the event’s publicity around and were keen to check it out.

4) VPS Dedication:

Hours, hours, hours. One thing on this front that I have tried to make the most of recently with the end of BUCS Wednesday’s over 2012-2013 is getting out and supporting our teams in the flesh. This is always a pleasure  - the blue, red and gold always sends shivers down my spine!

Vice-Presidential Duties:

As mentioned in detail earlier I will be attending NUS National Conference as a delegate, 8th-10th April in Sheffield.

I also stepped in to replace President, David Franklin as a delegate at NUSSL (National Union of Students Services Limited) Convention in Manchester that took place 26th-27th March hosted at the Palace Hotel, Manchester. NUSSL is one of three wings of the NUS and is company in it’s own right. It is a purchasing collective made up and primarily own by 220 Students’ Unions. The idea is all unions buy things like beer and wine together which makes it cheaper for everyone due to bulk-buying. I went as a voting delegate (on behalf of the Guild) to the company’s annual convention with Vice-President (Democracy and Resources), Leander Jones. The Convention made sensible decisions on external trading and ownership of NUSSL shares.

As I mentioned in my last blog, well done to the newly elected Vice-President (Sport) 2013-2014 Vicki Harris. I’ve had my first meeting with Vicki very recently as VPS elect just to go over the very initial steps of the handover process. I’m going to be following a similar handover to the one I received from VPS 2011-2012, Tim Smith who provided me with an excellent handover.

The sixth Guild Council of the year took place on Thursday 21st March and I said absolutely nothing and had no motions on the agenda. Guild Council is quite a pleasing place for me (in some ways) because my motion success rate still stands at 5 passed and 0 failed – 100%! In this particular meeting there was the usual bureaucracy and we seemed to spend most of the meeting on questions and scrutiny trying to censure President, David Franklin over criticism in relation to election committee. I felt this was unfair in the most part and David provides his defence here:

http://officerblogs.com/president/incompetence-and-deceit/

At the last Guild Council on Thursday 21st February I managed to get two motions passed. One condemning hunting with dogs (which was un-starred) and secondly a motion that created 8 new Guild Councillor positions reserved for student who are involved in sports clubs/Intra-Mural at the University of Birmingham. From next year one Guild Councillor will be elected from each of the six VPS mini-forums.

I went to the Guild Awards 2013, presenting two awards. It was a really good event so a very big well done from me goes to all involved.

BUCS West Midlands:

As BUCS West Midlands competition rep I will be attending the fourth (out of four) BUCS competition meetings for this academic year hosted at BUCS central office on Monday 22nd April in London. The idea of these meetings is to assess continuously the format of BUCS competitions across all 52 sports and ensure that they are as good as they possibly can be.

The next and fourth and final BUCS West Midlands regional meeting of 2012-2013 is due to take place on Friday 3rd May at University College Birmingham. This will be my last meeting as West Midlands Vice-Chair before a new chair/vice-chair are elected as BUCS Conference 2013!

That’s all for now, I hope you have all enjoyed reading and I wish you all the best over the coming month before my next blog offering. I’ll leave you with a motivational video I found on-line this morning…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUEZCxBcM78

Oh, yeah, I’m also running the Virgin London Marathon 2013 on Sunday 21st April – please feel free to donate to my chosen charity: 

http://www.justgiving.com/jamesandthegiantpeach

Many thanks,

James Hughes

Vice-President (Sport)

Hello and a very warm welcome to my latest Vice-President (Sport) officer blog!

Unfortunately I have very little to update on this blog as I have been out of the office for the last 2 and a half weeks on annual leave. I’m sure you’ll understand. In my next blog I’ll provide a full update of my progress. One item I will mention is Sports Ball 2013, this will be taking up much of my attention over the coming months, as well as the sabbatical team’s upcoming meeting with UEB (University Executive Board). I have my paper going to this meeting regarding keeping Wednesday afternoons teaching free.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish the newly elected Vice-President (Sport) 2013-2014, Vicki Harris the very best of luck from mid July and currently in completely her studies. I will be working with Vicki in the hand over process soon to ensure a smooth transition from incumbent VPS to future VPS.

I’d also like to use this platform to stress how much I love my current job and what a wonderful, enjoyable year it has been to-date. It is no secret where I have been over the past two and a half weeks on annual leave. My defeat was an extremely bitter pill to swallow, it really hurts. However, I shall be putting 100% into the final four months of my tenure in office and completing the job, which includes an excellent handover to my successor whom I know is going to have an impressive year.

Many thanks,

James Hughes

Vice-President (Sport)

Hello and welcome to my latest Vice-President (Sport) officer blog!

I hope you have all had an enjoyable start to the year and all those new-year’s resolutions are being kept to.

Before I get into full swing in this blog I must tell you that I’m going to be away from work and out of the office from Friday 22nd February until Monday 11th March.  I will reply to all enquiries as soon as possible on my return. I have carefully delegated all my responsibilities to the relevant officers and staff members so disruption is minimised.

Sports Forum:

Also known as the ‘Club Captain’s Forum’, the term two Sports Forum was held and presented my myself on Thursday 24th January with an excellent attendance from the heads of clubs (or deputies). This was my opportunity to inform clubs of any essential or interesting news that will affect them.

The overall Sports Forum will be followed by the term two set of mini forums that will start on Monday 11th February. There are six traditional mini-forums, split into six grouping of clubs who are relatively similar in nature. It is a far more interactive platform for clubs to vent any concerns or give positive feedback that I can pass on and get sorted if necessary. There are also the New Build Sports Centre mini-forums that I have introduced this year that are for clubs particularly affected by specific elements of the New Build Sports Centre.

Guild Sports Night:

Since my last update we have had one traditional Guild Sports Night, the External Guild Sports Night @ Rainbow and ‘Sports Night Enigma’ that I co-organised with Carnival RAG. 

The experimental External Guild Sports Night @ Rainbow went well in the fact we had over 500 attendees that reported primarily positive feedback. The only issue was drinks prices were reported to be too high. You’ll be saddened to hear that on this night I lost be 100% attendance record at Sports Night 2012/2103.  Despite this I was very pleased with evening and how it gave Guild Sports Night some some variety.

The even more experimental ‘Sports Night Enigma’ that took place on Wednesday 6th February was a huge success. There were over 110 members of sports clubs that went on ‘Sports Night Enigma’ as well as another 120 or so other students. The mystery bus ended up in the mystery city and I’m told it was a cracking experience. Both the External Guild Sports Night and ‘Sports Night Enigma’ are something I will be looking to organise again given the experimental success.

Sports Ball 2013:

Since my last post, I have allocated all 504 student tickets to clubs fairly, released the Facebook event and invited all VIPs. In addition to this, preparation regarding the table decoration is in process, the menu has been chosen and music selections are in place.

London to Paris Bike Ride – Carnival RAG:

I’ve been working, once again, with Carnival RAG on their London to Paris bike ride (L2P) that is due to take place during June 2013. This includes on planning and publicity events for the event itself. The idea behind L2P is what is says on the tin, all for charity. In fact – I’ve provisionally agreed to do it myself – PROVISIONALLY! Carnival RAG have been great to work with.

Wellbeing Group:

The Guild staff Wellbeing Group, that I chair, held its first Active Lifestyle class on Monday 21^st January in the form of a Zumba class. We had 9 attendees and it would have been more if it were not for the wintery conditions. It’s safe to say, we were all very active! More broadly the Wellbeing Group is going well.

Manifesto Points:

1) Healthy eating/active lifestyle:

There were one or two hiccups with the brand new menu for Joe’s Bar that was very recently released. The new menu is great because informs everyone on daily nutrition, as well as how many calories are in each dish on the menu. However, a few of the calories counts looked incorrect. We had an emergency meeting to correct the problematic figures and the new menu is due to be re-released very soon.

After a Guild Council motion that was starred for debate with opposition and was successfully argued through by myself, the title of the Vice-President (Sport) will change next year to Vice-President (Sport and Nutrition). This motion changes nothing in the duties of my job, but merely clarifies what the Guild of Students bye-laws already state in terms of the Vice-President (Sport) job description with food and healthy living.

2) Fighting for value in sport:

This month I’ve had a really positive break-through on improving the value within sport at the University of Birmingham. After working with HAS (Hospitality and Accommodation Services) the prices (per head) of BUCS ‘teas’ are going to be reduced and portion sizes are to be increased as well as meals being more varied. There will be meals such as curry, chilli and pasta dishes. When I say BUCS ‘teas’ I mean the meals that are given to players after their Wednesday afternoon fixtures on campus. They are paid for out of any given sports club’s budget at the said of the year (if they choose). I alway thought it was wrong for BUCS ‘teas’ too be expensive small jacket potatoes and beans. So when I found out the University were keen to help me increase the amount of sports clubs using the Munrow catering services on Wednesday afternoon I knew it was the perfect chance. I’m very pleased with the result, as are club captains.

3) Greater linkages between the Guild of Students and UBSport

I’m continuing to make sure I update the Munrow Sports Centre and the Guild with each other’s events and opportunities.

Specifically, I have been working with the newly elected group of sports RAs, known as SPRESEXEC. Notably all sport RAs have been trained and met the key member of staff from their point of view in the Munrow. The sport RAs are one of the key linkages between our Student’s Union and Sports Centre so it is imperative that they are fully informed on how both work and work with each other. I’m confident that 2013′s SPRESEXEC will work together very effectively judging from their early pro-activism.

4) VPS Dedication:

The more time I’m spending in this job, the harder I want to work.

Vice-Presidential Duties:

I’ve been working closely supporting and receiving support from the disabled students officer (DSO) who is my designated ‘non-sabbatical’ buddy.

I was delegated one fitness to practice hearing and one appeal within the last month by Katherine East, Vice-President (Welfare).

After filling out copious amounts of 360 reports based on my thoughts of my fellow officers I received the feedback of my own 360 reports that was each filled in separately by three officers, three staff members and three other stake holders. The feedback was constructive and I’m now aware of where my strengths are and also where I need to improve.

I spent Tuesday 22nd January on a sabbatical officer away day in Bournville which was designed to be sort of like a mid term review where we could, as a team, analysis our progress and assess our future development for the six months ahead.

Since I last had a chance to write to you, there have been two Guild Councils at which I’m pleased to report all four motions that I put forward where passed. Three of the four were starred which meant I had to debate against opposition in order to get them passed. In many ways I prefer having to debate my motions to get them passed (as opposed to having an un-starred motion) because it passes with more conviction.

I sat in my position during this month’s IT project board – maybe not the most interesting committee, but imperative to the organisation nonetheless.

After being elected as an NUS delegate for the NUS National Conference 2013, something I’m very much looking forwards to I have been trained as a delegate.

BUCS West Midlands:

As BUCS West Midlands competition rep I will be attending the third (out of four) BUCS competition meetings for this academic year hosted at Northumbria University on Tuesday 12th February. Due to the northerly location I shall be travelling up on Monday afternoon. The idea of these meetings is to assess continuously the format of BUCS competitions across all 52 sports and ensure that they are as good as they possibly can be.

Unfortunately, I shall not be able to attend the third (out of four) BUCS West Midlands regional meeting on Friday 1st March hosted at Newman College because of my annual leave that I made reference to at the top of this blog post. I will find out what was discussed and stay in the loop about what is going on in our region of BUCS – which of course is a membership organisation.

That’s all for now, I hope you have all enjoyed reading and I wish you all the best over the coming month before my next blog offering.

Many thanks,

James Hughes

Vice-President (Sport)

Happy New Year and welcome to my first officer blog of 2013!

After a much needed Christmas break which included plenty of turkey curry and running, I feel fresh and charged to hit the ground running in 2013!

My sabbatical officer team has now reached the half-way point. As I reflect on the past six months and the level of progress made across my manifesto and other projects there has been a healthy selection of steps forward.

Of course, there have also been some aspects that have not got as fully off the ground as I originally anticipated. However, the beauty of being only half-way through my term as your Vice-President (Sport) is that I still have six months to make the up-most of my sabbatical position both in terms of my sports remit and vice-presidential duties.

Guild Sports Night:

The first Guild Sports Night of 2013 took place on Wednesday 9th January with attendance up on this time last year and healthy bar sales. More importantly, the increased attendance on the previous year means that even more money will be available in the Sports Ball 2013 budget. Remember, one in four pounds of every Sports Night ticket sold goes towards Sports Ball.

I won’t go into detail about Guild Sports Nights in term two as I did that in my previous blog. Needless to say there are three more Sports Nights in the Guild, and external Guild Sports Night at Rainbow and a non-Guild Sports Night in the form of ‘Sports Night Enigma’ that I have organised with Carnival RAG. All the dates and key information can be found here.

Sports Ball 2013:

Last week the details and ‘event’ of Sports Ball 2013 were revealed. I’m delighted to announce that Sports Ball this year will be hosted by The National Motorcycle Museum on Monday 3rd June. This is a top-class venue that regularly stages prestige events and dinner ceremonies. With 500+ of University of Birmingham’s finest athletes, alumni and sport staff inside the building, it promises to be a night that won’t be forgotten.

Sports Ball is a unique celebration of all sporting achievement at the University of Birmingham from participation to elite level sport over the past academic year and beyond. The evening will involve a three course meal, the annual awards, the Sports Ball 2013 video, a drinks reception, live entertainment, the after-party and much more.

Tickets this year have frozen at the same price as the last two years – £37 per person.

The ticket allocation process is under-way and it will be conducted in a fair way based on club size and promptness of ticket applications. Additionally, work on the Sports Ball marketing is looking good and I’ve had my first meeting with producer of the traditional Sports Ball video.

Manifesto Points:

1) Healthy eating/active lifestyle:

At the latest Wellbeing Group on Thursday 10th January I was extremely pleased to announce to the committee that I have managed to set up Active Lifestyle classes for Guild staff (including student staff). These will happen throughout this term. Guild staff wellbeing is of paramount importance to me.

The brand new, healthier and importantly more informative Joe’s was officially launched on Monday 7th January. It has full listings of the amount of calories in each dish and general daily nutritional information on it. This allows students, who are adults, to have a free and informed choice on what they choice to eat.

2) Increase sporting participation:

As promised in my manifesto, I have continued the 2nd Sports Fair that was inaugurated last year. In fact the ‘Who Will You Be?’ Second Sports Fair is taking place in the Munrow Sports Centre as I type. This event has taken hours and hours of hard work and preparation, but it is very pleasing to see it going ahead as a UBSport event. That said, the Guild do have a reasonable amount of stands at the fair. Judging by the amount of students/University staff coming through the door of the New Gym it appears this event has increased sporting participation. I must thank  the UBSport staff that have helped me organise and publicise the fair!

For those of you who don’t know about Cannon Hill parkrun, it is a completely FREE 5 kilometre run for all abilities that takes place in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston every Saturday morning at 9AM. All you have to do is sign up online, then print off your barcode (that will be emailed to you) and turn up on any given Saturday morning (no commitment). I strongly encourage you to give it a go as it is a fantastic, non-elitist sporting way of beginning your weekend!

Over the past three months or so I have been carrying out an investigation into the against University policy act of Wednesday afternoon teaching for undergraduates and to a slightly lesser extent postgraduates as well. I’m soon to have access to evidence that this does indeed go on as I suspect it does. Then I will be able to make the case to the University about stamping it out.

3) Greater linkages between the Guild of Students and UBSport

I’ve continued to constantly up-date the publicity of the Guild of Students and UBSport in each other’s home in order to give students who only use one of the institutions the opportunity to see what is going on elsewhere either in their students’ union or sports centre. This has been much helped by the major success story that is ‘Sports Report’ (created, presented and produced by GuildTV, Redbrick Sport and BurnFM Sport). This Guild societies project has been working closely with UBSport to inspire students who use the Guild (as well as all student) to gain an interest in sport at the University of Birmingham. Below is a copy of the show’s trailer for term-two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArP3aNcWX3I&feature=youtu.be 

4) VPS Dedication 

Hours, hours, hours.

Vice-Presidential Duties:

I spent Tuesday 8th January on a manager/sabbatical officers away day that was based around the Guild’s strategic direction. It was useful. This is to be followed up by a sabbatical officer away day on Tuesday 22nd January.

I’ve been working closely supporting and receiving support from the disabled students officer (DSO) who is my designated ‘non-sabbatical’ buddy.

Myself and the team have an important meeting with the University Executive Board (UEB) next week. This is a superb chance for us sabbatical officers to speak face-to-face with the highest decision makers at Birmingham.

I have had no LTC or CQC in my position as Guild representatives in the Medical and Dental School. The next committee meeting I shall be attending is on Thursday 17th January in the form of an LTC meeting.

The next Guild Council is on Tuesday 22nd January in the form of Extraordinary Guild Council and then a scheduled Guild Council on Thursday 31st Guild Council. I have motions going to both.

BUCS West Midlands:

There is no update on BUCS West Midlands activities since my last blog.

On a final note, Saturday 2nd February sees my chance to pull on the red, blue and gold of the University of Birmingham and represent the institution in BUCS competition. This is at the BUCS Cross-Country Championships 2013 taking place in a hilly, muddy field at Leeds University. It’s an honour to represent the University within BUCS competition and I’m really looking forward to this.

That’s all for now, I hope you have all enjoyed reading! Here’s to a 2013 that brings reward and good fortune.

Many thanks,

James Hughes

Vice-President (Sport)