SU21 - Our Questions to Welfare Candidates

Questions to Bethany Moore and Joshua Murray from The Scoop.

What’s your number one priority?

Bethany: Eighty percent of students are struggling financially. It’s clear why the hardship fund is my biggest concern. I’d like to increase funding so more students can qualify, hold sessions to explain the application process, review the eligibility criteria and reform the “managing your money” sessions for those who receive the fund.

Josh: Ensuring that students are properly supported during this pandemic. This means increasing the £500 student distribution grant and including international and GB students, paying our placement heroes and fighting for a refund of our tuition fees.

6 months into your term, what real differences will Queen’s Students see in their mental health services?

Bethany: In six months’, time, every residential assistant, course and school representative, personal tutor and other member of staff will be trained in mental health first aid, meaning students can reach out to someone they can rely on. All Queen’s buildings including accommodation, will have designated, private “safe spaces,” equipped with mental health resources. This gives students a quiet place to go if overwhelmed whilst on campus. New support groups will have been established for specific concerns, such as grief. Increased funding will have made more counselling sessions available, as well as creating two extra nights for QUB Nightline to run.

Josh: I want to radically overhaul our mental health services. This has been promised for years and its now time to deliver. I am proposing introducing drop-in counselling services, on-site counselling services at all Queen’s accommodation sites, and introducing specialised support groups for students with specific problems such as addiction or grief. I will fight for these measures with everything I’ve got, lobbying the university, politicians and garnering the popular support of our students who badly need and deserve these services.

What active steps will you take to improve student housing?

Bethany: As Welfare Officer, I’ll continue the work of the Student Renters’ Group, hosting regular meetings and informing all students of their rights as tenants. I will promote Marksoutoftenancy.com to all students, ensuring they can view the standards of potential letting agents and landlords, whilst also reviewing any previous ones. I will also work with local politicians to challenge landlords on the poor quality of housing we face. I will lobby the university to reduce the prices of their accommodation, to improve accessibility to those at a financial disadvantage. Additionally, I will remove the Off-Campus Discipline policy.

Josh: I will ensure that there is no rent increase in Elms, and ensure that students are able to opt out of housing contracts if they need to move home during the pandemic. I will work in solidarity with CATU Belfast and crack down on letting agencies who charge illegal letting fees and I will campaign strongly for enforcement of penalties against landlords who neglect to fix issues such a mould or faulty appliances. In this age of working and studying from home, students deserve a good standard of living and a fair service for the large amounts of money being paid in rent!

What would you have done differently from your predecessor?

Bethany: My predecessor had quite a challenging year given the shock of the pandemic, so I commend Katie’s efforts, especially her Covid-19 response. I would fight to maintain the student safety net and mental health provisions Katie secured, post-Covid. This past year has created massive difficulties in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare, which particularly affects students. As a result, I would increase the sexual health drop-in clinics from one day to two, and make it adaptable for online provision. I would also create “student sexual health packs” that can be ordered free of charge on the SU website.

Josh: I would have ensured that the £500 student distribution grant was higher and that it was paid to GB and international students. I would have campaigned for a living wage for our placement students and SU staff. I also would have promoted trade unions for students. Trade union workshops are badly needed to ensure that our students who are key workers or minimum wage workers understand how to unionise their workplace and fight for a better deal in their working lives.

How have your personal experiences shaped your manifesto?

Bethany: My personal experiences are embedded in all my activism, but especially my Welfare manifesto. I came to university through clearing, after my mum’s death. I have carried through with anxiety, financial stress, feeling failed by the university, with 50 per cent of my degree set during a pandemic. Only in my final year did I learn that I’m entitled to disability and mental health services. The exceptional circumstances procedure and its lack of visibility has added to my stress rather than relieve it and my overdraft has been maxed out multiple times for living expenses, such as rent. I’ve experienced first-hand just some of the struggles students face. I want to ensure students have proper support going forward. That’s why I want to be Welfare Officer: to truly make our academic, emotional and financial support accessible to every student. I’m sick of students suffering for their education, without the help they need.

Josh: I was spurred to run from my experience as a care worker during this pandemic. I fought to unionise and fight for a fair wage for my colleagues, some of whom were forced to go to food banks despite working an essential job for a multi-million pound company. I couldn’t stand by when my colleagues were living in poverty, and now I can’t stand by whilst students are getting a really unfair deal in this pandemic. It’s ridiculous that students are being charged extortionate tuition fees when we aren’t getting any classes. It’s ridiculous that we don’t have mental health services which are fair for purpose, despite the money this university can throw at investment funds. Having lost a number of loved ones in my life, I understand why a radical overhaul of mental health services are needed. I don’t want any students to feel alone or left behind by this university. I will fight for students and ensure our university takes responsibility for this negligence.

And finally… What is your most embarrassing experience?

Bethany: When starting my job in an art gallery, I welcomed a guest, telling her all about the featuring artist’s work. I went into detail, featuring some improvised and very vague interpretations. Turns out it was the artist herself, my interpretations were very wrong, and she made sure I knew that!

Josh: When I was a carer I worked nights and I used to check on my residents every hour during the night. There was one resident who loves to have the craic, and would go to any means to get a laugh. I was checking on this gentleman, and he was sitting in his room waiting for me. The next thing I heard was “Here, catch!” and he proceeded to throw a turd at me! Suffice to say I was grateful for my PPE!

To see all the candidates running for this position, visit the QUB SU Website.