93% Club Society: Communications and Welfare Officer

I am a strong believer in the #stateschoolproud and the 93% Club's mission and hope to further this to create more opportunities for those of us who are less privileged.

As communications and welfare officer, I hope to increase visibility, awareness and membership of the 93% Club at UCL. I plan to do this with a few initiatives which I believe could be highly successful in increasing membership and creating a bigger community of state school students, including:

• creating a mentorship or "buddy" programme where first year students are assigned an older student to help them with the adjustment from state school to university and living in London
• organising more socials for everyone, including more alcohol free events for those who cannot or prefer not to drink
• creating more activities and socials for postgraduate students
• increasing BAME membership
• working with the president to restructure the committee positions in the constitution to make them work better for the society 
• working closely with the 93% Club nationally to access more resources 
• organising socials with other London university 93% Clubs to expand the community further, as well as creating opportunity to get better guest speakers and events for larger crowds

I hope to make the 93% Club bigger and better than it ever has been at UCL and hope to help, along with the rest of the committee, to build a good foundation for the society for subsequent committees.

I want to represent the 93% Club because I emphasise the importance of diversity with respect to the educational backgrounds of the students at UCL. From my own experience, I was disappointed by the fact that I have mostly encountered privately educated students at UCL, even though the majority of students are meant to be from state schools.

Widening participation is an integral concept for higher education, and something I seek to achieve as a volunteer for IntoUniversity. This charity supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds by giving them university mentors to help them in their studies. I volunteer at the North Kensington centre, and consequently contribute to the 66% increase of students who access higher education as a direct result of having a mentor. I'm therefore applying for this position because I recognise the disparity in backgrounds that stems from the differences in education between students at UCL and actively seek to reduce it.

As a member of the committee, I would bring a strong level of enthusiasm that advocates for a fairer intake of state school students in institutions such as UCL. I greatly enjoy interacting with current and prospective students, which I've demonstrated through my role as a student ambassador for UCL's Faculty of Arts and Humanities. This includes speaking in live, virtual events about my own experience to prospective students and giving campus tours to those who are considering further study at UCL.

I may only be a little first year but I would like to take the 93% club to the next level by letting more people know about our club. The 93% club has welcomed me into a warm, friendly and inclusive environment and now it’s my turn to let other state schoolers, who might feel lost and alone amongst the private schoolers of UCL, know about our club. Social media is key. 

Regularly communicating 93% club news to our members and potential members via Instagram and WhatsApp is essential if we want a maintain a steady flow of members coming to our socials and our events. Instagram can also be used to interact with other UCL societies to do joint events, and to interact with other 93% club societies across London and the UK. It is through connections like these that we can broaden our membership base and diversify the types of socials and events that we run. 



i have a *huge and successful* student food account already on instagram. I spend time curating my posts because making food is something I am passionate about. I would also spend time curating the 93% club’s posts because access for state schoolers is also something I am also passionate about.

I hope you will consider voting for me. Have a great day everyone.