Musical Theatre Society: Welfare Officer

I am standing for Welfare Officer as I believe that Musical Theatre Society should be a place where people feel supported and safe within a welcoming and passionate community. The dedication and commitment expected of musical theatre shows means that it can sometimes feel intimidating to get involved, but there are so many opportunities this society offers through socials and workshops available throughout the year as well as shows, which I want to ensure everyone feels welcome to. I want everybody to feel like being an active part of Musical Theatre Society is exciting and inviting to all!

Being involved in one of the MT Blooms shows last year, I had the chance to feel part of a wonderful community which I think everyone should have the chance to experience. This society brings together a variety of people with different interests and levels of experience into a determined, collaborative, and sometimes intense environment where open communication and compassion for each other is essential.

Whether it is simply for a casual chat, a discussion about an issue, or a need to talk to someone, I want everyone within this society to feel like they can reach out to me about anything, no matter how big or small the issue is. As Welfare Officer, I will make it my priority to value everybody's voices equally, whether you want to take part in a fun social and meet some new people, or have a go at performing on stage! 

Hi I’m Ruby :)

You might recognise me from Sister Act last term or as your Freshers Representative from last year! I really enjoyed being on committee in Year 1 so I wanted to run for a larger role as your welfare officer for next year. If I’m elected I'd be committed to 3 key goals:

1. Maintaining our current standard for welfare: keeping the weekly drop ins, overseeing current productions and ensuring production and constitution guidelines are always followed.
2. Having a safe space for all members of our community to grow: trying to improve diversity (particularly socio-economic diversity which our society definitely lacks), ensuring there’s a place for everyone to share their struggles and supporting all non-auditioned opportunities at the same level as auditioned ones.
3. Representing what members actually want in committee meetings: typically the welfare officer has the most contact with members so I’d focus on relaying your opinions to the committee and ensuring everyone is represented in decisions and informed of them.

I've had lots of experience on committee, cast and prod within the society and outside of it, alongside experience as an access mentor at UCL and as a volunteer mentor abroad to a variety of ages, so I’ve definitely experienced most of the issues that could come up next year and how to sort them! 

Musical theatre society has been a great place for me during my time here in Uni, thus I'm running for the welfare officer in hopes to ensure MT stays a fun place for all, through mediating issues brought up by people, making sure productions adhere to the prod guidelines, and strengthening communication between members and the committee.