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WELCOME FROM THE PRESIDENT

The very existence of a students’ union is radical. Our role as an organisation that unites students, supports them and amplifies their voices means that everything we do is about envisioning the ideal and trying to make it happen. The Students’ Union is about making a difference - it’s about growing ideas and nurturing student leaders to help them become the change makers of tomorrow.

Our campaigns have challenged racism and xenophobia in our political discourse, lobbied government at the highest levels and even changed laws. But our commitment to making change goes much deeper than that.

When our fundraising activity raises over £196,678 in a year, and 2,561 of our students and staff take part in volunteering opportunities; we’re not only building links with the community, we’re embedding social responsibility at the heart of our students and the University.

When our commercial outlets allow student input to place ethics and environmentalism at their core, it allows our students to explore ideas of ethical consumerism and really make a change in how we do business.

When our sports teams partner home and international students together, the lifelong friendships formed can spread across the world, challenging borders and affirming our commitment to a global community.

And when our students have an idea, the Students’ Union is a place where they can express it, develop it and make it happen.

The numbers in this report tell one story: the story of the huge impact we have on our students, our University, our city and our society. Yet the individual tales of students’ growth and learning all hold their own power and begin to paint a much more colourful picture. We hope this report will begin to show some of the diverse ways in which this Students’ Union changes the world every single day.

Yael ShafritzStudents’ Union President 2014-15

Yael Shafritz, President

ABOUT US

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The University of Sheffield Students’ Union is a registered charity run democratically by students, for students. All students of The University of Sheffield automatically become members when they join the university.

The purpose of Sheffield Students’ Union is to represent, support and enhance the lives of University of Sheffield students.

We create opportunities for students to develop by offering diverse and inclusive events, societies, sports, volunteering opportunities, and “Give it a Go” activities.

We enhance and maintain student well-being through our Student Advice Centre, and all our activities which build communities and friendships.

We provide relevant quality services including retail, catering, bars and entertainments. We also have a large online presence to allow our members access to our services digitally.

We ensure a bold and effective student voice by securing a voice for students in the University; and by guaranteeing that any of our members may put forward an idea or issue regarding the Students’ Union’s activities to the Students’ Union Officers, Students’ Union Council, or Representative committees.

The Students’ Union Officers are students elected by the members of the Students’ Union each year through a cross-campus secret ballot. The eight Students’ Union Officers make decisions on the day to day running of the Students’ Union, supported by 55 Students’ Union Council Members and the Senior Management Team.

The activities of the Students’ Union are supported by more than 200 permanent members of staff, around 400 casual members of staff, and over 2,200 students involved voluntarily in representative committees, working committees and society committees and sports clubs.

We are an independent organisation and work closely with the University to achieve a world class student experience for those studying at The University of Sheffield.

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OPPORTUNITIESFOR STUDENTS

TO DEVELOPDEVELOP GLOBAL

PERSPECTIVES

EXPAND AND ENHANCE OPPORTUNITIES

SUPPORT EMPLOYABILITY

GOVERNANCE

DIGITAL / IT /SYSTEMS

BUILDINGS &FACILITIES

PEOPLE

FINANCE

COMMUNICATIONUNIVERSITY

RELATIONSHIP

DELIVER SERVICES FOR STUDENTS

BE DIGITALLY INNOVATIVE

RELEVANT QUALITY SERVICES

BE LED BY STUDENTS

ENGAGE IN REPRESENTATION

CAMPAIGN FOR CHANGE

BOLD ANDEFFECTIVE

STUDENT VOICE

ENABLERS

STUDENT WELL-BEING

PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT

BUILD COMMUNITIES AND FRIENDSHIPS

OBJECTIVES & GOALS

WE WILL BE RECOGNISED AS A LEADING STUDENTS’ UNION: EXCITING, DYNAMIC AND STUDENT-LED

VISION

A GLOBAL COMMUNITY

AMBITIOUS, INNOVATIVE &

CREATIVE

FAIR &

ACCESSIBLE

DIVERSE &

INCLUSIVECOLLABORATIVE

DEMOCRATIC

SUSTAINABLE.ENVIRONMENTALLY

& SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE

INDEPENDENT

VALUES

TO REPRESENT, SUPPORT AND ENHANCE THE LIVES OF UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

STUDENTS

PURPOSE

We want to ensure that our students get the most out of their time at The University of Sheffield. Furthermore, we want to help establish our students as active citizens and offer them all the opportunities, guidance and support we can, to make certain that they have the brightest possible futures. “Our Strategy 2016” reflects how we will achieve these ambitions.

Our Vision and Purpose are the driving force behind our Goals – the actions that we take to realise this Vision, grouped under broader Objectives. Underlying all of these are our Values – the characteristics that we believe are important for us to keep at the heart of all we do. Our Enablers facilitate in the practicalities of achieving these Goals.

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STRATEGY 2016

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HIGHLIGHTS

Sheffield RAG won a

‘Community Impact’ award at the 2013

National RAG Conference demonstrating

their outstanding contribution to social change.

Students and staff volunteered 45,080 total hours this

academic year (the previous number was 32,496) making a positive difference to 223

charitable organisations and in 84 local neighbourhoods.

Our environmental awareness and activity continues to be both

excellent and innovative: we achieved a Gold Award again in the Green Impact

Students’ Union and a Special Award for Ethical

Procurement.

We donated £196,678 to good causes (up on last

year), helping to fund work in areas from

health care charities to animal shelters.

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The Student Officer Elections had a turnout of more than 9,200 votes

(beating last year’s record 8,996).

Students had their say in issues that matter

on a large scale - together with the University we

launched the award-winning #WeAreInternational Campaign

to support international students in the UK.

Our Student Advice Centre made a huge

difference to the quality of students’ lives; gaining

£124,697 for clients in 2013/14 (double the total of the previous

academic year) and taking thousands of queries to

advise students on issues that matter to them.

Forge, our student media outlet, won

multiple awards for their high quality

student-led journalism and entertainment.

Our student activities and high quality services led us to once again be

voted Number 1 in Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey and the

Best Students’ Union in National Student Survey.

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We create an environment that enables our members to benefit from intercultural experiences, enjoy international friendships and develop their global understanding.

ONE WORLD

One World is our initiative formed in 2012 that aims to increase integration between home and international students, and help all students to understand the world around them and their place in it. We developed this initiative in this academic year 2013-14, employing a One World Graduate Intern in January 2014 who then became a full-time staff member in August.

We host a weekly One World Café with the aim of bringing students from different cultures and nationalities together for a coffee and a chat – with numbers up to 100 people per week. In addition, One World Ambassadors were first recruited in February 2014. These are home and international students who organise innovative cultural activities and promote the vision of One World.

SERVICES

Recognising a gap in its established drinks and food range, the outlet Coffee Revolution introduced Taiwanese bubble tea and thus a great number of international students who loved and missed this product from their home countries became regular customers.

We are introducing a new outlet, Pearl’s Bubble Tea, as a result. By adapting our offerings as we have done here we increase our appeal to our international students, and can encourage students to experience cultures besides their own.

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

The societies and committees of the Students’ Union hosted a number of events with an international focus, including:

• ‘Bummit’ to Croatia Charity Hitch-hike • The International Students Committee’s

World Food Festival• A full house for a guest lecture from Holocaust

survivor Ziggy Shipper• The Chinese Scholars and Students Association’s

Chinese New Year Celebration• A host of events as part of our annual World Week

CAMPAIGNING

We understand the importance of global citizenship, and support students to campaign on issues affecting our international students as well as issues that are generally globally important.

We engaged with the Immigration Bill and met with more than 20 decision-makers, including MPs and Lords, on it (working with the Student Advice Centre) to make changes that would improve the life of international students.

We hosted the #WeAreInternational campaign including visits to Parliament to highlight the issues facing international students. For this we won (with the University) the NUS/UKCISA ‘Innovation in Internationalising the Student Experience’ 2014 award.

As part of this we ran a #StandByMe campaign encouraging UK and international students to take selfies together, demonstrating the friendships students build here that cross borders.

DEVELOP GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

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WHAT’S NEXT?

Our One World Co-ordinator has been appointed with funding full-time for two years, so will be a part of developing global perspectives through staff training and by supporting students to host globally-focussed events.

The 2014-15 Students’ Union Officers are committed to creating a Students’ Union with ‘No Borders’ through projects such as addressing attainment gaps between students of different nationalities and bringing home and international students together through student housing. We also plan to pilot for the introduction of a ‘buddying system’ to help home students to introduce international students to the Students’ Union.

#StandByMe selfie

We are literally changing lives. When you bring students to new places to learn, to study, to grow as people – you change the direction of their future. And when they go back to their country, you change the directions of countries.

Alex Kohnert, International Students Officer 2013-14, on #WeAreInternational

85.2% of students agree with the statement: “I feel the Students’

Union provides me with opportunities to experience

other cultures” (Annual Membership Survey 2014)

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We resource opportunities for all students, supporting and encouraging them to have memorable experiences and develop their skills.

VOLUNTEERING

We seek to give our students opportunities to volunteer for good causes, making a positive impact on society. This year saw the following statistics, all improvements upon last year:

• 2,561 unique volunteers (students and staff), a 53% increase on 2012-13

• 45,080 total hours volunteered, up almost 40% on the year before

• 223 organizations benefiting• 84 neighbourhoods worked in,

in Sheffield and surrounding areas

Our 24 Hour Volunteering Event involved 305 students, 1,429 hours volunteering and benefited 22 local organisations.

Activities included a ‘Scavenger Challenge’ for much needed items for the Cathedral Archer Project who support homeless people in Sheffield.

We partnered with Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Sport Sheffield to organise ‘Do it for You’, an activities day for children recovering from cancer. 105 Sports Club and Society volunteers organised taster activities ranging from archery to rugby and ceilidh dancing to t-shirt painting.

EXPAND & ENHANCE

OPPORTUNITIES

In total 80 families (290 adults & children) got involved.This is an example of the opportunities students have to get involved with good causes, and of the benefits this has for many people and organisations.

GIVE IT A GO

We sold 8,091 tickets to our GIAG taster activities, with over 500 different activities to get involved in. We also gave 294 students the opportunity to learn a new skill in our training section of the programme, and there were 14 different types of languages to be learnt.

FUNDRAISING

This year our total donation to good causes was £196,678, even better than last year’s figure. 87% of this was donated to charities in the local South Yorkshire and Derbyshire area. 110 societies, clubs and individuals fundraised with RAG and we supported over 300 fundraising events and activities.

• 123 different charities supported• Over 100 student event leaders supported• Over 2300 participants in main events

FORGE MEDIA Forge Media has a wide range of volunteers, and retention of these has improved vastly, with new committee positions being created and more opportunities for training. There is increased interest in its outlets, and it provides great work experience as well as extra-curricular enjoyment.

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Forge Media has been recognised for excellence in the Guardian Student Media Awards for the past two years, winning 1st and 2nd place for the Reporter of the Year Award in 2013 and receiving 3 nominations in 2014 for its website and news journalism. Forge Press won 4 categories in the Student Publication Awards.

CONTOURS

Contours Festival took place over 5 venues around the Students’ Union, and in the city centre on Sunday 4th May 2014. Over 200 people attended the festival which was organised by a team of over 40 student volunteers – including members of Forge, Technical Services Committee and Photo Soc. 19 students gained HEAR recognition for their work on the project – a valuable achievement for assisting them in getting on the career ladder.

The Festival raised £1,049 for Sheffield Young Carers, a charity which provides young carers from all over Sheffield with much-needed breaks from their caring, the chance to make friends and take part in fun activities, and the support and advice they need to feel more confident and capable of carrying out their caring roles.

WHAT’S NEXT?

In 2014-15 we plan to develop opportunities for first year students living in student residences. We will provide support and funding for student-led events.

The most special thing about Sheffield RAG is its commitment to helping the local community. Sheffield RAG supports hundreds of students to develop their own fundraising skills and getting to know the charities has been an amazing opportunity.

Sarah Carroll, Chair, Sheffield RAG 2014-15

I have attended various GIAG sessions alongside my studies at the UoS and I think this is a very fun and useful scheme for students to learn new skills.

I’ve learnt so much, made lifelong friends and had an amazing time.

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We aim to enhance students’ employability through a strategic partnership with the University.

STUDENT JOBS

We employ student staff across all of our outlets – giving them valuable work experience and skills training in a first-rate working environment. Our Welcome Desk & Box Office won the national Student Employee of the Year award for on-campus employer.

7 of our departments took part in the Taste of Work scheme, giving students without prior work experience the opportunity to get an insight into the working world and equipping them with some training. Students were also supported with online resources including CV tips and advice on job searching.

Every year the Students’ Union also offers graduate internships across multiple departments, giving graduates from The University of Sheffield a great opportunity to get onto the career ladder.

HEAR

We collaborate with the University to provide undergraduate students with a Higher Education Achievement Report – a comprehensive record of students’ university achievements

SUPPORTEMPLOYABILITY

including both academic and extra-curricular learning and experience. On top of encouraging students to make the most out of university, it helps them to understand and demonstrate how their activities enhance their skills and employability. 20 members of staff from 6 departments verify 43 extra-curricular activities in the Students’ Union. Nearly 1,100 activities undertaken by students through the Students’ Union were HEAR verified in 2013/14.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

Student employability is also boosted by the opportunities they have for leadership and extra-curricular activities at the Students’ Union. For example, Forge Media has created multiple positions which involve supervising, editing or producing, giving these students transferable skills and enhancing their employability. Many societies and clubs provide specialist training to their members, giving them valuable knowledge and experience that they can take with them wherever they go next.

This year, for the first time, we introduced an Employability Month to raise awareness of the various opportunities and support available through both the Students’ Union and University.

Staff support students to gain real-life work experience through the largest extra-curricular programme in any students’ union – our students can learn about event management, campaigning, policy development, health & safety, stage management, schools tutoring and business planning – to name just a few!

WHAT’S NEXT?

Our continued research into student life will inform the direction of our strategy for employability, as we review and adapt our activities in this area.

80% of students agreed with the statement “The Students’ Union will help me to develop

skills that could assist me in my future career” – this is especially positive when you consider that our last achieved figure was 51%.

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We will be employing a Project Manager to define and develop our Employability offer and create a sustainable model of delivery. We plan to increase the amount of employment opportunities and skills training we offer to students, and to help them reflect on what they’ve gained as a result of their work and extra-curricular experiences.

It was generally a good experience and exposure to a workplace environment. I was really glad that I was given the opportunity to experience a day at work!

Student undertaking Taste of Work at Coffee Revolution

The HEAR encourages me to reflect on the new skills that I have learnt from the activities I have been doing.

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We provide exceptional support that meets the diverse needs of our students through relevant services, partnerships and expertise.

Student agreement with the statement: “It is easy to gain access to help from the Students’ Union” was 94.8% in our Annual Membership Survey.

STUDENT ADVICE CENTRE

We provide a specialist advice service to help our students with practical issues they might face whilst at University, including academic, housing, money and immigration problems. Through this we hope to support students with difficulties, enhance their quality of life and save them money.

We gained £124,697 for the student clients we advised in 2013/14, making a practical difference in their lives and almost doubling our total from last year, due to the hard work of staff and development of the Student Advice Centre. 105 different nationalities were advised, and 2,948 new cases opened. We helped students find good quality houses with reliable landlords through our Housing Fair which was attended by approximately 2,000 students.

PROVIDE GUIDANCE &

SUPPORT

SECURITY

We aim to provide a safe environment for students.After introducing the 10 journey saver ticket and a once nightly pick up from the Information Commons, the Women’s Safety Bus has seen an increase in ticket sales of 80% on last year. This helps our female students to feel and be safe when going home from the Students’ Union and Information Commons at night. We were graded as ‘1 - outstanding’ during our annual monitoring visit by our sector awarding body the BIIAB.

92.2% of students agreed that they feel “valued, safe and supported by the Students’ Union”.

OTHER GUIDANCE & SUPPORT

We provide several other welfare services including childcare services, a Safe Taxi Scheme (in partnership with City Taxis and Sheffield Hallam), representative committees to support student groups, Nightline telephone listening service and Biteback support group for students with eating disorders (in partnership with South Yorkshire Eating Disorders Association).

We introduced new support initiatives, for example ‘Supporting students’ training for Students’ Union staff, which was implemented as part of the induction for Box Office & Welcome Desk staff. The Welcome Desk answered 37,029 enquiries at the counter and an additional 7,811 by telephone, helping students with practical support around the Students’ Union and directing them to the services they needed.

The Activities & Sports Zone Information Desk dealt with 24,412 enquiries and achieved a 94% satisfaction rating from society leaders.

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The staff team also provides advice, support and training to around 2,500 students who hold leadership positions on society committees, with 1,170 society training attendances recorded this academic year. The team ensure all activities are run safely, democratically and inclusively.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We’re establishing Advice Ambassadors to involve students in the Student Advice Centre service. We want to provide better support to students who work in the Students’ Union, and provide staff guidance for student-initiated peer support groups.

I’m a parent and the staff here were amazing at answering all my questions about my daughter coming to University.

It is great that new students, who might be a bit lost have somewhere to go and ask questions about societies and how to get involved.

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We provide services and spaces that allow students to develop communities, build friendships and feel supported and valued.

We do this through the range of activities and entertainments that we put on to bring people together; and through supporting societies which provide a space for students to meet and bond through shared interests and experience. This in turn will enhance student experience and satisfaction.

89% of students agree that “The Students’ Union provides opportunities to connect with other students and make friends”.

ACTIVITIES ZONE

We support student societies that bring students together through shared interests, common cultures and hobbies. We also facilitate and encourage collaboration between societies.

• We had 2,269 registered committee members • 2013/14 saw a 50% increase in new societies

(42 newly approved) so we are increasingly meeting an ever-wider range of student interests

• We supported our 312 societies with 588 events formally supported by us and 1,100 society training attendances

BUILD COMMUNITIES &

FRIENDSHIPS • We had a total of 3,658 students involved in club sport (and they won the annual Sheffield Varsity competition again!)

• We secured £3k from the Alumni Foundation to provide financial support to student parents, carers and those with a disability to allow them to participate in sports and activities

• RAG won the Community Impact Award at the 2013 National RAG Conference

EVENTS The Events department supported students to organise over 120 interesting and enjoyable events including:

• LGBT Committee’s National Coming Out Day• Hindu Society’s Diwali Party• Some fantastic events as part of Women’s Week

including guest speaker Emma Woolf and two performances of the innovative role-reversed “Juliet and Romeo” in the Foundry

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Participation Fund is going to be increased in order to improve access to activities and sports for our students. We want to increase the number of Departmental Societies holding welcome events in the residences, to help our first year students find a community they feel a part of as early in their university life as possible.

We are committed to expanding the Give it a Go programme in student accommodation as part of our partnership with The University of Sheffield.

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I study here, I socialise with friends, course-mates, and my fellow committee members here, I eat here. It has a great atmosphere and helps me feel like I’m part of a wider community.

First year undergraduate

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We deliver relevant, efficient, good value services that enhance the student experience.

Our annual membership survey told us that 91.1% of students agree with the statement: “I feel the Students’ Union provides relevant, efficient and good value services”.

DELIVER SERVICES FOR STUDENTS

BUILDING WORK

Our building work was completed, allowing us to unveil new and improved facilities. We re-opened the facilities that had to be closed during this time, as well as launching a new venue ‘Studio’. This work has increased the capacity and functionality of our venues, and was key to ensure our building remains a truly flexible multi-purpose facility, suited to our needs. Students and staff were involved in consultation on the re-design of the spaces.

OUTLETS & SERVICES

We have multiple popular outlets in the building: cafes, bars, food outlets, a convenience shop and gift shop. On top of this we provide services such as our Welcome Desk and Box Office, meeting rooms and a nursery for student parents co-supported by the University. We aim to deliver quality and good value services where there is something for every student to enjoy. In addition to its established drinks and food range, the coffee shop Coffee Revolution introduced Sheffield Students’ Union

RELEVANT QUALITY

SERVICES

to the tasty world of bubble tea and in doing so a great number of International students have become regular customers. This is an example of how we recognise the needs of students and find ways to adapt with new services that allow more and more students to enjoy the Students’ Union’s offerings.

Our food and drink outlet Interval won a U Dine Award: a national award given to recognise and reward student services that are embracing and delivering the latest high street trends.

ENTERTAINMENTS AND EVENTS

Our Entertainment & Events department split into two departments: Entertainments, and Events! This was to reflect the expansion of this area and to enable us to develop our services further.

Entertainments are responsible for booking, programming and promoting our fantastic range of entertainment in our night-clubs and bars. Over the course of the 2013-2014 academic year the Entertainments department has delivered 211 events attracting nearly 133,000 customers, providing fun for students.

Events are supporting student-led events, looking after the Flash! arts & cultural programme, supporting staff-run event projects and developing commercial venue hires and catering sales.

The wide range of fantastic events last year included: Summer Social (which sold 4000 tickets in under 6 hours), the annual Beer Festival, club nights, and opportunities for students to see live acts and big names performing. We catered for a number of bespoke events, including those not requiring alcohol when we sourced some unusual flavoured cordials, demonstrating our desire to adapt to the needs of all students.

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ENVIRONMENTAL

We have achieved a Gold Award again in the Green Impact Students’ Union and a Special Award for Ethical Procurement.

The Green Space set up two NUS Green Fund funded projects - Sheffield on a Plate (a cross-city partnership about food sustainability, involving both of Sheffield’s students’ unions, Sheffield College, local charities and the City Council) and Green Impact Student Homes (greener private accommodation). Between them they will engage with thousands of students and hundreds of Sheffield residents by July 2015, making a positive impact on environmental issues.

We supported the development of Sheffield’s first ever student-led fresh produce market on the Concourse - it has been a sell-out success and is becoming a weekly feature.

Staff at the Students’ Union are also invested in our commitment to being ‘sustainable, environmentally and socially responsible’ in our Strategy 2016. Waste from Sheffield Students’ Union is now collected under a new contract that means it is sorted off-site to maximise recycling and recovery. Nothing is now sent to landfill! Food waste is now collected for conversion to biofuels at a specialist facility in Doncaster.

BE DIGITALLY INNOVATIVE

We employed a Digital Implementation Manager, to oversee digital initiatives and in particular a project for a new website for the Students’ Union.

New Leaf introduced its customers to a brand new online ordering system to save queueing time. The online order system regularly has up to 70 orders a day and is extremely popular. Over 4,000 salads were ordered online by the end of the academic year. Such digital innovations keep our services exciting, efficient and high quality.

We also trialled a digital loyalty system.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Based upon feedback from our members we’re refurbishing our main venue, Bar One. We’ll also be opening a Bubble Tea outlet based on the positive reaction to the Coffee Revolution trials!

The new website will be launched in 2014-15, in partnership with NUS Digital, through which we can gather data that we can use to better understand the needs of our members and thus improve the student experience. We’ll also be reviewing our building and how we can better use it to its full potential in order to meet the needs of those who use it.

It’s a great thing to be a part of, a great building with loads of excellent services at reasonable prices.

Third year undergraduate

The shops and cafes are good quality and reasonably priced, the club nights are really good, with something for everyone, the staff are friendly and approachable and the general atmosphere is really good.

First year undergraduate

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We ensure that students shape all our services and activities; we have strong student engagement in an effective Students’ Union-led representation system across the University; and we encourage and support our students to influence, lobby and campaign for change at local, national and global levels.

We implemented changes that were student-led and reflect the values of our members, as a result of policy initiated in Students’ Union Council. This year these were:

• No more lads’ mags in the Students’ Union• Food labelling was reintroduced• Loyalty cards were trialled• Earplugs are now available at gigs• The sabbatical Officers’ roles were reviewed

CAMPAIGN FOR CHANGE

Regular campaigns training was established through Skills for Change, equipping 108 students with direct training on campaigning techniques and giving students online support with our campaigns toolkit. By doing this we gave students the skills they wanted to campaign on the issues they cared about; making a difference in student life and society more widely as a result.

The Students’ Union worked with Officers, the Student Voice department, students and MPs on a number of key campaigns and consultations this year.

BOLD & EFFECTIVE STUDENT

VOICE

Our campaigning activity included:

• Over 1200 letters sent to the Home Office on the Immigration Bill

• Landlord visa checks were removed from the Immigration Bill as a result of our meetings with Baroness Hamwee

• 140 emails sent to Student Finance England, and 250 petition signatures submitted as part of the “Student Finance, Sort it Out” campaign

• Together with the University we launched the We are International Campaign to support international students in the UK and campaign to prevent increased visa controls on them – this has gained massive support from over 100 institutions, won 2 campaign awards and been nominated for a 3rd

We won NUS “International Campaign of the Year” and were shortlisted for NUS “Campaign of the Year”.

ENGAGE IN REPRESENTATION

This year we had 838 Academic Representatives – a 20% increase on last year. With the support of our Academic Representation Coordinator, they ensured students’ views and interests were represented in academic life. 97% of these Representatives felt they had made a positive change as a result of their role.

ELECTIONS

We supported students running for elected positions within the Students’ Union, and ran campaigns to encourage students to vote. In this year’s Students’ Union Officer elections there were 45 candidates (compared with 32 last year and an all-time record of 43).

Hundreds of tweets were sent using the Twitter hashtag #suvote which was an effective method for engaging with students in an innovative and relevant way. There were more than 9,200 votes cast, beating last year’s record 8,996, suggesting that there is increased student engagement in our democratic system.

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Our Officers ensure students have a major say in the running of the Students’ Union, enabling us to be student-led, and keep students’ interests on the agenda here and more widely.

WHAT’S NEXT?

In 2014-15 we will continue to develop our Academic Representation system, with the aim of making it a central aspect of the student experience with a particular focus on improving training through implementation of high-quality online training programmes. We want to develop and introduce digitally innovative ways for student academic representatives to engage with us, each other and their students.

We are planning to review our democratic structures, including Students’ Union Council, to ensure that as wide a range of students as possible can participate in leading the Students’ Union. As was voted by our members we will conduct a referendum on the Officer Roles Review proposals and implement any changes to Officer roles which are agreed.

We want to ensure that our students are fully engaged with the 2015 UK General Election and that student issues are high on the local and national agenda.

[The Students’ Union] is operated and organised by students themselves, they really represent students’ standpoints.

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A NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Jaki Booth was appointed as Chief Executive for the Students’ Union starting in June 2014. Jaki brings with her a wealth of experience in leadership at other students’ unions in the country and in the arts, and all here are confident that ‘we have an exciting and experienced replacement to take us into the next chapter of The University of Sheffield Students’ Union’s journey’. (Ally Buckle, President 2013-14).

Jaki’s vision:“We will continue to be the number one students’ union in the UK, drawing inspiration from places beyond the world of higher education and even beyond this country to set new standards for greatness. I believe that developing the perfect partnership between our staff and students is vital for us as we seek to better support all of our students in creating communities, opportunities and the change they choose.”

THE FUTURE

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT

In response to our shifting research findings, we undertook a mid-point review of our current strategic plan together with our Trustee Board, to determine how our strategy was going and what we could improve.

For the academic year 2014-15 we are introducing two new strategic Goals:

Broaden our horizons (under Student Well-Being)Encourage and provide ways for Sheffield students to live and participate as equal citizens within Sheffield and beyond, and take our place as a leading voluntary organisation in communities external to the University.

Since the plan was agreed, there has been a move across the organisation to enhance our involvement in communities external to the University: through closer partnership with local charities, encouraging local people to use our facilities, partnering with local festivals and so on. Of course our engagement externally must be to the benefit of our members. We are a significant charity in the city, and an important organisation within youth engagement nationally. Furthermore there is much to learn from similar organisations around the world.

Enhance academic life (under Bold & Effective Student Voice)Ensure that every student feels engaged with their education, part of a learning community and supported to fulfil their individual potential.

The introduction of £9k fees has impacted on students’ behaviours and interests; their academic achievement is now at the forefront, more so than ever before. We should be investigating working with the University to support, for example: peer assisted learning programmes, curriculum development initiatives, and new approaches to engaging students in a meaningful way in enhancing teaching and learning.

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We also decided to prioritise certain areas, from now until the end of the current strategic plan in 2016, in which we feel there are opportunities we have not yet explored.

These were the two new Goals and also the following Goals:

Support EmployabilityThe impact of £9k fees and the current jobs market has given the idea of preparing students for the world of work a boost in recent years. This is a new and vast area of opportunity within Higher Education.

Be Led by StudentsOne of the absolute strengths of our Students’ Union is the opportunities that exist for students to lead and run activities, campaigns and events. Indeed the Students’ Union is built on this as a founding principle. We believe a concerted focus on student leadership and the way in which we are shaped to support it will enhance experience and engagement levels.

We are also prioritising these Enablers:

Digital/ IT/ SystemsWith the imminent introduction of our new website, driven by NUS Digital, we are about to really understand and talk to our members about what interests them. This step change in our central systems will allow and demand new activity and practices throughout the Students’ Union.

FinanceOur work this year must focus on creating a financially sustainable model. We cannot be complacent into the future about balancing our income and expenditure.

PeopleThe greatest strength within the Students’ Union is the quality of the people who work here. We are blessed with a quality team of people who constantly strive to improve. If we are to retain our position as a leading Students’ Union, we must continue to support and develop talent amongst our people. For example, we are developing a measurable leadership and management framework, ‘SHAPE’, to give direction and motivation to staff in positions of leadership.

www.sheffieldsu.com/strategy

Jaki Booth

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Ally Buckle – PresidentAlice Lord – Activities OfficerKat Chapman – Women’s OfficerSam Rae – Education OfficerAlex Kohnert – International Student’s OfficerEmily Dibble – Sports OfficerSam Neagus – Development OfficerBecca Barnes – Welfare Officer

WHO’S WHO

Students’ Union Officers plus:Emily Wood – Student TrusteeStephanie Dunn – Student TrusteeJose Angel Garcia – Student TrusteeLee-Anne Reddey – Student TrusteeDavid Claybrook – External TrusteeHoward Culley – External TrusteeJohn O’Leary – External TrusteeAnita Chib – External Trustee

STUDENTS’ UNION OFFICERS 2013/14

TRUSTEE BOARD 2013/14

TRUSTEE BOARD 2014/15

SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAMSTUDENTS’ UNION OFFICERS 2014/15

Yael Shafritz – PresidentClio Symington – Activities OfficerMiriam Miller – Women’s OfficerMalaka Mohammed Shwaikh – Education OfficerJosé Joaquín Díaz de Aguilar Puiggari – International Student’s OfficerJonny Block – Sports OfficerJack Wyse – Development OfficerTom Harrison – Welfare Officer

Students’ Union Officers plus:Mark Summers – Student TrusteeStephanie Dunn – Student TrusteeTianjiao Cai – Student TrusteeCez Mabe – Student TrusteeHoward Culley – External TrusteeJohn O’Leary – External TrusteeAnita Chib – External TrusteeHelen Mackenzie - External Trustee

Jaki Booth – Chief Executive (from June 2014)Steve Hubbard - General Manager (until April 2014)Richard Eastall - Director of Membership InvolvementLucy Pritchard - Director of ResourcesLisa Scanlon - Director of Marketing, Communications and DevelopmentNigel Hallam – Director of Services (until April 2014)

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Abdul QuadeerAbdullah GeelahAdam StokesAleks LoeschArun Kumar GandlurAyesha IqbalBebhinn EganBeryl LiuChaz LockettChris SmithChristy McMorrowDanielle SammyDaryl ArmitageDavid E OduduDom ShepherdDru Gallacher

Abdullah AamirAbdulrahman AlhaddadAbeille LokkitAdam HanrahanAlexander McCollAlexandra BurnsAmy CoombeAshik Mohammed NazarBelinda EreanBridget JonesChristy McMorrowClaire HetheringtonCora ThomasDario PanadaDel PickupDuman Kabdygaliyev

STUDENTS’ UNION COUNCIL 2013/14 STUDENTS’ UNION COUNCIL 2014/15

Elisha SargentEmma WandEstel Farell RoigGlenn JonesGulsah BilgeHannah HarveyJack SpallJohn HowardKit WheelerLinus CashMatthew DanielMichelle CardwellMinesh ParekhMohammed YusufNatalie PaulOpal Mattila

Emma ParkinEvette ProutFinola FitzpatrickFred GillGulash BilgeHarshdeep Singh KalraHenry MatthewsIsaac EloiIssam MawhoubeJamie BillingtonJean YeoJenny PoultonJoe DevineyLouisa SmithMarc BonneMax Bell

Students’ Union Officers 2014/15 (L-R: Block, Wyse, Shwaikh, Harrison, Puiggari, Shafritz, Miller, Symington)

Trustee Board and Senior Management Team 2013/14

Otis GilbertPete RussellPhilippa PeallRajneesh GuptaRob HeminwayRosie NicholsonSalma HaidraniSian Oliver-WatersSofia VasileiadouSonja BobrowskaTom Maguire-WrightTracey LeeYun Cho

Mufaddal Zohair TotanawalaOmar D’AgostinoOmar ManiyaniOtis GilbertPhillipa PeallRichard WeightRishabh KumarSam MorecroftSamer AlabedSarah AbdallaSharmin JahanSyed Ali Imran ZaidiTracey LeeWei SunZhen Lai

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The year to 31st July 2014 was the second year of the Students’ Union’s Strategic Plan covering the period 2012-16, “Our Strategy 2016”. The budget for 2013-14 was set at a small surplus and anticipated a much improved trading performance as the building was re-opened following the major disruption to trading and activity in 2012-13. Consideration was given to the need to rebuild trade following the impact of the building works, and based on previous experience turnover was discounted back at the start of the year, however this did not take into account the late hand back of some elements by the contractors.

In the first few months of the 2013-14 financial year our focus was on re-opening areas of the building following the University’s planned building works which were practically completed by September 2013. Delayed hand back of elements had an effect on trade; either directly, because the outlet was unable to open when we had expected it to, or indirectly because staff were distracted by needing to meet with contractors and University staff when their focus should have been on rebuilding trade.

Within the trading areas, most outlets did show a significant improvement in trading levels over 2012-13 with the exceptions being a minority that had remained open and in-situ throughout the building work and therefore had disproportionately benefited last year whilst other outlets were closed. Entertainments driven activity did not perform to the high levels budgeted and Venues bar sales were below that anticipated for the level of ticket sales. We believe this is a reflection of the continued decline in licensed trade sales, the impact of £9k fees on student spending habits, and the increased student focus on academic work from the moment they arrive at University. In general the Bars, Catering and Retail performances were all significantly ahead of last year but short of our high budget expectations. Action taken including the planned split of entertainments and events activity; the introduction of a new Entertainments Manager to the business; and a revamp of drinks promotions all had a positive impact on performance in the second half of the year. This evidence to support the improved performance was seen in

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

the achievement of commercial turnover targets in June and July. Our underlying assumptions for commercial performance included: an expectation that there would continue to be a steady decline in the volume of licensed trade sales, but catering and retail sales would remain stable; that there would be a period of rebuilding trade; and there would be no significant capital expenditure except that associated with the University building project. In 2012 there was a reduced intake of home undergraduates and, although diluted by a healthy intake in 2013, there will have been some impact of this still evident on trading (licensed trade in particular).

The hard work and commitment of our staff is reflected in an overall result which, despite the challenges of the late delivery of some aspects of the building and the need to rebuild trade, is close to breakeven.

Savings were made in other areas, largely due to the timing of changes in personnel and delays in the delivery of some project work. In several cases, the delay in delivery of specific projects and resulting under spend was a direct consequence of managing the impacts of the final stages of the building project and consequent disruption.

We are grateful for the continued support from the University in terms of our subvention settlement, which was increased by 2% (£53k) to £2.7m plus £90k contribution for strategic enhancement initiatives and a further £430k of funding to compensate for the impact of the building project as it continued into the start of the financial year and as we rebuilt trade and activity. We also recognise the significant investment in the Students’ Union building and are grateful for the University’s recognition of the mutual benefit of a high performing Students’ Union.

The small deficit has had a negative effect on the balance sheet with a reduction in total net assets from £1.53m to £1.47m although the cash balance increased slightly to £1.2m. Our unrestricted funds stood at £1.44m with a further £34k of restricted funds. Our general reserve fell to £300k and remains below our reserves policy target of a general reserve of around £700k. Our current financial strategy provides for a modest level of capital expenditure and identifies and allocates funding for the achievement of our strategic aims, but without the capacity to generate a significant surplus, it is unlikely that the current level of free reserves is achievable in the short term. The reserves policy is now due for review. Cash deposits are placed in a range of interest bearing accounts with terms varying between instant access and 3 years to ensure access to working capital as required, but with a view to maximising interest income where possible.

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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST JULY 2014

2014 2013

Incoming ResourcesIncoming Resources from Generated FundsVoluntary income

£ £

University Grant 2,777,426 2,634,732

Alumni Grant 5,000 4,583

Compensation Grant 430,000 1,240,000

Activities for Generating Funds

Rental Income 59,436 53,252

Sponsorship and Marketing Income 225,727 129,371

Investment Income

Interest Receivable 10,791 10,736

Incoming Resources from Charitable Activities for Students

Bars & catering 2,429,239 1,974,000

Venues & entertainments 1,685,338 1,188,221

Retail 1,326,306 1,017,112

Children’s Services 579,270 532,247

Member Services 179,932 153,800

Student Activities and Volunteering 617,693 350,536

Student Voice 3,346 10,368

Other Income 136,688 150,898

Total Incoming Resources 10,466,192 9,449,856

Resources Expended

Charitable Activities for Students

Bars & Catering 2,743,037 2,429,795

Venues & Entertainments 1,799,274 1,638,124

Retail 1,374,609 1,168,219

Children’s Services 702,959 694,205

Member Services 1,788,029 1,540,534

Student Activities and Volunteering 1,062,538 800,743

Student Voice 832,185 797,222

Rental costs 180,131 180,131

Governance costs 40,144 41,059

Total resources Expended 10,522,906 9,290,032

Net incoming/(outgoing) resources for the year (56,714) 159,824

AFFILIATIONS FOR THE YEAR ENDED JULY 2014

2014 2013

The Students’ Union paid the following fees during the year:

£ £

National Union of Students 51,698 51,693

Sheffield Chamber of Commerce - 850

51,698 52,543

Thank you for supporting your Students’ Union

When I spend £1 in aStudents’ Union outlet, where does my money go?

ONE PO UND

41pCost of the

product

3pBuilding costs,fixtures andfittings

28pStaff costs and wages12p

Value Added Tax paid to the government

6pRunningcosts

Money investedback into improving andexpanding your Students’ Union

10p

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We wouldn’t be the NUS/Times Higher Education Number 1 Students’ Union in the country without all of the people and organisations that support us in everything that we do.

Thank you to the University of Sheffield and all of our colleagues there.

Thank you to our trustees and all of the people and organisations that we work with in Sheffield and beyond.

Thank you to our hard-working staff, including our student staff and our Students’ Union Officers.

And thank you to our student members – you are the Students’ Union.

THANKS