I hope you are all doing well in the first semester of this academic year. I am writing to give you an update on myself and my role. I have made the decision to step down as your Students’ Union President.

This was not an easy decision to make by any means and I have put a lot of thought into it. I have been struggling with being in a leading, reactive, and political role recently, and although I have received support from the Union, I know the right decision for myself is to leave the role and seek something less intense. I am so grateful to have been able to study at Leeds Beckett and be an Officer at the Students’ Union as well.

These last 15 months at LBSU have taught me so much, and I have really enjoyed representing you and getting to know you. My decision to step down will mean truly putting myself and my well-being first, which is something that can be difficult for many of us to do. Although this can be hard, it can help us to feel better and prioritise what we truly need for our mental health.

I so am thankful for all the support in my decision so far. I would like to take this time to thank the rest of the Officer Team and colleagues from LBSU for their kind words and encouragement. There have been so many highlights from my time being a student officer, but these are just a few I would like to share with you:
 

• Conducted research on Student Safety and Spiking with 300 students that led to the inclusion of spiking in the Student Code of Conduct
   
• Participated in the city-wide Ask for Angela project working group and implemented the scheme at The Hive bars 
   
• Lobbied nationally with the Northern Students’ Union Network for increased student support to help with the Cost of Living Crisis
   
• Gave a TEDx Talk on reducing waste and promoted LBSU’s Zero Waste shop at the LBU Sustainability Countdown Conference 
   
• Ran two student advisory groups to gather feedback on student mental health to support the University’s application for the Student Minds Mental Health Charter 
   
• Represented Leeds Beckett students at the NUS National Conference with other delegates 
   
• Co-created the University’s Student Sex Worker Toolkit for staff and students with a focus on prioritising students’ wellbeing

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I know that the work of the SU will continue, standing up for students and supporting them to achieve their ambitions at Leeds Beckett and beyond. If you need to contact your SU for support, the details of the SU officer team are available here. I wish you all the best in your studies and your time to come here at Leeds Beckett.

Lucy x