VOTE EMMA FOR SPORTS

                                                                                                                     Providing a voice for all

About me

I'm Emma and I'm a Third year Law with Social Sciences student

Spends all her time playing and organising sport rather than studying

I have played in national competitions for both football and table tennis

I have a keen interest in racket sports, cycling, ice skating and dance

Once took part in a World Record attempt when I was 5 but failed miserably.

@emmacbirch  #emma4sports @voteemmaforsports

Experience

President of Warwick Table Tennis 2020/2021 and 2021/2022

Worked closely with Warwick Sport and the SU for 2 years

Worked with other sports execs to organise charity and social events

Led a campaign in July 2020 to raise £700 for the NHS

Priorities

1. Tackling welfare and social issues

• I will take steps to protect minorities on campus and in sport.
• I want to be a voice for those who have experienced discrimination and bullying
• I will lobby for the SU to put measures into place to protect students from spiking

2. Putting the clubs first

• Feedback portal
• Fairer session and circle allocations
• More support for execs

3. Making sport accessible to everyone

• Lobbying for an individual hardship fund. Sport should be accessible to everyone.

4. Greater transparency and communication

• Transparency of Warwick Sport’s spending
• Termly meetings between presidents and Sports officer

5. Clearer organisation

• A calendar of events per term

6. Improved community 

• A 24-hour charity event in collaboration with club execs
• Collaboration between clubs on sustainability projects.

1. Tackling Welfare and Social Issues

• Sexism in sport – Yes. it still exists. The BOAR reported in October that 57% of girls and 27% of guys said they have experienced sexism in sport at Warwick. ANY sexism is unacceptable. I want to lobby for stronger sanctions for sexism and expand the remit of report and support. I want to be a source of support and create an environment in which victims of sexism, or any form of discrimination can feel comfortable to come forward.
• Talks to combat attitudes – illustrating sporting scenarios e.g., locker room banter. Ensuring that people can identify sexist and homophobic attitudes.
• Anti-spiking campaign – I want to work with Warwick women to ensure concrete promises from the SU regarding their plan for a ban on spiking.
• More sports offering LBGTQ+ sessions.
• Lobby NGBS around trans policies in sport.
• Expand the Ally Scheme – I want to continue the current scheme, but I want to make it more accessible and known. Clubs should advertise their nominated ‘allies’ to its members so students know who to contact for support.
• Being a voice for those who have experienced discrimination and bullying, holding perpetuators to account.

2. Putting the Sports Clubs First

• Fairer session allocations – Warwick Sport should ensure all clubs receive at least 2 of their requested time slots in their requested locations. We pay a lot of money for sport; we should have suitable time slots and venues.
• We need a fairer system for circle allocations – the current system left many clubs and societies without circle space. As a compromise, some clubs could have fewer circling weeks to allow for other clubs to have circling allocations too.
• Feedback portal – a feedback portal for clubs to report any issues. I would then raise the issues from the portal with Warwick sport.
• Alternative to hire cars - the Uni stopping clubs from hiring cars has made transport difficult, and for clubs who have to transport boats, bikes etc it is impractical. I will lobby for transport to be easier for clubs – increase in parking-permits may reduce costs for clubs transporting bulky equipment.
• Clubs given an estimate of club grants – Club grants often are given to clubs approx. week 3, weeks after clubs plan their budget. It is difficult to clubs to prepare and plan their spending when they don’t know how much their grant will be. Clubs should be given an estimate of their club grant or even a minimum that they will be given.It may also be an idea to have grants per term as spending situations change.
• Hold AKUMA to account – they have not achieved their average-turnaround times this year – I’d also chase up Akuma orders, on behalf of the execs who ordered kit. Possible to make an agreement with Akuma to hold stock in SU.
• More effective exec training and exec support – I will ensure that all exec members feel equipped for their role. Execs from each role should attend in-person practical exec training tailored to their role. I’d also like to encourage communication between exec members of different clubs doing the same roles.

3. Making sport accessible to everyone

• An individual hardship fund – aimed at students from low socio-economic backgrounds and students who come from neighbourhoods where there is low progression to higher education.

• Termly passes for students who are only at Warwick for certain terms.

4. Greater transparency and communication

• Termly meetings between sports officer and presidents – discuss issues, suggestions for improvement that I can raise with WS/SU.
• Transparency of Warwick Sport’s spending and how they calculate grants
• Cohesion within the SU office – ensuring effective communication in the office. Everyone should be aware of the same rules and procedures and who is in charge of what, so students can be directed to the correct person.

5. Clearer Organisation

• Calendar for main events across term - sports clubs can put their main events on this calendar which will help them to   attract and retain membership.
• 2-day sports day – sports day is super popular, loads of sports are going on, but there is little time to try out a lot of sports, especially when many are overlapped. Putting sports day over 2 days, separating sports clubs between the 2 days allows students to have more time to try out sports and have a better idea of which clubs they want to join.
• A back-up plan for events if covid-19 disrupts original plans.

6 Improved Community

• Workshops on careers in sport

• Contactless payments all around campus e.g., the Pool Tables
• Organise a 24hr charity event – I want to organise 24hr charity event in collab with charity execs- 24hr events are great but they always fall on the exec’s shoulders. I want to take the pressure off execs and work with them to organize a 24hr event for charity.
• A website for the TEAMWARWICK community which publicises BUCS scores and non-BUCS scores, livestreams matches and records of charity totals for clubs.
• Increasing Team Warwick’s online presence on social media – promoting sporting achievements of big and small clubs and Supporting campaigns.
• Collaboration between clubs on sustainability projects.
• For clubs who have to provide meals after matches for their opponents – suggest a price reduction at SU outlets. This will encourage clubs to provide business to the SU outlets, rather than going to cheaper places, as well as reduce club costs.
• Put Warwick on the sporting map – We have the space and facilities, so I want to organise more professional sporting competitions at the Uni. E.g., a professional racketlon tournament. I will actively approach NGBs to encourage more events to be hosted at Warwick.

VOTE EMMA FOR SPORTS

Providing a voice for all

                                                                                                   #emma4sports  @VoteEmma4sports    @emmacbirch                       

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