Guild Council,
Unfortunately I’ve written down this speech word for word, and unfortunately this speech probably won’t be as inspirational or political as some of my team mates, despite Ed sending me “40 inspirational speeches in 2minutes” last night! As the sabbs know, I tend to leave the camera or radio spotlight to them as I know my strengths lie in the organising side of things!
But this is my leaving speech and hopefully you won’t be too disappointed. I don’t really want to talk about what I have achieved this year, as ultimately, I have publicised what I have been working on, and you are the ones to say what was or wasn’t an achievement. As for my highlights, if you caught the slide show at the beginning, that just about starts to scratch the surface of my amazing experience at the Guild!
There are quite a few individual students and student groups that I would like to thank, but I feel I should do this in person, those of you that are here, I hope you don’t mind.
There have been tough times in this job, however students have always given me the strength to carry on. Whether it be through watching a breathtaking and professional performance, a small thank you note from a group for something I hadn’t thought twice about doing, seeing students mobilise for extremely worthy causes, such as fundraising for Haiti or campaigning in the Flashmob, seeing an article celebrating our students, or reading the Guild Awards nominations you wrote for each other…I have been blown away by your passion and dedication. There isn’t any way I could start summing up how I feel about the groups and their activities, especially not in 10 minutes, so I will have to speak to you individually. But I will say the standard of talent and the generosity of our students is absolutely unbelievable and I have felt enormous pride in representing you this year. Thank you for making my year so wonderful.
I don’t particularly want to use this time to talk about negative things, as this should be a celebration of the year, but there are a couple of things that I feel quite strongly about.
I’ve made it no secret that I don’t feel the University fully appreciates and recognises the work that you do. They shouldn’t just be pulling out a stat about how many volunteers we have, or what national achievement one of our groups has achieved when it suits, they should be sat watching those performances, and meeting our students that selflessly devote their time to help others. This is something all the team have been working hard on this year, and I really think it is starting to get through to them. Just this morning the Vice Chancellor sent an all staff email about the Alumni Reunions which took place on Saturday and the Community Day which took play yesterday, saying
Both the Alumni Reunion and the Community Day benefitted enormously from the involvement of the Guild and our Students. Their pride in the University and their willingness to support and promote it was exemplary and deeply appreciated.
We do have some key allies at the University, people championing your work and celebrating all of your achievements, and to them I am extremely grateful for their support.
To those students who are angry and bitter towards the guild. Take a step back. Look at the guild for what it is – a not for profit organisation that does it’s best for students. It can be frustrating, it’s not always clear why we have certain rules, and we don’t always get it right, but without the guild, this campus and our students would be unbelievably worse off. Please, don’t complain and criticise without offering suggestions or getting involved to make a difference. This is a wonderful organisation, with dedicated staff that go above and beyond their job description. This organisation is hugely under resourced for what it manages to achieve and I am extremely proud of all the work it does. Give the guild a break and enjoy it while it lasts, because you will probably never encounter such a great and well-intentioned organisation again, which is devoted to enhancing your experience.
I’m not really allowed to go into detail about staff, but there are a few things I would like to say. I will thank many of the staff individually at a later date, as right now, I just can’t find the words to describe how lovely they have been to work with, and how much I have appreciated their support. Obviously the department I have worked closest with is Student Development, and it’s safe to say everything I have worked on this year – you can guarantee there was unfaltering support and help from them. For any of you who come into regular contact with them – please say thank you, as unintentionally, I think their hard work and passion sometimes go unrecognised.
The marketing department have had to put up with me a lot this year, asking for one thing after another, but they have never once said no, they have produced materials and support of a fantastic standard, and they always have managed to stay good humoured at the busiest of times!
On a very personal level, there are members of staff that have been real inspirations to me, and I have continuously been amazed at their unfailing dedication, calm and reasoned thought in the face of challenge, and excellent management styles.
Thank you to all the Guild staff.
Now to my fellow team mates.
Fordy has had a tough year, and I hope she doesn’t mind me saying. It’s not easy to be a sabb that is completely split between two different organisations and I’ve realised that I didn’t take the time to fully understand her remit and I didn’t support her enough at the beginning of the year. I think Fordy initially found it difficult to get to grips with how the Guild works, but she is a very commited and passionate about her job. Her commitment to healthy living and sport participation, instead of just the elite few, is really amazing. Fordy is extremely kind, has never forgotten her roots, and has been a much needed member of this team. Fordy has always been someone I can rely on for a rant, advice, or a gossip, and I will really miss talking through the wall to you.
Johnny. I don’t think I have ever met anyone as determined as Johnny. Whatever Johnny believes in, he will fight for it until he has absolutely no options left. Johnny managed to achieve manifesto points before training had even finished. We recently had an appraisal, and he took the feedback on board and very openly and noticeably made steps to improve and develop. Johnny is also the first person to run for re-election, and he got it. Johnny has been less than shy of making his point heard and this is the sort of determination we need in the Guild. I know it won’t be an easy few months for you. But I wish you all the best with the new officer team, and I have every confidence in you. New team – you are gaining an excellent team mate.
Brigid. During the election I talked to a student who has never been involved in Guild politics. They said they would be voting for Brigid despite knowing the other candidate a bit better. This was because of the numerous emails that filled up his inbox from Brigid as her role as Guild Councillor, informing students of motions, asking for feedback and a steer on how to vote in Guild Council. This student never replied to the emails, and I doubt ever actually read the motions, but this sums up Brigid – completely dedicated to representing students and taking a lot of time and effort, on doing her job to the best of her ability. I have been truly inspired by her commitment to the guild, and she has been an excellent Sabbatical this year.
Ed. I don’t want to inflate Ed’s ego too much, but unfortunately as much as it pains me to say it, I have a great deal of respect for him. Ed may be very short, but this year I have really looked up to him, he is an excellent leader, an excellent champion for students, and is an excellent Sabb. He is an inspirational speaker, confident, and will never back down about what believes in. It has been fantastic working with him this year.
Tom. Tom and I have had an interesting relationship this year, we’ve had our ups and downs, but I have a great deal of respect for him. Tom is very black and white about what is right and wrong, which although I may not always agree, I admire his honesty and openness. Pragmatic and practical, Tom always has very sound advice. VPDR isn’t an easy job at all, dealing with complaints, criticism, incidents and disciplinary isn’t a pleasant thing to wake up to and come into work for, but Tom does, and he doesn’t ever complain about it.
Fab. When we first came together as a team, in all honesty I wasn’t sure what sort of President Fabian would be as he seemed quite a big softy. I was wrong to doubt him and I have learnt so much from him. You don’t always need to bulldoze in hot headed when things go wrong or don’t go to plan, and Fabian manages to get the relationships spot on – he can have a quiet word to gently persuade, but can also be very firm about what needs to happen. When I have needed him, he has never let me down. Someone to cry on, someone to banter and someone to confide in, Fabian is one of the most genuine, caring and passionate people I know, and has been the best leader I could have hoped for. He has kept this team together, and I am extremely proud to have been part of his team.
This job is emotionally and physically draining, everyday you feel guilt if you don’t stay that extra hour. My biggest fear has been that I’m not doing a good enough job, and that I will let down my team, the staff, and most important, the students. If you ask any close family, friend or even colleague of any of the team, I think at times they have all been a bit worried about us and told us to go home, turn off that blackberry, or take some time off!
But I have a lot to be thankful for. I can vouch for every single member of this team – we live and breathe this job, we thrive off it, especially the tough times, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Not many of you will know that at Christmas I decided that I was going to re-run. I confided in one person in particular, and he dropped everything to encourage me to do it. He knows who he is, and he has been the most supportive friend I could have asked for this year – Thank you. After spending a week at home away from Birmingham, I realised how exhausted I was after just one term. I realised the time, energy and emotion I was putting into this job couldn’t be sustained, and I would run the risk of not doing the best possible job in my second year. I don’t want to leave, I want to stay and continue making a difference to people’s lives and experiences, but I know it’s time to move on. Being in this position is a real honour and a privilege – the amount of responsibility, the ability to make differences to students, and hopefully being a good leader.
Hopefully I have made a positive impact on the students at this university, directly or indirectly, but in a few years time I know I’ll just be another name on this wall.
So for that reason I want to round up my speech by talking about my successor, Matt Lamb, the future. Your enthusiasm and commitment since being elected has astounded me, I know you are extremely passionate about this job and very excited for it to start. It’s not easy to hand over something you love, but I will do my best and I will see it as my last chance to make a difference to students.
Some advice I do want to give to you now though – relationships are key. You can’t get away with telling the University what you think of them or what to do, if you haven’t first got to know how they operate, who your key allies are and how to talk to them. You can’t push the Guild staff for that extra extra favour if you haven’t thanked them and appreciated them for the last time you asked for a favour. You won’t have your team mates stood by your side for your campaign if you don’t stand by theirs. You won’t be able to both discipline and champion your members if you haven’t spent time getting to know them or gaining their trust and respect. But everyone I have spoken to who knows you have said you are a genuinely great guy, so I know you will be able to do all these things. Good Luck to matt, and good luck to all the incoming team.
I have done my best, but it will never be enough. I just hope I haven’t let down those who I ran against in the election, my fellow team mates, the guild staff who work tirelessly behind the scenes, those students who voted for me and those who were lumbered with me, and of course, my amazing student groups.
Thank you for the most challenging but amazing year, that I don’t want to be over.
