Candidate 1
I have 3 main aims to strive for to improve Rag for all students:
- Where does your fundraising go?
- I want to increase transparency between students and charities so YOU know what the fundraised money goes towards and who it benefits.
- To inform where money that YOU helped raise from campus events such as the Colour Dash and Fireworks Extravaganza, goes and who it helps.
- Access to information about challenges.
- I want to make it easier for YOU to find out information about the internal and external challenges that Rag recruit for.
- I plan to do this by designing a new LSU Rag website where information on these challenges is easy to find and sign-up instructions are easy to follow.
- This gives easier access to information for College and Postgraduate students (Loughborough and London) as getting them more involved in Rag would be one of my top priorities if elected as Rag executive officer.
- I want hall reps to know how many sign ups to challenges their hall has. This will create competition between halls so see who can get the most which increases participation in Rag overall.
- Make Rag more accessible to YOU.
- I plan to encourage hall reps to set up their own specialised hall charity events (like Royce’s annual Royce 100 where students from outside Royce get involved in).
- These events can be advertised to other halls and to college and postgraduate students to increase the variety of events they can get involved in.
Candidate 2
I want to pair Rag’s success with our changing demographic. Across Loughborough, participation has been down but by reaching a wider audience, ensuring participants’ satisfaction, and improving the way we fundraise, we can hit the £1,000,000 mark every year.
Reach
Historically, a number of groups have not been given enough attention. By targeting these students through Departments and the College we can increase engagement and get more individuals into Rag:
- Incentivise Department Committees through Department of the Year scoring.
- Award extra points for Postgrads and International student involvement.
- Assign a Rag Committee member to DSF to guide their Reps.
- Implement a College raid, Choose-a-Challenge, and a regular Rag slot in the College.
Satisfaction
Every student who gets involved should want to come back for more. In order to keep our students happy, I want to demonstrate my appreciation by showcasing their achievements and gaining them employment:
- Publish monthly “Top Fundraisers” to recognise individuals.
- Design SF Stash earlier to advertise Raid rewards.
- Share Charity Internships through Rag social media.
- Run workshops on Events, Bucket Collecting, and Rag for CVs.
Fundraising
Improving the way we raise money to better fit our Union will increase totals and overall enjoyment:
- Write “Starter Packs” for Reps and Team Leaders using past experience to help them succeed.
- Make films on Bucket Collecting to help fundraisers and demonstrate the fun of Raids.
- Promote local collections to Halls and Departments.
- Introduce an online event proposal form with drop-in sessions for students to create brand new innovative events.
Candidate 3
Online Rag Calendar:
I believe having a digital Calendar which students can view what events are on will allow for more people to get involved with the section by giving them time to plan.
Upping Hall run Rag events:
I want to improve this by actively trying to encourage and helping in the organization of events in halls. This could be done by sharing successfully events other halls have run and by introducing a reports about events halls have tried.
Have a form of feedback for students:
An online feedback form or a rating system with a suggestion box would mean as section, Rag would be able to tailor the events organised better to what students want.
Have raids go to better places:
I propose a change in how we book Rag raids. I believe we should stick to big cities and lean more towards 2 day events were students go the night before they collect money, then they are free to do what they want (go out if that’s what they wish) and then the next day they collect for charity and head home.
Increase connections with other sections of the union:
I believe Rag can improve if it uses other sections of the union to help with new events. Examples of this could be using Sports by organising a 5 a side football tournament for charity or running events specifically for the college to get them more involved.
R.O.N.
Hi, I’m R.O.N and I stand for Re-open nominations. It’s my job to make sure you’re aware of candidate shortcomings. If you don’t feel that the candidates are applicable to the role, have a read of MY manifesto, and vote R.O.N.
Below are the main critiques made from the candidate’s manifestos. These should hopefully lead to a greater explanation of their points, or their retraction if the candidates realise they are a false promise to the student population and not possible in the role.
Candidate 1
The manifesto shows a clear structure of the candidate’s aims. However, does show a lack of understanding of current systems in place.
- Transparency has featured in manifestos for years, highlighting that total transparency is possibly not achievable. Candidate does not identify how they intend to improve it.
- A new website is not possible if Rag are to follow the unions brand and data capture system. An unrealistic suggestion which has been explained to the candidate previously.
- Creating competition between halls for international sign ups is not original, this is currently in place for next year and the candidate is aware of this.
Candidate 2
A very detailed manifesto presented by the candidate. However, appears to lack originality.
- Candidate identifies existing procedures within Rags structure and committee roles as a means of engagement, and has failed to identify an original way of targeting student demographics.
- Rag historically has been developing its relationship with the College, Raids have been organised, and Rag already present what’s available to college students. No acknowledgement of some age restrictions.
- Incentives lack an understanding of budget restrictions.
- The manifesto fails to mention aspects of Rag other than bucket collections. No mention of international treks that make up nearly 2/3rds of the total.
Candidate 3
The candidate suggests some good ideas. However, others seem insignificant and perhaps do not show a deeper understanding of the section.
- Despite encouragement, the Rag E.O. does not have control over hall run events, hall budgets may not allow for this and may disadvantage some halls.
- Rag actively works with sections of the union. The candidate fails to show an understanding of current internal relations.
- Candidate shows a lack of understanding of raid procedures and bookings. Suggested change would require mass expense to the section with no return on investment. Multi day raids will also limit participation due to course/extra curricular commitments.
