Label interviewed your Rag Section Chair candidates and here’s what they had to say!
Hettie Bawden
What are the main points of your manifesto?
- I would like to increase opportunities for students to fundraise for charities of their choice, this would involve looking into the possibility of three peaks or an on campus tough mudder.
- I would also extend the rag family to postgraduate and college students, both in Loughborough and London, giving them opportunities to get involved in bucket collections and for external challenges.
- Build up on the amazing collaborative efforts that we already have within rag and further develop our collaborations with other sections of the union.
- I would also improve reps handover and training.
What experience do you have which makes you suitable for the role?
I’ve got experience both at rag at the university and rag in voluntary positions. I started off as a hall rep for Harry French and won becoming oncoming hall rep that year which was amazing. I then became team leader for the London to Paris project so I have experience supporting teams and supporting their fundraising and presenting to groups. Most recently I’ve been elected as internal events coordinator onto Rag committee, which has given me a wealth of experience when it comes to organising events and the technicalities of it all. Throughout my three years I’ve been involved in very much every aspect of Rag.
What project is your favourite?
That would definitely be London to Paris, just because of the atmosphere on the ride and it’s great for all abilities; whether you’re a professional triathlete or you haven’t ridden a bike in years, everyone just came together and it was completely amazing regardless of ability.
What project would you like to promote and why?
I’d love to bring on campus Tough Mudder to Loughborough, we’ve got the facilities and the land for it and you know we could play on words calling in Lough Mudder? I think it’s something that’s really fun, it can be a very small fundraising target so it still engages students without a huge commitment to it.
We’ve had new trips this year, but with budget cuts, how will you keep those alive alongside the old trips and events?
We don’t rely massively on union budget for the bulk of our fundraising, which is external challenges, a lot of that doesn’t come directly through us and so we don’t need union support. We’ve got a very established system so funding for that needs to be very low. The main impact would be for our internal events which is where we do have to use our budget to make events fun and engaging. Something that we could look into if thinking about the long term could be that rather than renting out equipment, we could invest in equipment so that in years to come if budget is further cut, then we would already have all the equipment that we need for our core events.
If you were a biscuit, what biscuit would you be?
I’d be a jammy dodger, because I like the idea that you can have a standard outside but fun in the middle!
Ash Hanson
What are the main points of your manifesto?
- To have a complete plan in place by freshers to ensure all events reach their full potential
- To improve the counting system so that volunteers receive their totals on time
- To provide opportunities for students to get employed in the charity sector
What experience do you have which makes you suitable for the role?
I started as a hall rep and have been on Rag committee for two years now; on Rag committee I learned from Asha and Maz – what to do, and what no to do.
What project is your favourite?
Fireworks, the amount of set up that it takes and the feeling when it all goes well is fantastic!
What project would you like to promote and why?
A lot of people don’t realise we’re running tough mudder and three peaks this year, one of the things I’d like to do is gives those a push and get people on them.
We’ve had new trips this year, but with budget cuts, how will you keep those alive alongside the old trips and events?
In terms of cost – we don’t run trips ourselves, so it doesn’t cost us too much, but we need to make sure we properly train our team leaders; trips fail because people don’t recruit. To help with this, I would give more extensive training to team leaders, they receive some – I don’t think it’s currently enough.
If you were a biscuit, what biscuit would you be?
Custard crème!
