Victoria Phillips is running for Furness Socials and Events Officer. In our interview, she stated that she wants to raise awareness for different events so that freshers know how to get involved and thinks that having a small college is an advantage to give people many opportunities to socialise together.
She doesn’t drink, and can appeal to all students, and is open to all suggestions for events. She wants to emphasise that you can go on socials and not drink and acknowledges that virtual events give people that choice. She would also like to expand the range of non-drinking activities, such as hosting a café crawl around Lancaster.
Victoria is very enthusiastic and was awarded the title of ‘Social Butterfly’ by Furness netball team. She is open to any suggestions and criticism about different events and wants to engage with students to find out what appeals to them and what exactly they would like to see.
Victoria’s first priority is student safety, as she understands that even if lockdown measures were relaxed, people might still feel anxious about going to public places and wants to prioritise students feeling safe socialising above anything else. If measures do relax, she would use the TV room and apply social distancing measures, as well as making beloved Furness bar Trevor a safe place to hang out. Due to the Coronavirus crisis, it is possible that the university will be working remotely for the next academic year, and she is preparing for online activities such as virtual games nights and Netflix parties for students. She would like to utilise Zoom meetings with the Furness JCR alongside virtual Netflix and games nights, which would allow students to still approach the JCR about different issues, as ‘it’s not just about the events, it’s about being social’, and wants to work closely with the welfare team and to continuously raise awareness for mental health, especially in the current crisis.
She plans to use social media and work closely with the Media and Communications officer to take polls on what events students would like to see and what themes the Trev quiz could have. She would like to increase the cultural events, such as theming the Trev quiz with themes such as Black History Month and LGBTQ+ Pride.
Victoria will work closely with the other JCR members, and has plans to hand around the college Facebook and Instagram account to connect with the students. She would like to have a video made of all JCR members addressing the college so that they aren’t always just behind screens, as she wants the members to be more approachable to the students.
As an academic representative, it has built up her confidence and allowed her to work with people in authority and wants to be approachable and honest.
She would like to organise Netflix parties for the college on a regular basis and would host polls which would allow students to vote for which movies or genres they would like to see. She also understands that people can’t commit to full movies sometimes, and would expand options to increase various episodes from different series, and wants students to participate in the organisation of events, to hopefully increase turnout and help people feel part of the college community.
