Last Friday the results were announced for our Student Union’s new Full-Time Officers. They will fulfil these roles for the 2025-2026 academic year. It was a tense election for our new Activities Officer, with the vote share going all the way into the final round quota. Emily Woods was the candidate who pulled through, however, with 51% of the total vote share!
Emily’s Role
You may be wondering what our Activities Officer actually oversees- I’d be glad to break it down for you.
They are the primary representative for societies, sports, student media, and recreational groups. This includes being the primary liaison between staff, society exec and members, and sports teams on all matters relating to training, facilities, and funding. They act as the lead officer in both the Societies and Sports sub-committees.
They are also involved crucially in the successful delivery of Roses, which, in 2026, will be both the competitions’ 60th anniversary and hosted at home, hence the widely-noted slogan #BringRosesHome in the manifestos of the Activities Officer candidates.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Emily about her winning campaign, the steps she is going to take towards kicking her manifesto into action, and her plans for celebration.
What was the most enjoyable part of your campaign?
Emily enjoyed taking part in candidate questions, saying that “it was the part [she] was most scared to do”, but it did help develop her personal skills, “like public speaking”. This boost in her confidence evidently supported her campaign well!
What did you find more challenging?
“The whole week in general.” She continued by saying it got “quite tiring” being out on the campaign trail for “six hours a day”. It was, however, long days aside, “obviously really great” to Emily to be given the chance to spread her manifesto. She pointed particularly towards lectures, at the beginning of which many candidates could be seen giving short speeches.
Your manifesto emphasised diversity and accessibility. Why are these so important to you?
Emily seeks to lobby for a better Student Access Fund because “it was the reason why [she] was able to play netball”, which was “such a big part of [her] uni experience” through which she met “so many of [her] friends.”
“I am autistic myself,” she said, when I asked about making sports more accessible, and she really wants to “provide student leaders with that training” to make it happen, which is a promising statement for neurodivergent individuals particularly at Lancaster.
What are the first steps you are going to take towards achieving that?
She emphasised “talking to different people and getting different opinions” when saying how she plans to implement accessibility measures. These measures are what she “wants to continue to base [her] tenure on”.
“I’m gonna look at designing some sort of place we can implement the training”, she also said, evidently interested in setting time apart for student leaders to receive the relevant training. Inclusivity in societies and sports was at the heart of Emily’s campaign. Now, it is clear she has no intention of undervaluing it through her time in office.
How are you going to celebrate tonight?
Naturally, Emily said that she will be “definitely in Sugar”- there is no better place to celebrate with all of your friends! As well as this, she aimed to “get a photo with one of [her] banners, that [her] lovely friend Grace painted.” Hopefully she managed to capture one of those banners in all its glory and had the best time, too, after her victory.
Once again, congratulations to Emily and to all of the other successful candidates- I’m very excited to see what your time in office will bring ❤️
To find out more about Emily’s goals and objectives as Activities Officer, you can read her full manifesto here: Candidate_Manifestos_LUSU_Elections_2025.pdf
And to keep up with For Students By Students news, be sure to check out our website and social media.
Twitter: @SCANLU
Instagram: @scanlancaster
TikTok: @SCANLancaster
