Interview with Megan Rea - Welfare Officer

Part of our Elected Officers Series

What is your name and what did you study/are you studying at UCLan?

I’m Meg, and I just finished my degree in psychology 😊 I’m now VP Welfare at the SU

What is your role in the Student Union?

My role in the SU is VP (vice-president) Welfare, so I represent students on all things related to welfare and well-being, so this includes accessibility, mental health, physical health, accommodation e.t.c.

It’s a really varied role 😊

Why did you choose to get involved in Student Government?

I got involved in student government as a course rep, and on society development committee in my 2nd year at uni because I thought I would be good at fairly representing student’s views. From there, I kept getting more and more involved in the SU and ended up running for the VP welfare role because I saw how many issues there were for students and wanted to try my best to make change within the uni/union 😊

What are your main goals for the 2020/21 academic year?

My main goal for the 2020/21 year is honestly to make it through the year, with COVID, everything is changing constantly so I’m just trying to make sure all students are considered within all the changes.

Besides that I’m trying to introduce free first aid, reduce waiting times for counselling, increase accessibility in union activities and events e.t.c.

Who is your disabled role model?

My disabled role model would probably be Lauren Potter, the actress 😊

How are you going to use your position to support disabled students?

As previously mentioned, one of my goals in to making the union fully accessible for everyone, so I will be supporting disabled students in that way. Also, I’m planning on doing a survey or focus group throughout the year to find out how I can best support disabled students and making sure students are aware of what support services are available. Also, if any disabled students have any concerns or issues, they are always welcome to bring those to me and I’ll do as much as I can to help 😊

If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing at UCLan, what would it be and why?

I would make students aware of everything the SU offers – we have the advice centre, report an support, big ideas, sports, societies, volunteering, communities e.t.c – because many students don’t know these services are there and will try and take concerns and worries on themselves when there is a whole union full of people who want to help.

By the end of the year, one thing you want to have achieved is…

By the end of the year, I want to know that I have done all I can to help students. Realistically, a lot of the problems students have are not going to be solved in just one year, but as long as I leave having taken steps in the right direction and left things a little bit better than it was when I started, I’ll be happy 😊

What message would you want to give new students at UCLan for 2020?

Try not to worry about things you can’t control – a lot of things are up in the air at the minute, not just in uni but in everyone’s personal lives too. It’s scary times, but my best advice would be to take it day by day. Bad times won’t last forever.