With Xmas now over with I noticed that a Sabb or two have been posting roundups of their last term. And I thought it was a good idea I'm stealing it and posting one myself. Ha.

First things first...Happy Xmas!

It's slightly belated but I did send out an emails, FB message and a tweet to all of our members on Xmas day - that definitely counts. :) I hope that you all had a good Xmas and that you enjoy the rest of your holidays.

Successes of last term

Through the LGBTQ Association, my work as Officer, and with the help of the Guild, University friend groups and local/national organisations we:

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• Improved our visibility and awareness of support for LGBTQ students by door-knocking in Welcome Week.
• Put on a good stall at the Societies Fair in Welcome Week, where free hugs from lesbians were provided.
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• Ran an epic Freshers' barcrawl.
• Adopted a more friendly policy regarding the National Blood Service with the "Give Blood Because We Can't" campaign.
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• Put on hugely successful weekly Coffee/Befriending afternoons for our members, which promotes a friendly and comfortable environment.
• Organised events forums and participation in committee meetings for our members.
• Ran regular film nights which were evidentally quite popular.
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• Ran a joint Faith/Sexuality event with the Chaplaincy.
• Built up a good relationship with the Methodist Chaplain, MethSoc and AngSoc.
• Encouraged group outings with our members to the Birmingham Gay Scene ("Gay Thursdays").
• 
• Encouraged group outings to events run by a wide range of societies, acknowledging the diversity of our students.
• Took part in World AIDS Day, raising crucial awareness and funds for HIV charities.
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• Volunteered to join the St. Basil's Sleepout to raise awareness and funds for LGBT* homelessness.
• Arranged outings to events at the SHOUT Festival of LGBT Culture.
• Organised a candle vigil for Transgender Day of Remembrance.
• 
• Engaged in various campaigns and protests against the BNP, the increase in tuition fees etc.
• Had various interviews with RedBrick.
• Ran an Xmas quiz to wrap up our non-club night events for the term.
• 

On top of that the LGBTQ has had a full and diverse committee this term, and has improved the website and other forms of online media and contact methods.

Points for improvement

After talking with a few of our members, I think that some things that could use some more attention (from both myself and the Association) include:

• Focus on Sexual Health and necessary provisions - we've focused mainly on the personal/social aspect of sexuality/gender; next term will see improvements in this area.
• Better event planning - there's been a lot of last minute organisation and I'm keen to see that this ends with term 1.
• More campaigning - I kicked off my flagship campaign last term and that will be in full swing by mid term 2.

More specific plans are being formulated and will follow shortly.

Special Thanks

The accomplishments of last term could not not have been possible without the help of Kitten and the LGBTQ Committee, some of our more active members, the Chaplaincy/MethSoc/AngSoc, Counselling Service, E&D RockSoc, MetalSoc, Sci-fi Soc, the Officer Team, the Birmingham LGBT Community Trust to name a few. Thanks for all your help and I look forward to working with you in the new year.

Happy new year.