WELCOME!
Congratulations on being elected to your society committee! The next year promises to be a really exciting
one for you and your society. You will gain tremendous new skills that will be great for the future, while at
the same time taking your society forward to do new and exciting things!
There will no doubt be some challenges you have to face, but always remember that LSU and SocFed in
particular are here to help you.
This document has been put together to give you a few key pointers to things that you need to know. It is by
no means a complete list of everything, but it’s a start. It will be posted online as well, and more detailed
information will also go there – all under http://www.lufbra.net/societies/essentialdocs
If you can’t find what you’re looking for or have any questions at all, contact your SocFed President (Nicholas
Bosworth 2001-2012 – socfed@lufbra.net ) or SocFed Administrator (Catherine Ashton – permanent staff –
catherineashton@lufbra.net)
Never be afraid to come and ask for help!
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ABOUT LSU - YOUR STUDENTS UNION
Loughborough Students’ Union is an organisation that is run by students for students. LSU represents the
students of Loughborough University, Loughborough College and the RNIB College.
It is important to know that LSU is a separate organisation from Loughborough University and the Colleges.
As well as support from SocFed you will receive help from the Student Development Department which is there to help
with training and general advice.
Key contacts in LSU
SocFed President
- socfed@lufbra.net
SocFed Administrator
- catherineashton@lufbra.net
Student Development Manager
– sallydeller@student.lufbra.net
Deputy Student Development Manager
– jodyalexander@lufbra.net
Room bookings/vehicle hire etc Union Reception - reception@lufbra.net
LSU Venue enquiries
- sarahwarren@lufbra.net
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Volunteer Code of Conduct
This code of conduct sets out what you, as a volunteer can expect from Loughborough Students Union and what we
expect from you as a volunteer. Whilst your time is contributed freely, mutual support and reliability are expected.
As a Volunteer, you have the right to:
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Adequate guidance and advice to help you select the right volunteering opportunity for you.
A description of your role (Opportunity Profile) detailing what is expected of you, the estimated time
commitment involved, the skills you need /will gain, the training and support you can expect.
Not to be used to replace paid staff.
Safe working conditions.
Receive a relevant induction and on-going training.
Claim out of pocket expenses for previously agreed expenditure.
On-going reviews of your performance in your role, and the opportunity to raise concerns with the relevant
sabbatical officer or LSU staff member
To be heard. The University and Kent Union value your experience of volunteering and will explore any concerns
and suggestions made by yourself.
Ask LSU staff for references.
Not act against personal or moral stances.
Confidentiality. Your records and references will remain confidential.
Withdraw from volunteering at any time and not be made to feel guilty or pressured to continue as a volunteer.
You should, however, inform your sabbatical officer or LSU staff member of your decision to leave, and if
possible your reasons.
A chance to meet and work with other volunteers and staff.
The opportunity to develop important key skills that will help you in your future career
As a Volunteer, you have a responsibility to
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Choose your own volunteering role.
Agree to a level of commitment and uphold this commitment.
Respect others.
Recognise that you are a representative of the Loughborough Students Union while you are
volunteering.
Attend all mandatory training sessions and as many recommended ones as possible.
Inform the relevant persons with which you are volunteering if you are unable to attend, giving as
much notice as possible.
Look after your own safety. If you are attending an activity off campus, let someone know where
you are going and when you will be back.
Report any concerns you have in your role to the relevant member of LSU.
Ask for information or guidance if you are unsure of any aspect of your volunteering role.
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TRAINING & SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
To help you do the job you’ve been elected to do, LSU will run training sessions that you must attend, during the early
weeks after your election. These will include
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How to be an effective Chair
Treasurer Training
Effective Communication (for society secretaries)
Organising safe activities
Keeping your members involved and motivated
Planning your year
Food Hygiene and First Aid Training
Some of you may want to organise socials where you provide home-prepared food and at least one of the members
involved in the preparation mist hold a valid Food Hygiene Certificate – this is easy and quite cheap to obtain online.
Just go to www.food-certificate.co.uk and select Hygiene for Catering. The cost of the online course can be claimed
from your grant funding.
From time to time we arrange basic First Aid training (one full day) with an external trainer. Societies are always invited
to send a committee member along but there is a cost and that has to be borne by the society as with one or two ‘high
risk ‘exceptions e.g. Fever, few societies needs trained first aider for their activities. For more information contact the
SocFed office
Teambuilding
Occasionally some committees need a bit of extra support with teamworking – maybe a member has had to leave and a
new committee member has come on board and the team need to re-form. LSU is happy to run a short team-building
session for you (only an or two, so not too arduous!). For more information or to request a date, email
training@lufbra.net
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Using Your Website
Your Webpage is one of the best ways to show what you’re all about to your members so it’s important you keep it up
date and make it as user friendly as possible!
The website has a range of functions such as an event calendar, forums, and automatic weekly email, to learn more
about these get in touch with the SocFed office Every society should have the following on their webpage:
• Society name with a brief description
• Contact details of how they can get in touch with the committee to ask questions
• A related image / picture of an activity.
If you have an external webpage, you must:
• Include the Union logo, which links back to www.lubfra.ne t , this should also be of greater prominence than any
commercial sponsor.
Send Group E-mail
You can send an e-mail to all of your members, some of your members or just your fellow committee members.
To e-mail from this section you select the members you wish to email by clicking their name and moving them to the
‘Send to’ box. You can edit the title of your e-mail (it is automatically the name of your website). Type your email into
the main text box and then click ‘Send e-mail’. This feature helps committees to keep members up to date with what is
going on with your society.
Meetings
Committee Meetings
This is the committee’s chance to communicate with each other! This is where decisions are made and where
committee members should report progress to each other. They should take place fairly regularly.
Any committee member, who does not give apologies to the Secretary for 3 consecutive committee meetings should be
considered to have resigned their post.
All department student members are entitled to attend committee meetings and their opinions can be recorded in the
minutes. However, they will not be able to have a vote on any decision. Details of committee meetings should also be
made available to all members i.e. online or emailed to members. Non members are allowed to attend committee
meetings, but only by invitation from another committee member and they cannot vote on any decision. The secretary
should take minutes of every meeting and distribute these to the members.
General Meetings
These are meetings to which all student members of the department are invited. It is where any changes to the code of
conducts or to the committee need to be passed; it’s also an excellent way to discuss department issues with the
members
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Logo Policy
The LSU Corporate Image Policy exists to help to promote the Student’s Union. It works as a part of the Students’ Union
strategy to communicate clearly to our members and to identify which activities are not official Students’ Union’s
events.
Anything the department committee produces (posters, t shirts, flyers, presentations) MUST contain the Union’s logo
and the www.lufbra.net webpage.
The logo policy is available online, please read it here: Logo Policy
Please make sure you understand it, if you do not adhere to the logo policy you may be subject to a fine!
Organising Trips and Events
The way you organize trips and events can determine how successful the committee is! It is often these that members
remember! As well as being great fun, activities are a good way of getting your members more involved
Planning
Make sure you plan your event well in advance! You need to give yourselves time to not just organize the event properly
but also to publicise it to your members! The more time you give yourselves, the more likely it is to be successful!
You need to fill out a risk assessment for every event you organize, this is available online
http://www.lufbra.net/societies/essentialdocs/. You must submit this to the SocFed Administrator at least one week
before the event is due to take place.
If you need help publicising your event, then get in touch with the SocFed President.
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WHAT DOES A RISK ASSESSMENT LOOK LIKE?
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PLANNING METHODS
5 Ws and 2 Hs
Any time you’re thinking about running an event, stop and run through these questions:
WHY?
What is the purpose of doing the event? It might sound stupid but
some people plan events without knowing what they are trying to
achieve. Knowing what you’re trying to do, whether raising money
or for team bonding, gives you a definite goal to work towards.
WHAT?
What exactly are you going to do? Think deeply about the details
not just overarching summary of what the event is.
WHEN?
When in the calendar is the event going to take place? What day
and what time? When can have a massive effect on how well the
event performs. Conflicts with other events of placement at an
inappropriate time can be the difference between your event
being a success or failure.
WHERE? What’s your venue? Do people know their way there? Will you
need to signpost or make maps?
WHO?
Who is the event aimed at? And who are you going to call on to
help make the event a success?
HOW?
How are you going to reach your goal?
HOW
MUCH?
What is it going to cost? Is it going to make money? Are you going
to need to source funds to make it work?
By asking yourself these questions before you begin planning, you can map out a lot of factors you’ll need to consider in
the planning process
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THE EASY GUIDE TO RISK ASSESSMENTS
A hazard is anything that has the potential to cause harm (e.g. a slippery floor)
Risk is the likelihood of a hazard causing harm
Risk assessment involves:
 Identifying the hazards that could affect anyone involved in the specific activity
 Assessing the risk of the hazards occurring
 Evaluating the severity of the outcome
 Eliminating the hazards if possible, or else reducing them to the lowest level of risk that is reasonably practicable.
The main things you need to think of are:
 The nature of the hazard
 The likelihood of it occurring
 How often it may occur
 How the hazard could affect health and safety
 The environment e.g. lifting heavy weights could be more of a risk in a cold and wet environment
 The number of people who could be affected (members, general public etc)
 Potentially vulnerable people such as the young, elderly or disabled.
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STEPS TO RISK ASSESSMENT
1. Look for potential hazards
Think about what your club / group does and where it does it. Talk to fellow committee members and other members and see if
you or they can identify anything that could be dangerous or involve a degree of risk e.g. using worn equipment, moving or lifting
heavy equipment unsupervised, anything involving non-members, trips away, food preparation.
2. Work out who might be harmed by the hazard
This might be the person using the equipment, or members of the public who get hit by a piece of equipment.
3. Find ways to remove the hazard or at least reduce the level of risk
You may need to have warning notices to alert people to a risk e.g. possibility of nuts being in prepared foodstuffs, or issue
instructions that people should not undertake risky activities unsupervised. In extreme cases you may have to cease or at least
change the way something is done so the hazard is totally removed.
There is no point in identifying a hazard and finding a way to minimise it unless you make sure everyone who might be affected
knows about it!
4. Regularly review the procedures and update as required
Risk assessments must be checked at least annually (usually at committee changeover), and updated if necessary. In the event of
any incident or accident the risk assessment should be updated then. LSU will audit activities and risk assessments regularly and
randomly without notice.
REMEMBER – THERE ARE NO HARD AND FAST RULES FOR CARRYING OUT A RISK ASSESSMENT, YOU MUST CONSIDER
THE PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES.
IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, IT IS BASIC COMMONSENSE AND IT ISN’T SOMETHING TO BE SCARED OF. ALL YOU ARE
DOING IS TRYING TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF YOUR FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
LSU STAFF ARE AVAILABLE TO OFFER GUIDANCE AND ADVICE ON ASSESSING RISKS, SO PLEASE ASK FOR HELP IF YOU
NEED IT
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PLANNING METHODS
5 Ws and 2 Hs
Any time you’re thinking about running an event, stop and run through these questions:
WHY?
What is the purpose of doing the event? It might sound stupid but
some people plan events without knowing what they are trying to
achieve. Knowing what you’re trying to do, whether raising money
or for team bonding, gives you a definite goal to work towards.
WHAT?
What exactly are you going to do? Think deeply about the details
not just overarching summary of what the event is.
WHEN?
When in the calendar is the event going to take place? What day
and what time? When can have a massive effect on how well the
event performs. Conflicts with other events of placement at an
inappropriate time can be the difference between your event
being a success or failure.
WHERE? What’s your venue? Do people know their way there? Will you
need to signpost or make maps?
WHO?
Who is the event aimed at? And who are you going to call on to
help make the event a success?
HOW?
How are you going to reach your goal?
HOW
MUCH?
What is it going to cost? Is it going to make money? Are you going
to need to source funds to make it work?
By asking yourself these questions before you begin planning, you can map out a lot of factors you’ll need to consider in
the planning process
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RULES AND GUIDELINES RE ORGANISING TRIPS AND ACTIVITIES FOR LSU SOCIETIES
All trips must be organised following these guidelines and any breach will result in the society facing sanctions
and possible individual discipline cases against committee members
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The committee is responsible for the safe organisation of all trips / outside activities on behalf of the
society
ALL trips must be notified to the SocFed Administrator at least one full week (7 days) before planned
departure, using the trip list template (Appendix A)
Only bona fide members of the society (defined as having paid the membership fee and being
registered on the society’s LSU website) are insured to travel on these trips.
Any non-members wishing to take part must be told about lack of insurance cover before they
proceed to purchase a ticket, and must sign it when they pay.
Limited non-members may only take part on trips after they have signed to say they understand they
are not covered by LSU insurance, and paid the required trip fee using the LSU online EShop. The
completed forms must be given to the SocFed office at least 48 hours before departure.
The proportion of members/non-members on any trip must always be at least 80% members
If a trip also involves an activity e.g. friendly sports competitions against other universities etc., nonmembers on the trips are not allowed to participate.
No-one under the age of 16 may travel on any society organised trip/take part in any society organised
activity.
If anyone between the ages of 16-18 wishes to travel on the trip/take part in the activity, prior consent
of the SocFed President must be sought and received in writing at least 48 hours before departure
(parental consent may be required)
Under no circumstances may any last minute non-member passengers be allowed to travel.
The Society should make sure non-members/non-students are aware of any safety code or risk
management procedures which the Society follows. If a non-member / non-student ends up being
injured, they may try to prove that it was a result of the negligence of the Society e.g. not giving them
advance warning of any risks
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SOCIETIES TRANSPORT – GENERAL PASSENGER LIST
This form should be used to provide a passenger list for all trips that do not involve hiring a Union minibus. The
completed form should be emailed to the SocFed Administrator at least 5 working days before the trip. Please detail
any changes to the original passenger list and post through the letter box in the kiosk door BEFORE you leave.
Society: ……………………………………………………………..
Destination: ………………………………………………
Date/duration: ……………………………….
Purpose of trip: …………………………………………………………………………………….
Coach Company …………………………………..
Other Transport (Please specify)………………………………….
Please indicate if anyone if a First Aider and any non-society members
Name
University ID
First
Aider
Society
Member
(Yes/No)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
(For more passengers, submit extra list)
If staying overnight : Contact telephone no: …………………………………………… (where you are staying)
Address: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Form completed by: …………………………............................
Uni Id No. …………………………..
Contact no. …………………………………….…………….
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