You may have seen that our brand-new Students’ Union Rep Team is now in post for 2026/27.

But before the new academic year gets underway, we wanted to look back at why your Rep Team matters by celebrating everything last year’s team achieved.

Avery, Chak, Abigail and Molly were the first students to take on the new SU Rep roles as part of our New Era, which saw us move away from traditional full-time Elected Officers and introduce a new model built around student insight and Community Organising.

They stepped into uncharted waters, helping shape four brand-new roles while working alongside student communities, listening to the issues that mattered to them and taking those voices into the University and beyond.

Here are some of the highlights from their year.

Taking student voices to the top

A huge part of the Rep role happens away from the spotlight.

The Reps represented students at the University’s Board of Governors and met with senior University colleagues on issues ranging from equality, diversity and inclusion to widening participation.

Supported by research and insight from across the student body, they were able to take student experiences directly into important decision-making spaces.

And awareness of the new team grew significantly. This year, 68% of students said they understood what the SU Rep Team is and what they do, compared with 46% under the previous ‘Full-Time Officer’ model.

Listening, representing and creating change

Throughout the year, the Reps spent time listening to students from communities across the University.

They heard directly about issues including commuting, racism, xenophobia, accessibility and belonging, while supporting Black, LGBTQIA+, international and other student communities.

Those conversations helped inform the wider work of the Union and gave the Reps evidence to take to decision-makers.

Chak's work alongside disabled students showed what this could look like in practice. By listening directly to students and identifying the barriers they faced, this work contributed to ongoing action with the University, including developing the co-creation of sensory spaces for neurodivergent students.

The Reps also helped students shape the issues their Union would focus on through Union Leadership and the first Student Assembly, contributing to priorities around:

• Timetabling
• Placements
• Cost of Studying
• Accessibility

Taking Lancashire to Westminster

The Reps didn't stop at representing students on campus.

At meetings of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Students in Westminster, they raised issues including frozen maintenance support, rising travel costs and the pressures facing working-class and commuter students.

They also:

• Backed calls for a statutory duty of care, giving universities clearer responsibility for student welfare.
• Helped Lancashire finish 13th nationally for sign-ups to the NUS Fair Deal campaign for better student funding and apprentice pay.
• Supported Don't Freeze Our Futures, challenging changes to Plan 2 student loan repayment terms.
• Backed #PayThePlacement, calling for nursing and healthcare students to be paid for their time on placements.
• Campaigned on regional transport, migrant students' rights and the cost of Circuit Laundry.

The student loans campaign also contributed to a Treasury Select Committee inquiry, with Lancashire Students' Union becoming one of just 26 Students' Unions to submit evidence.

Showing up for student communities

Representation isn't always about meetings and campaigns. Sometimes, it's about being there.

Over the year, the Reps supported community events and important moments including:

• Remembrance Day commemorations in Burnley
• World AIDS Day
• Trans Day of Remembrance
• LGBTQIA+ History Month
• Holi Fest
• Events with Black, international and LGBTQIA+ student communities
• Solidarity activity with migrant and international students

They were also there when the University community came together following the tragedy of Carla-Maria, supporting students and staff to remember, reflect and find support.

Supporting the wider student movement

The team also represented Lancashire across the wider student movement through NUS conferences, campaign days and national events.

For Avery, that work culminated in a particularly significant achievement.

Alongside serving on the NUS Democratic Procedures Committee and continuing a campaign that saw 1,500 postcards sent to 262 MPs calling for an end to conversion practices affecting transgender people, Avery stood for national election.

In March, she was elected as the next NUS Vice President for Liberation and Equality.

From becoming one of the first students to take on our new Rep roles to being elected to represent students nationally, it was a huge achievement and a proud moment for us at the Union.

Quite a first year

Avery, Chak, Abigail and Molly stepped into roles that had never existed before.

In just one year, they took student voice into the University's most senior spaces, listened to communities, influenced change, represented Lancashire students in Parliament and made an impact on national campaigns.

Most importantly, they helped show why having students representing students matters.

As a new SU Rep Team begins its year, they won't be starting from scratch. They'll be building on the foundations laid by the four students who went first. And that's quite a legacy to leave behind.

A huge congratulations and thank you to our outgoing Rep Team: Avery, Chak, Abigail and Molly, you did us proud.

We wish Avery, Abigail and Molly all the very best for what comes next, and we're delighted that Chak will be staying with the Students' Union, continuing on as a Community Organiser this September.

Visit our 2026-27 Students’ Union Representatives page to get to know them a little better.