SHUlife: What are the Greens policies?

Putting the public at the heart of the NHS

Free education

Bringing railways back into the public’s hand

Action on climate change

Rebuilding the economy

SHUlife: Free education for all, how will that work?

“We mean it when we say free education.”

The Lib Dems went in and promised to cut tution fees, instead raised them. Labour in this election

promise to cut them from £9k to £6k. But the Greens plan on cutting them all together – according

to Jillian the government pay grants and loans anyway so why not give that money to universities to

invest in education.

It’s also about EMA – younger people’s maintenance loan – so they can get to college etc. The

Greens want to work on this. They believe education is good and important for society.

SHUlife: What about the NHS?

The Greens simply want to put more into it. It’s a big employer and they want to stabilise it and

make it even better. They also want to put more money into social care – a pressure on the NHS is

elderly people not coping at home and being put into hospitals – this is something they want to

improve. They want to help elders live a happy and comfortable life from their own home.

SHUlife: What will you do with public transport?

They want to put trains in particular into the public’s hand. But particularly in Sheffield, reducing the

price of fairs, increasing the frequency and quality of buses is key for The Greens. Jillian perhaps

would like to introduce a similar system to the Oyster Card in London where you have a card you top

up and can use it for all buses within the city. “One fair that you pay to travel around the city.”

SHUlife: What are your ideas for climate change?

“This is the one most people associate with the Greens.” The policies that are good for the

environment are also good for people e.g. improving public transport to make a better environment

but to also create more jobs. They go hand in hand for the Greens.

SHUlife: How are you going to boost the economy?

Other parties are saying the only way to solve the economic crisis to cut public services. Greens say

Britain is a very wealthy country and 1% of the country own 50% of the country’s wealth. So they

plan on taxing the wealthy and using that to boost the economy. They’ve got a completely different

view on how to run the country, Jillian said. “There is money in the economy, we just need to use it

cleverly.”

SHUlife: How will you help Sheffield in particular?

The Greens believe any money that does come in, part of it should go into helping small businesses.

Sheffield is well known for its independent stores and they want to help them as well as the big

chains.

A personal thing for Jillian is looking at how much more food could be grown in Sheffield itself. With

the country importing around half the food we eat, it’s not sustainable and Jillian would like to

improve this.

SHUlife: How do you plan on getting students to vote for you?

We want them to see as a new party which they can get behind. It’s about getting the information

out to them – campaigning, leaflets, posters – and they’ve been doing all of this. Particularly going

onto campuses and being known there but also going around student blocks and being known there.

They already have a group of Green Party students. But going up to students and talking to them is

important for Jillian.

Having been a Sheffield Central Ward city councillor for 11 years Jillian knows the ins and outs of the

city and believes she could do a great job for the city. Being a small party, they don’t expect to form

the next government but do want to have some kind of influence.

So who are you going to vote for?

Words by: Karishma Ravalia

With just three days left until election day and with Russel Brand recently urging voters to support Labour in order to keep the conservative party out, here’s what Ed Milliband had to say when he visited Sheffield Hallam a few months ago.

What’s your opinion on David Cameron being too scared to speak on live TV?’ First question of the day was met with laughs and Ed’s response: ‘let’s have more like that please!’

There was a lot spoken or broken promises, something that most students can relate to after the last election. Milliband was very careful and cautious not to make any false promises saying ‘Unlike Nick Clegg we will keep the promises we make and we won’t make promised before the election and then break them afterwards’.

When asked on one thing that he does promise to change however he said ‘Careers for all young people’, his emphasis on young people and them being the future was paramount throughout the talk. He also stated that Labour ‘will rescue and renew our national health service’, again stating that Labour ‘are going to keep our promises’

It was clear that a better future for young people was at the top of his list he plans to improve this by; giving people age 16 and 17 the chance to vote and that Labour will now lead a national issue to allow young people a voice in this election. Again speaking about broken promises he said ‘this government has betrayed young people, I am determined to do it differently’. While admitting that he sometimes finds it hard not to get caught up in the fiery debates in parliament he also said that ‘youth parliament is much better behaved than the house of commons’. Careers and advice service for students has been the biggest disaster of this government, this is of course in relation to EMA stopping and many of the careers and advice jobs being cut meaning that there isn’t much guidance anymore for students on their future. Milliband also stated that if 16 and 17 years olds were allowed to vote that EMA might still be around. He also stated that ‘Labour will have incentives from organisations in order to help young people get into work’.

Speaking about education, work, university and vocational routes he said ‘I want to look at what we can do for post graduate funding, I don’t want to make any false promises’ and that we have got to find a way to get better help for young careers’. His focus was not only on a better education system but that we also have ‘Got to have proper information for vocational roots’. He also mentioned that with a system that we have that you have to ‘work with people to them back into work’. Hopefully he gained more insight into what undergraduates and post graduates need by the questions he asked the room. He also talked about improving education in a wide range of areas including ‘citizenship education’. He also discussed mental health issues and the impact they have on so many young people today stating ‘Mental health issues are not something to be embarrassed about’. While briefly touching on rent and taking notes on what students said about their current rent ‘People need to have predictable rent not worry if it will go up or down from month to month’.

Speaking about equality Miliband was very clear on his views concerning gender equality announcing that he ‘won’t stop until all Labour Party roles are 50% women’. He also spoke about finding a proper gender ‘when it comes to the house of commons’. ‘I want to pay tribute to the feminist movement and the issue on everyday sexism; it is about educating people by starting early and in schools’. On prejudice and immigration he simply said ‘we’ve got to stand up against prejudice and hate wherever we find it’, these statements were well received by the crowd. He also spoke about how we must be ‘treating people in the system as human beings’ and that more help and education has to be available in these areas.

Making sure he finished with a question from a student, as opposed to many of the press that was there was also well received as was his # Round of applause’ for Hallam!’.

For more information on any of the parties manifestos if you’re still unsure on who to vote then make sure to check them out online before May 7th.

Make sure that you know exactly where your polling station is and happy voting everyone, remember that young people are the future and your vote can make a different on Thursday!

Words by: Roseanne May Cross

We tried to get all your questions answered. What has he got to say about how he let students down? What does he think to internships being a “who you know” not “what you know” thing? Does he think Labour’s £6000 tuition fee proposal is wise? What about students who struggle to make ends meet due to lack of student finance when they are not from a nuclear family?

Instead of detailing the entire interview out for you, we worked with SHUradio to provide you with a podcast on the lowdown of what to expect next from Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.

Look through our other election articles featuring the Labour party and Green party in our election coverage. We hope this will help fellow SHU students to vote wisely.

Tweet us your thoughts at @SHUradio with #SheffieldElections

Dame Vivienne Westwood sporting a “Save The Arctic” t-shirt, worn by many celebrities supporting her movement, Climate Revolution,

The tour, called “We are the revolution” aims to encourage young people to get more involved with politics because it is their future it will be shaping.

The designer who is a prominent icon in punk history has always been involved with politcial activisism.

Vivienne Westwood started her own revolutionary movement called Climate Revolution. This campaign aims to beat climate change by protesting against enviornmentally damaging changes by the government such as fracking.

She said: “”I am investing in the Green Party because I believe it is in the best interests of our country and our economy. I hope that by example other individuals and businesses will follow suit. If we get behind this we can make a real difference and the time is now.”

Vivienne Westwood walks down the catwalk, standing proud and tall by supporting Climate Revolution.

The party hopes to win the support of students with their slogan ,”We are the revolution” suggesting that young people will be the revolutionary change to society.

The event is on Tuesday the 21st of April 2015 from 7.30pm and will be held at University of Sheffield’s St George’s Lecture Theatre on 17 Mappin Street.

She will also be visiting other university towns including Manchester, Liverpool, Brighton, Bristol, York, Norwich and Kingston.

Vivienne Westwood and Amelia Womack will be joined by Andrew Simms, renowned author, economist and environmentalist.

To register for your free ticket, head to:

https://my.greenparty.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?id=85&reset=1

By Catherine Christy

Image Source: Creative Commons and Green Party

Since the 3^rd of March 1995, people have enjoyed visiting the Showroom Cinema for an enjoyable afternoon/evening’s entertainment. Being wholly independent, the Showroom has been able to screen the most varied (and sometimes obscure) selection of films in Sheffield for the past 20 years, as well as hosting multiple film festivals and other events per year, including the currently ongoing ‘Japanese Season’ which features the best new and classic films from Japanese Cinema.

For their twentieth anniversary, the Showroom have a year-long run of birthday celebrations planned whilst aiming to raise £250,000 for a near full refurbishment of the entire cinema. This plan includes all four screens being updated with new seats and carpeting, an improved foyer area and completely new top of the range lighting and technical equipment to fully immerse the audience.

At the launch event, Chief Executive of the Showroom Cinema Ian Wild said that “our audience trust us to bring them a unique programme of films and events – we show films from around the world as well as ones that are made right here in Sheffield, with lots of big new releases as well as small independent films – but in turn we rely on our cinemagoers to support our work. As a registered charity we depend of the public to keep going – every purchase made here helps, as all our profits have always gone back into the cinema. We do get some support from the government and the lottery, but we really need the public’s help too”.

There will be special fundraising events throughout the year, as well as some year round opportunities ranging from the opportunity for local businesses to take part in sponsorship to individual donations and naming your favourite seat in the newly updated screens.

As part of the birthday celebrations, special anniversary events and screenings will be announced throughout the year, and SHUlife will definitely be bringing you updates as soon as we have them. In the meantime, be sure to keep an eye on http://www.showroomworkstation.org.uk/ for news from the Showroom in general, as well as Clicking Here for information on how to donate or sponsor the cinema.

This was followed by a Daily Mail article which reported that Scott Disick will be taken to court by the Manchester company who hired him for a ‘Meet and Greet’ where he behaved suspiciously. Today, it was reported he had pulled out of his last few days of touring only to join Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in Paris soon after.

SHUlife Editor, Catherine Christy, went to the night at the Electric Nightclub in Birmingham last weekend with high expectations. Here she details her experience.

It is with no doubt that many students like myself booked tickets to see the self-styled Lord Scott Disick. Some even travelled down just to see him.

VIP tickets cost £66.50 in total including fees for two people. I got them because it offered a Queue jump and VIP bar area. The standard ticket prices were £7 and £15.

Firstly, there was no queue to jump and the club was rather empty considering it was meant to be a night which would attract “road blockage” and “paparazzi” according to the event details.

At about 12am at Scott Disick’s night at the Electric Club in Birmingham

There was a lot of confusion from the staff. I had previously asked one of the points of contact, Rebecca Sides, if ‘Meet and Greet’ tickets were available. To this, she said there should be and to look for the organiser, Mark Brewer.

When I asked the door staff about this and referred to “Rebecca” and “Mark”, they had no idea who they were and claimed they gave me false information.

To add on to their confusion, there was no VIP bar area according to some staff and bouncers.

So the two things my VIP wristband were meant to provide me with were empty promises. What next? Contact the organiser, Mark Brewer? There were no promoters dotted around to ask for help either.

Contacting Mark Brewer himself was a long shot. You could only get in touch with him via Twitter. He never replied to a single one of my polite tweets inquiring about the event. There was no contact number nor contact email for customer enquiries. All the information provided seemed vague with no company or VAT registration number. So much so, questions were going around if the tour was even legit due to no professional presence whatsoever.

There was no email for customer enquiries. The email for businesses enquiries would have set alarm bells going for various businesses who wanted sponsor the event.

Business enquires for Scott Disick please email me scottdisickuktour@gmail.com

— Mark BrewerOfficial™ (@Mark_Brewer2) February 28, 2015

After getting ripped off at the bar and being charged various prices (£4, £6 & £10) for the same mixer drink despite the promise of “student prices”, we just sat at the table and tried to be patient while waiting for Scott Disick. It was tiring as the hours went by. Scott was doing two appearances per night on most days but I was not prepared for the length of time we had to wait for him.

His previous appearance was at Milton Keynes which was nearly an hour and a half away from Birmingham. The DJ yelled “I’ve just got a text, he’s on his way!” a few times over a span of two hours.

He turned up just before 3am. Scott shouted out “Birmingham!” and then proceeded to wobble around the stage while chatting to his random mates who tagged along. Taking a good picture of him was impossible. He then sprayed some champagne into the crowd and after ten minutes, he left. Yep, just ten minutes approximately. I didn’t realise hosting a party only required ten minutes.

Champagne in the air as Scott Disick leaves the venue

Scott Disick spraying champagne into the crowd at the Electric Nightclub in Birmingham

I could have sworn the audience fell silent for a few seconds in shock and then they roared again when the DJ said Scott was heading towards the VIP lounge to meet his fans. So there was a VIP lounge after all, but that was pointless since it was now open to everyone. A short queue formed in the lounge and we seemed to be part of the only few who had a VIP wristband. Surely we should have been given priority? No. That was definitely £30 well and truly wasted on nothing.

At about 4am, bouncers broke the news to us that Scott had left. No reason was given at the time. People were left devastated and some were crying because they were misled with what the tickets offered. The promoters of that night felt that the mobbing fans were a threat to the health and safety of Scott Disick.

The apparent crowd that was ready to mob Scott at the Birmingham Nightclub

The tour organiser, Mark Brewer, said to Birmingham Mail: “Scott was due to visit the VIP lounge at the Electric but he was mobbed by over enthusiastic female fans,” “His security was finding it difficult to hold them back so, on health and safety grounds, a decision was made for Scott not to enter the VIP lounge and to leave the club.”

“We are sorry that the people who bought VIP tickets weren’t able to get a closer look at Scott, but these were not meet and greet tickets which are priced at £100 and were not put on for his Birmingham visit.”

“I am sorry but people who bought VIP tickets will not be getting a refund.”

Mark Brewer is confident enough to say he will be planning another tour again with the Lord due to the “incredible reception”. Attendants of the events clearly beg to differ. Despite his statement, I was a witness and there were no fans that mobbed Scott. He did not enter the area in the first place. If you were there, you would have found that fans actually formed their own queue. If it was a Health and Safety issue, surely barriers should have been put in place? Considering the upset caused, Mark Brewer still went ahead to retweet a rude post by another self-styled Lord, called Lord Aleem, a 20-year-old rich Youtuber who posts videos about luxury cars such as Audis and Lamborghinis.

(This tweet was posted when the ‘Meet and Greet’ was due)

According to Birmingham Mail, one attendee, Dominique Howell, waited in the VIP lounge from 11pm until 3am on Sunday morning for a glimpse of the reality TV show star.

She said: “An organiser then told he was due to arrive after 3am, so I waited for a further hour and a half only for the bouncers to turn around and say that he wouldn’t be coming and that he had left the club. There was a lot of very upset customers.”

“I didn’t even see a glimpse of Scott Disick.”

The ‘Meet and Greet’ opportunities provided at other venues can also be questioned. Jenny Percy, who attended the Manchester night at the Tiger Tiger Nightclub, said she paid £130 for an exclusive opportunity to have pictures taken with Scott Disick and have a booth next him. She told me Scott only sat there for ten minutes and left. She said: “He didnt even smile, it looked like he had been forced to be there.”

“We got told if we paid £130 we would get the booth next to him and photos, so we paid and didn’t even get close to him.

“(We) asked the club for a refund and they said they couldn’t because he was meant to sit next to us but his management weren’t happy with how close to the public he would be.”

“Safe to say, won’t be going to anything like it again.”

According to Daily Mail, Scott even turned up drunk at another ‘Meet and Greet’ at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester. Some of the fans said he was ‘out of it’ and was ‘swearing’. Due to the upset caused to fans, the company who reportedly paid £10,000 to organise this ‘Meet and Greet’ have begun legal proceedings against the 31-year-old.

Lawyers Muldoon Britton of Deansgate Manchester said to Daily Mail Online: “We are happy for people to know we have begun legal proceedings against Scott and would hope he responds out of respect for his fans.”

The following are Facebook posts on the event’s page of the Birmingham night expressing upset after VIP tickets were gone to waste.

No one knows who exactly is to blame. As for Scott, the promoters and the organisers, customers have said they will be reporting their experience to trading standards. If their reports are successful, future events by these organisers may not happen again. In future, they should have a caveat emptor.

For me, this was definitely a lesson learnt: stay at home and just watch the TV show instead, it will be a better experience.

Did you attend any of these night and was your experience any different to this?

In the Spring Issue of SHUlife Magazine, Hollie took us through the details of her rape, how her friends and family reacted, the tests involved, the questionings and of course what the attacker himself faced as consequences for his actions.

She said of her experience: “I was crying and tried to scream but he held my hair by the root and said ‘I will hurt you if you scream’. There was nothing I could do.”

The brave graduate told us everyone has to drink responsibly but being drunk is never an excuse for rape.

“These are our bodies and you are not welcome unless you are invited. Don’t make assumptions based on clothing and behaviour.”

Hollie was raped in 2013 during a Halloween night out. Below is a picture she sent us of what she looked like on the night, reminding us that looks are not always the factor in rape.

Hollie Moore during the night of the sexual assault

Her attacker was on bail for over a year before he pleaded guilty in court in November 2014. He was sent to prison this January.

Hollie gave up her legal right to anonymity and gave us her full consent to publish her story. Read the full story in SHUlife Magazine’s Spring Issue in print. You can also view the digital copy by clicking here.

* Main photo by Charlie Heather-Cray. As part of a year-long project for her MA Art Photography degree, Charlie is currently looking for people who have interesting life stories/experiences to share. If you would like to take part in this project and would like more information please contact Charlie Heather-Cray on Charlotte.Heather-Cray@student.shu.ac.uk

Words By: Catherine Christy

On Tuesday 9^th December, Sheffield Hallam University Canoe Club are holding a fundraiser.

The canoe club will be running a 12 hour paddle-a-thon on an ergo in Hallam Square from 8am-8pm. The ergos will be paddled continuously for twelve hours by members of the club. The club are hoping for donations from students and passers-by to raise money for the club and St Luke’s Hospice in Sheffield.

The event has been very successful in previous years raising around £500 and the club are hoping for even more success this year.

The club will be in high festive spirits in Christmas jumpers with Christmas music playing so please take a break from working on those looming deadlines and join them in feeling festive and helping them to raise some money. A good way to ensure that you are on Santa’s nice list!

The homeless charity Shelter has launched an urgent campaign within Sheffield and the surrounding area of Yorkshire and the Humber region in light of recent statistics.

Following an investigation by the Government, shocking statistics have been uncovered that claim, “554 children in Yorkshire and the Humber will wake up homeless this Christmas.” This figure has sadly, nearly doubled since 2012. 

90,000 children in Britain will be homeless this Christmas. We’ll stop when it’s 0. pic.twitter.com/7rBGqBYSj9

— Shelter (@Shelter) November 10, 2014

Although, many families are homeless, they are often not seen directly by the public, as the council has a legal obligation to find them somewhere to stay such as a hostel or a B&B. Both of which are often overcrowded.

Consequently, this problem is relatively unknown to the general public in Sheffield. Sheffield Hallam students were asked if they had heard of family homelessness and, if so, did they know how large the issue was?

One Hallam student questioned said that, “I was aware of the amount of homeless people living in Sheffield, I’d never considered the fact that families and children are being put in the same position. The thought that families either alone or with nothing at Christmas is heart-breaking.” She went on to ask for the support of her fellow students, asking, “We as Hallam students can surely help in some way?”

Recently, Shelter conducted an in depth investigation based on families who had been made homeless and had been provided with temporary accommodation. However, in most cases this accommodation was unsafe and the families were subjected to, “drug and alcohol abuse,” in some cases. Often, the temporary accommodation that had been provided was far from the families’ established support network of family, friends and even the children’s schools.

Consequently, 20% of the families surveyed were faced with a three hour round trip to take their children to school and 10% said that, “their children had to miss school altogether.”

With the level of homelessness in Sheffield growing, the council has teamed up with 3 other local organisations and signed a “No Second Night Out protocol.” With a simple vision that, “no-one will live on the streets of South Yorkshire and no individual arriving on the streets for the first time will sleep out for more than one night.”

Shelter believes that everyone should have a home. Their campaign is targeted at the estimated 90,000 children in the United Kingdom who will otherwise be classed as being homeless this Christmas.

Shelter’s Chief Executive exclaimed, “No child should have to go through the trauma of losing their home… over 500 in Yorkshire and the Humber will wake up homeless this Christmas.”

For Shelter the short term aim of the campaign is to get experts to work with homeless families directly to find them a new, secure place to live. As well as to stop others becoming homeless in the first place.

Their long term plan is to get the Government to see the bigger picture and invest more heavily in affordable housing. They want it to be easier for those who need help to get it.

Shelter’s CEO added, “We urgently need more support from the public to help us make sure no one has to fight homelessness on their own this Christmas.”

You can support Shelter’s emergency Christmas appeal by visiting, www.shelter.org.uk or texting SHELTER to 70060 to donate £3.

Were you too shocked at the scale of homelessness in the region? If so tweet us @SHUlifenews

A recent study carried out by vouchercodes.co.uk has uncovered some worrying statistics concerning money troubles at University.

In fact, 78% of students who were questioned will have used up the, “entire first installment of their maintenance loan in less than six weeks.”

The study has shown that part time jobs are the largest additional source of student income after student loans at £242. A bank overdraft is next at £228 and just behind is the ‘bank of mum and dad’ at £152. Surprisingly, friends and siblings had been reported to chip in up to £85 for struggling students.

There have been some hard hitting statistics on the physiological effect of a lack of money on student’s welfare. 78% of students surveyed admitted, “having regular concerns about their financial situation at University.” The issue is further emphasised by the 1 in 5 students who find it hard to concentrate in lectures due to money anxiety and 1 in 10 who are having sleepless nights. 14% of students even skip meals due to lack of funds.

Emmet Cleaver, Sheffield Hallam University’s Welfare and Community Officer, when faced with these statistics said, “It comes as no surprise to hear about the distress brought about by financial constraints. I have heard of similar stories of student making significant sacrifices in order to make ends meet.”

“With so many government cuts, poorly paid jobs, increasing transport and expensive energy bills having to be paid, students absolutely do not have it easy contrary to popular belief.”

What can I do if I am struggling to manage my money?

If you are struggling to manage your money effectively, there are plenty of resources available to help people like you. Emmet said, “A great deal of my role is spent working with the University to ensure there is the right amount of financial support available to students who may face abject financial difficulties. The advice centre here at the Students Union has lots of invaluable information about how to manage finances properly whilst at University”.

Another useful tool that many students could benefit enormously from is getting in to the habit of budgeting. A useful website is http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-guide.

Finally, a part time job can be a good way of funding your lifestyle at university. However, be cautious not to over work yourself and try to balance university, social and work life, unlike, 1 in 8 students who claim to regularly missing lectures to go to work.

If you are experiencing any money worries, please visit Emmet in the Student’s Union. Or you can visit https://www.hallamstudentsunion.com/advice_help/money/ which has some general advice for students about schemes available to them.

If you have any of your own budgeting tips please tweet us @SHUlifeNews

Statistics courtesy of – A survey of 1500 students was conducted by One Poll on behalf of VoucherCodes.co.uk between 6^th August 2014-20^th August 2014.