Jan
Breastfeeding at the Union: an update!
Hey there, it’s Arun Aggarwal, Vice President Student Communities for 2017/18. I wanted to take a moment to give a quick update about You Make Change, and the Union’s policy on breastfeeding on our campuses.
Before the Christmas holidays, we received a You Make Change submission regarding breastfeeding facilities across our campuses – specifically Highfield. We were informed that the current provisions were often oversubscribed or unsanitary/demeaning (e.g. toilets). To better understand the problem and come up with the most suitable options, I have worked closely with Lauren Coffin, a first year student parent, and our NOC Officer (who submitted the You Make Change), resulting in some really positive changes.
As of January 2018, the Students’ Union buildings are completely breastfeeding friendly, meaning that we support mothers who would like to feed or express on our campuses. As part of this support, we have modified Meeting Rooms 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to be appropriate, including adding blinds for privacy. Use of these rooms can be requested at reception if they are free, and therefore allows us to be more efficient in our use of space, to do more for a group of students who may feel generally overlooked. Now that we’ve made a start, hopefully we will be able to extend this mentality to other sites as well.
If anyone else has any ideas relating to mature students, student parents or ideas in general, feel free to contact me at vpcommunities@susu.org, or submit a You Make Change, as we really do act on them!
VP Student Communities
