Mary O'Driscoll
Ensure students are able to meet their basic needs: food, housing, access to physical and mental health support.
Build on the work I’ve been doing this year to educate students on sexual health and wellbeing, tackling gender-based violence, and making sustainability more accessible.
Create more community-building opportunities for students to improve mental wellbeing.
- Over the past year I have supported students in exceptionally difficult circumstances. All that I have learnt over this time means I have a greater understanding of how the college works, who to contact for which issues, and where the Students’ Association’s Welfare priorities should be. There are empty rooms in our EC halls of residences whilst students are in precarious living situations, we have a community fridge that not everyone knows about and even that -although essential- doesn’t remotely meet the needs of all the students facing food insecurity, the Student Services’ discretionary funds exclude certain students that are still in need of financial support, students who used to be considered Full-Time are now being treated as Part-Time and made to pay council tax by the City of Edinburgh Council, the Wellbeing Team has been stripped back without replacement staff less than a year after our counselling service was cut entirely, and LDTs were stripped back from higher education courses. I want to use my role and well-established relationships within the College to ensure these issues are addressed, putting the College in a better position to support students facing these challenges.
- I have already seen the positive impact of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance Week, Sustainable Education Week, and other events I've worked on this year. Now that I have established connections with external organisations and coordinated these events already, I will be able to make these cross-campus events and campaigns wider-reaching and more impactful for the next academic year. One huge success with this has been collaborating with the LDT Team to bring educational sessions on key topics such as sexual health and addiction into classrooms.
- One of the greatest rewards of my VP Activities position has been seeing the positive impact of student societies and clubs on mental wellbeing. I want to work alongside the new VP Activities to make extra-curricular activities appealing and inclusive for students that we don't often engage. I am keen to increase participation at these clubs and societies whilst also creating more frequent ‘low-commitment’ activities to boost mental wellbeing such as one-off crafting activities and exercise classes for mental health.
I genuinely care and take action. From my work over this academic year, housing and food insecurity, alongside inadequate support for physical or mental health issues, appear to be the most pressing issues. I intend to continue my close work with the Students’ Association, the Wellbeing Team, the college EDI lead, the LDTs, and - most importantly - with students, to make meaningful changes that improve student quality of life. I also know how much a sense of community impacts students' mental wellbeing so I'll be offering events for better mental and physical health, whilst improving community-building opportunities at student societies.
Meet the candidates!
Opening Hours
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| Mon: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Tue: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Wed: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Thu: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
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| Thu: | 9:00-15:00 | ||
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| Mon: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Tue: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Wed: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Day | Time slot | ||
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| Mon: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Tue: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Wed: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Thu: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
| Fri: | 10:00-16:00 | ||
Upcoming Events
Elections Day 2
It's Elections Week! We'll be running polling stations on campus all week.
Elections Day 3
It's Elections Week! We'll be running polling stations on campus all week.
Elections Day 4
It's Elections Week! We'll be running polling stations on campus all week.
Community Quilt Workshop, Wednesday 25th March, 2-4pm
A collaborative quilt-making session for Edinburgh College students, delivered in partnership with the Students' Association.