James Lee for FACSO

Morning all!

Many congratulations to Jonny, I'm sure he'll do a great job!

Thanks so much for bearing with me through this campaign, I'm very proud of how I ran it and I gave it my all.

Voting closes in half an hour!
Remember to vote, every vote matters!
Link to the site: https://www.greyjcr.co.uk/elections

Grey JCR Grey College JCR

Voting closes in 2 hours!

Remember to vote, every vote matters!

Link to the site: https://www.greyjcr.co.uk/elections

Grey JCR Grey College JCR

VOTING IS OPEN!!

Go and vote here on the JCR website:

https://www.greyjcr.co.uk/elections

Voting will close at 8pm tomorrow so make sure you don’t miss it! Check out the manifestos on the JCR website and cast your ballot!
Big love once again and best of luck to all the candidates,
James.

Grey JCR Grey College JCR

Here it goes!

The JCR meeting is taking place at 8pm TONIGHT at the marquee on grey lawn!

Make sure you come along and have a great time!

Manifesto point #8!

Improve JCR inclusivity!

This year, repscomm have done a great job to raise awareness of cultural, religious and other minority concerns around College, and are putting more events on. I fully support them in doing that, and would give them funding on a case by case basis to help them put on small events, or improve visibility for certain holidays around College.

Manifesto point #7!

Tennis court refurbishment!

College has a long-term plan to improve the tennis courts and do them up. This is a great asset to Grey, and we should see it as an opportunity. Grey sports don’t have a proper place to train at present, and are very reliant on Maiden Castle. When works are complete, I want to make the Tennis courts a place anyone can go without booking to train or just have a kick-about.
If we regain access to the Islamic Prayer room next year, I would like to make it into a games room, a secondary JCR space with pool tables, dartboards, perhaps even the snooker table back.

Manifesto point #6!

Gowned Dinners!

I don’t know about you but I like some of the fancier elements around college. We can’t afford to put on formals every week like some colleges do. Towards the end of last year, I was involved in the successful Semi-Formal event we did to sparkle up the calendar as lockdown was easing. I would use that as a model for a new set of gowned dinners in the dining hall every few weeks from second term onwards, which would serve normal college food but in a fancy setting and with a cheese board at the end, to make Grey that bit more fancy.

Manifesto point #5!

Improved JCR transparency!

Every JCR meeting, the FACSO submits a written report of everything they’ve been doing over the last month or so to be put in the agenda and the minutes. This is good, but not enough. I would put together an easy-to-read infographic guide to where I’ve spent your JCR levy, what I’ve been spending my time doing and where the money comes from. I would email this around to people every month, so you know know where your money is spent.

Manifesto point #4!

Combat JCR Cliquiness!

The JCR suffers from a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to cliquiness. As a relative outsider to the JCR, I would look out for the interests of everyone at Grey, and when it comes to choosing people for committees or roles, I would always look out for people who aren’t so involved in the JCR, or people that don’t enjoy nights out, don’t do sports etc. When helping design events, I will always push for better options for chilled out options, non-alcoholic drinks at events, etc, to ensure everyone at Grey can enjoy events in their own way.

Manifesto point #3!

Invest in the arts at Grey!

Promise this will be the last arts related point from me!
In the wake of COVID, it’s got a lot more expensive to do things related to the arts. I would give more consideration in the budget to arts-related comms and socs. They would also have greater consideration when apportioning out the sports and socs budget, as I know things like supplies, music and costumes are always expensive and I want to give every opportunity for them to thrive. I would also look at reopening the Phoenix Theatre bank account or creating a new arts fund bank account to ensure future funding

Manifesto point #2!

Termly Grey Talent showcases!

At the end of every term, I would like to bring together all the performers in Grey to do a big showcase of their talents. It would be a ticketed event, and I would work with the bar to put on special cocktails for the night, so that they can be special nights to remember. This would give more of a chance for individual performers to show off their skills, as well as giving a voice to all the bigger arts related societies around Grey.

Manifesto point #1!

More small events around college!

Starting with a big one, as FACSO I would work with performers and societies around Grey to put on a weekly performance evening in the JCR. This would be a great opportunity to meet new people and watch the best of what Grey has to offer. This would also act as a showcase of Grey’s talents and hopefully drive engagement with the artistic endeavours around college. I would encourage these showcases to have some kind of interactive element to drive engagement
Performers have been hit hard by lockdown, and it’s now harder than ever for small societies to book venues and find audiences. These JCR night will give performers a much-needed chance to show off their skills, and I would be handling all of the behind the scenes hassles like risk assessment and tech setup.

Morning all

I'll be doing another drop-in tomorrow in the JCR from 4-5pm. Do drop round if you want to chat about anything!

I’ll also be doing one on zoom on Friday at 10-11am so if you miss me tomorrow, you’ll have more opportunities to chat!

See you all soon and rumours of snacks xx.

Morning all, a slightly more serious one this time about why I am running to be your FACSO. I have absolutely loved my time at Grey. I think the college is made great by its community, but I think we are doing more for some groups at Grey than for others, and part of why I am running it to help address that.
Sports are mostly ran really well at Grey, and they should serve as and example and as our inspiration as to how all aspects of the Grey community should work. Anyone can sign up for sports at Grey, and play at any level. I would like to extend this vibrant and welcoming community to all areas of college life, people who are not participants in sports should feel just as included as those who do.
As someone who isn’t strongly involved in sports in Grey myself, I have sometimes felt a little excluded from some of the college ethos, especially when I was a fresher where I would have liked to have other ways to get involved with the college community. As an avid consumer of the Arts, I would like to encourage them to become just as visible in college as some of our sports.
I also want to combat some of the cliquiness in college. In many ways, I see myself as a bit of an outsider to the JCR: I am not big on socials or nights out and I don’t hang out with exec members in my spare time. Personally, I don't think this is a bad thing, instead the outsiders perspective I bring to the JCR has great value of its own. I want to see a college where nobody is put off running for a role because they don’t think they’re the personality type to get it, or because they feel intimidated by the people at the top, and if elected, I would work to redress the balance a bit to make everyone feel included. Nobody should be left out; everyone should be welcome.
Another reason I would like to run is that I know a lot of people who are not engaged in the JCR at all, who do not attend JCR meetings, formals, balls or anything else, and some who haven't seen the point in paying their JCR levy. I would like to show them what's so great about college and why the events are worth it by making the good things the JCR does more visible and by putting on more events for them to be enticed by
I know this may come across as a little negative, but I don’t think these problems are hard to fix and, if elected, I would work tirelessly to make the JCR a more welcoming place for all.
Big love, James xo 😄

Marnen!
Here’s a little about me and the story of my time at Grey, I hope this helps you know me a little more
I am a final-year History and Politics student currently living in college. That means I have barely any contact hours and spend all my day in my room or in the library reading.
I am also JCR Secretary, also known as that guy who sits up on the stage at the JCR meetings not saying anything and furiously typing the whole time.
But I haven’t always been so involved in the JCR. In fact, I wasn’t involved at all in my first year. I thought that college wasn’t for me and the JCR was a scary and cliquey place that wasn’t worth getting involved in, and in first year I didn’t even join a sport or society. That all changed in second year, when I decided on a whim to run for the post of JCR Secretary. Since then I’ve been making minutes for the JCR, some of which are even on the website. Despite this, I have remained a relative outsider to the JCR, still not interested in participating in sports and socs for the most part. This is not to say I have done nothing. I have helped where I can around college over the last year to give back to the college community. I served as a post-offer visit day last year (sadly over zoom), have been on formal comm for the last year and have been very active in the Hill Colleges chapel since day 1, including organising events and where necessary leading compline services. But over the last few weeks I’ve felt the urge to get more involved in maintaining and improving college life, and that’s one of the reasons I am standing to be FACSO.
When I’m not doing stuff for my course or in Grey, I am often to be found in the Durham Union, putting in the legwork to make events run smoothly and giving people there the best experience possible. I would bring the same commitment I have shown to the JCR Exec, to college chapel and the Union to you as your FACSO!
Reminder that my first Drop-in session will be TODAY (Tuesday the twenty-second) in the JCR from 2-3pm. Do drop by and give me someone to chat to! Oh and I’ll be answering any questions about the manifesto too.
Signing out
James

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Morning all!
Here is my manifesto outlining all my ideas and aims for next year. If you have any questions or want to discuss it more, or anything else about my campaign, do come along to my drop ins. The first one will be TOMORROW: Tuesday 22.2.22 (sorry had to do that) at 2pm in the JCR.

Throughout the week I’ll be doing little posts explaining my manifesto in more detail so do stay tuned and do give them a read.

All the best, James

Hi guys, I’m James and I’m delighted to announce that I am standing to be your next FACSO!
Please like my page to see updates on my manifesto points and drop in times.
My Campaign material can be found here: https://www.greyjcr.co.uk/elections
I can’t wait to get started and share my ideas with you!
Any questions, do message me and I’ll be happy to answer anything you ask!
James 😘

Grey JCR Grey College JCR

Welcome all to my campaign Page. Check in for regular updates on my campaign for FACSO