Impact Report 2022 - 23

We’re excited to tell you about the impact we’ve had on students during 2022-2023.

We’re proud to share our journey and our success with you – we couldn’t do it without you, our members!

Belonging and Inclusivity

A huge part of what we do to help students love their time at Exeter is host or support many opportunities to meet and make friends through events, activities and helping you find your community!

  • We hosted and promoted events and activities to support thousands of students settle into university life in September 2022 and January 2023.  
  • Hosted over 100 Give it a Go events and activities throughout the year, to meet others and try something new!
  • With over 300 societies and over 11,000 members, our student led societies provided ways to make friends and develop their skills!
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I feel that my experience as a committee member has helped me in learning some valuable transferable skills

I had a great welcome to the University and all support was provided to me. Being an international student who is first time in UK, Guild has made me feel University is like my home.

Exeter students at a Community Café eventExeter students performingA group of Exeter students

Being Student Led and Empowering You to Make Change

We are led by our student members, decisions and action we take comes from our student community.

Your Student Priorities  

In the 22/23 academic year, students gave us 4 key priorities which informed our work for the year:

  • Cost of Living  
  • Wellbeing and Support
  • Belonging and Inclusivity  
  • Campaigning and Engagement

Some wins as part of our priorities work included:  

  • Our Advice Team ran weekly budget workshops to help students manage their money
  • Partnered with the University of Exeter to provide free period products on campus  
  • Held a Day of Climate Action in December, including student led talks, a film screening and workshops focused on student climate action
  • Organised regular Community Café events to give students the opportunity to meet others with similar interests/backgrounds
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I enjoy the Guild space as a place to socialise and work - the £2 meal was extremely positive and something I have appreciated throughout the year

A LGBTQ+ Pride marchExeter students votingA stall in Exeter Uni Forum

Democracy and Student-Led Campaigns

Being student led is at the core of who we are. This is from the campaigns we support and empower students to run to how students make decisions that impact the direction of the Guild.

Advisory Boards

We launched a new democracy approach to creating change and shaping Guild work called Advisory Boards. We had 3 different Boards in the pilot year:

  • Student Advisory Board
  • EDI Advisory Board
  • Marketing Advisory Board

Some work the Advisory Boards helped shape included the rebrand, refurbishment, re-imagining of Freshers’ Week to Welcome Week, and mitigation approach.  

Supporting Student Activism

Part of our role is to support and empower students to make the change they want to see such as campaigning on issues that matter to them.  

  • A big win for students and the Guild in 22/23 was the campaign around affordable hot meals on campus and the introduction of the £2 meal.
  • An additional student campaign was the Shell Out campaign which was lobbying the University on ending their partnership with Shell, which won an award from SOS-UK (Students Organising for Sustainability).

Freedom of Speech

We want to foster an environment where our members can participate fully, feel able to question and challenge, express new ideas, discuss controversial and or unpopular opinions within the law- all without fear of intolerance or discrimination.

We facilitated 159 speaker events throughout the year. As well as supporting the facilitation of speaker events, we supported a small number of student-led protests and activity.

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I see the work they put in to improve my experience as a student

They do everything in their power to help students and improve their university experience

Exeter students making changeA marketing advisory board meetingExeter students at a 16 Days of Action event

Wellbeing and Support

Sometimes things don’t go to plan, and that’s ok! Wherever you are in your journey, the Advice Team are here to guide you through the twists and turns of student life. Our Advisors support students on a range of topics and issues including finances, academic concerns and wellbeing.  

We asked students for feedback around what they wanted and needed from us to support them, and initiatives included:

  • Introduced Wellbeing Cupboards at Streatham and St Luke’s campuses with free products for students to pick up including condoms, period products and other wellbeing related items
  • Partnered with the University of Exeter to provide free period products on campus
  • Organised Creative Journaling, Meditative Painting & Music Therapy workshops for the January exam period
  • Provided care packages for students staying on campus and in Exeter during the winter closure period
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I believe if I reach out to Guild for anything I get support emotionally financially and physically too

If something was wrong, I know they could help

Exeter Students at a craft eventClaire Botham of Guild Advice receiving an awardA Pets as Therapy session

Our Performance

84%

I feel like I belong at University

74%

I feel part of a community

62%

I feel our spaces are flexible and reflect my needs

63%

I feel supported by the Guild

43%

I feel represented by my Elected Officers

49%

I feel the Guild delivers opportunities and services that reflect me

50%

I feel the Guild supports and empowers me to make change

64%

I feel the Guild's brand and communications are relevant and shaped by students

72%

The Guild positively impacts or adds value to my student experience or student life

62%

The Guild's digital platforms are relevant, enaging and accessible

Our vision is to help students love Exeter and to ensure we are doing this; we have a number of strategic measures that we ask students for feedback on to see how we’re performing or where we might need to improve. 22/23 was our first year of recording this data.

Whilst we carried out the first year of our plan, we also had two key exciting strategic projects happen across the year!  

Refurb

Over the summer of 2023, we embarked on a big refurbishment project of Devonshire House with the University.

Rebrand

Old fashioned, corporate, and confusing were some of the words that were used to describe us and our brand. It was definitely time for change!

Across Term 2 and 3 we created a whole new brand position and visual identity, to be more relevant and engaging with our students. Our new brand really focuses on putting students at the heart of everything we do. We launched this in July 2023 with great success and will be working across 23/24 to implement our new brand.

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Students at Exeter RockStudent with a dog at Exeter UniStudents outside the Guild

What's Next?

Exeter Students' Guild logo

With a new brand, new space and a new way of working, we’re ready for this coming academic year!  

Some key targets within our priorities are:

  • Expanding our understanding of student experience through international student research
  • Ensuring that we close the feedback loop, through actioning student feedback
  • Ensure Guild staff can signpost students to relevant wellbeing provisions
  • Deliver 5-7 events which reflect the key moments for our students
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