Wednesday 08-10-2025 - 13:17

Welcome all new Durham students! My name is Abi, and I am your Students' Union President this year. It is such a privilege to get to speak to you all on your first week here. Can I begin by conveying my heartfelt gratitude to your fabulous freps- they have so generously given up the end of their summer, not to mention a lot of sleep to ensure you have a wonderful start at Durham! Please show your appreciation to them this week.

I cannot express how excited I am for you to start your journey here; this is a truly special place to study and live. Incoming students from Durham and the North East will know what a wonderful region this is. As a girl from Dorset, about a 7-hour drive from here, one of the best things about studying at Durham was that it gave me the opportunity to explore the North East and I now call it my home. May you treat this region with love and deep respect, and find your home here. Get to know these cobbly streets, learn about the rich history of this region, befriend its residents. Maybe get the train out to the markets in Newcastle or swim in the sea at Tynemouth- the possibilities are endless.

One of the purposes of my speech is to give you a flavour of how the Students' Union will support you over your time here. I wonder if any of you have been part of a union before? As new students at Durham, you are part of a union which exists to champion you and ensure that you are given the best opportunity to thrive. The students who lead and support the union give their time because they have a particular passion for improving the student experience, whether that is increased disability support, financial grants, thriving societies or academic representation. Being a student isn't easy, but you are not alone. You are part of a union of students, supported by talented, independent professionals, who will have your back.

Ellie, our elected Education Officer and her team work to ensure that you experience the first-class education you came here for. She helps embed students like you in academic decision-making spaces and fights for greater academic support and teaching quality across the university.

Fran, our elected Community Officer and their team focus on ensuring that Durham is a place where anyone can belong and that you all have access to outstanding wider student experience. This can mean anything from supporting and funding our societies to empowering students to tackle a difficult landlord.

What about my job specifically? My job is to shout the loudest I can for Durham students at the highest level of university decision making. This often means bringing you into spaces of influence and emboldening you to think bravely and radically about the change you want to see. My email inbox and my office on the top floor of Dunelm House is open to all students to discuss campaigns, concerns and opportunities anytime.

The final thing I want to touch on is the significance of studying at this moment in time.

Your degrees really matter.

At a time of intense political polarisation in our nation, high levels of international conflict and an impending climatery crisis, there could not be a more important time to be studying. Your degree has value, not just for you but for the wider world. Perhaps your engineering degree will lead you to build the renewables which will get us to a clean energy grid. Perhaps your Sociology degree will lead you into public life- writing policy which uplifts and invests in local communities. Perhaps your accounting and finance degree will take you into impact investing, helping to influence the flow of capital into B corps and the charity sector. Perhaps your geography degree will take you into international peace keeping or diplomacy. Whatever your subject; curious, kind and fired up leaders are in short supply, and we need you more than ever.

As an SU, we will do everything we can to ensure that you are able to complete your degree and go on to be outstanding citizens. This degree is a yes, a chance to write, yes, a chance to read, yes, a chance to party- but also an opportunity to become the dynamic, empathetic graduates the world so desperately needs.

I cannot wait to see how you grow over your time here and whatever comes your way, I can promise, the SU will have your back.

Thank you