The Plus Programme – share your voice

When I was moving from London to Leeds to start university it was difficult, as I didn’t have any family who could drive me with my things so I needed to hire a van to move my things. This was going to be really expensive, so I reached out to Lisa at the Plus Programme who helped me access money from the University which contributed to my moving costs.

After starting at Leeds, I went along to a social event for estranged and care experienced students where we got the chance to meet each other and have free food and drinks. I ended up meeting my best friend at this event which has also made me more confident, knowing there’s someone I can relate to who’s gone through similar things to me. We can support each other.

I’ve been in contact with Lisa quite a bit during my studies, as my situation is complicated where I’m technically only estranged from one parent. This made my student finance entitlements difficult as they wouldn’t accept my estranged student status, and reduced how much maintenance loan I was entitled to. Lisa gave me loads of advice on what I could do about this and she even wrote a letter, which they accepted and then increased my loan.

The Plus Programme has helped me feel like I belong at Leeds, knowing there’s a dedicated contact I can approach and having the opportunity to connect with other students like the group chat I’m in with other estranged students, where we share advice like what to do about guarantors.

Joanna, History student

I’ve engaged a lot with the Plus Programme during my time at Leeds and I’ve really enjoyed that the programme isn’t just one form of support – there are lots of different opportunities I can get involved with. I’ve been a member of the steering group for two years where I developed my event management skills and collaborated with other students, some of whom I became friends with outside of the group.

I accessed the Opportunities Fund to purchase smart clothes for a virtual internship I had at the Ministry of Defence, which I wouldn’t have been able to purchase otherwise as I’m from a low-income background and disabled so unable to work.

The Plus Programme has had a hugely positive impact on my student experience, primarily because of the variety of opportunities and the fact that I can pick and choose what I want to engage with.

The team is also so approachable and friendly. Not only do I actually know what the team looks like, it’s not a faceless entity, but I also really do feel like they care about students as individuals.

Emma, English and Comparative Literature student

One of the best pieces of advice I could give any student is to join some societies at some point during your time at university. There is literally something for everyone and it’s a perfect way to make new friends and productively fill your spare time.

I had gotten really into jazz music during college so when I saw that there was a non-auditioned music performance society devoted to jazz and blues I signed up straight away. Because everyone there shared the same passion for jazz as I did, I made friends the first week and there was no pressure to be a confident performer straight away because you have the freedom to choose to perform or just listen.

Through the weekly rehearsals, drinks in Old Bar, and various socials at gigs and themed club nights, both my performance and social confidence grew drastically as well as my organisational skills and ability to work within a team. Towards the end of the year, I decided I wanted to contribute even more to the society that had made my first year at uni so much fun. The time was coming for a new committee to be chosen for the following year and it was the perfect opportunity to take on some more responsibility and develop more skills alongside my studies.

I asked current committee members about their roles in the society; what their responsibilities were, what skills made them good for the role, and how much they’ve enjoyed it.

I decided to run for the role of secretary because I already had good organisational and communication skills that would come in useful for organising gigs and promoting events over social media.

I planned a short speech for the annual general meeting, including how much the society meant to me, the skills I already had relating to the role and some of the ideas I had for next year. Although there was no competition because no one else ran for the same role, it was still useful to prepare for the speech beforehand to demonstrate that I would do a good job as Secretary nonetheless. So far, I have really enjoyed working with my fellow committee members planning for the upcoming year and I cannot wait to meet the new students joining us!