Student Council approves annual male mental health campaign

By Zoë Crowther, Students’ Union Correspondent

The latest Student Council saw every single motion get passed, including a male mental health campaign to be run by Bristol SU every November.

The event on Tuesday, November 20, achieved record attendance for any Bristol SU democratic event. With 234 students present, excluding late-comers, each motion was passed with a strong majority.

Isaac Haigh, Co-founder of Support our Services campaign group (SOS), spoke in favour of introducing a ‘Man Feelings’ campaign to promote positive masculinity and openness surrounding male mental health problems. In his speech, he highlighted the stigma surrounding the issue:

‘Men must be stoic, unemotional, strong and powerful, but are unable to show weakness. We must challenge these stereotypes together. With the SU’s help I will set up a short trial campaign in February with the aim to get one started every year in November linking with Movember.’
Isaac Haigh, Co-founder of SOS

The Undergraduate Education Officer Nasra Ayub posed the question of how this campaign would consider intersectional identities, with Haigh responding that there would be collaboration with societies and SU Networks to ensure that a diverse collection of student voices would be heard.

Speaking to Epigram, Isaac Haigh of SOS offered his thoughts on the male mental health campaign being successfully pushed through: 'I am really happy that this motion has passed. I can’t wait to get started and engage students. I’ve often felt I can’t get help and I know that other students have felt the same. I’m just trying to help students not suffer alone.’

Another motion passed was the support for the Movement Against Immigration Detention and the Hostile Environment. The proposing speaker, Syirah Ami, said ‘There are currently international students in detention. The motion basically asks the SU to provide support for movements that are campaigning.’

There were some questions from voting members of the Council: Izzy Posen, President of the Free Speech Society, asked about the politicisation of Bristol SU policies. Similar concerns were raised surrounding the SU’s position in favour of another referendum on Brexit.

Active opposition to Brexit was listed by Sally Patterson, Liberation, Equality and Access Officer, as one of the manifesto points that she is continuing to work on. Each SU officer gave updates of their progress and their plans for the rest of the academic year.

Felix Manocha-Seymour, Chair of the Disabled Students’ Network, argued the need for improvement to the accessibility of societies for those with disabilities. The motion passed to introduce mandatory training for one committee member of every society, who shall then take responsibility for ensuring that the society is inclusive.

Manocha-Seymour said: ‘Given how many disabled students feel excluded from societies at the moment, I think that the benefit would definitely justify the tiny amount of extra effort.’

Students also voted in favour of ratifying all the motions from the previous Student Council, including policies to confront transmisogyny on campus.

After the event finished, Stanford, Union Affairs Officer, said: ‘Best Student Council ever! So many people in the room, a really conciliatory environment, very relaxed, very positive.’

Featured image: Epigram / Nina Bryant

If you are concerned about someone, or need help yourself, please contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
Other student support services include:
Young Minds https://youngminds.org.uk/ 0808 802 5544
Nightline https://www.nightline.ac.uk/want-to-talk/
Papyrus https://www.papyrus-uk.org/ 0800 068 41 41
Student Minds http://www.studentminds.org.uk/findsupport.html