Dylan Lewis-Creser is a candidate for Sustainability and Development Officer in this year’s SU elections.
Forge asked why they think their role is important. They said there’s two sides to it: “making the SU and the university more green.”
They said: “It’s important that the SU is not just environmentally sustainable, but also socially and financially.
“If we don’t have the money situation right then we can’t do the other good things the SU is for”.
The other side is development, which they said is: “linked into that and important in terms of making sure the SU stays around to offer services to students, like the Student Advice Centre, to be a social hub and to have our outlets.”
Forge asked what Dylan Lewis-Creser’s motivation is for being a candidate.
They said: “Particularly for Sustainability and Development, I think I’m well suited, I have a lot of experience in working on national sustainability initiatives,
“I’ve been a general and a local election candidate.”
They said: “In terms of development, I have experience, currently sitting as a governance member for another multi-million pound turnover membership charity in the Royal Town Planning Institute”.
They added: “I think it’s important to have someone who is financially literate, knows how to deal with membership organisations, and can navigate around the difficult financial environment we’re in at the moment”.
They said: “I’ve also worked in the SU, currently working in the democracy team. I know how this place works and how to get stuff done.
“I think we need to have someone who’s competent at navigating those, but also doesn’t shy away from actually doing big things to make the SU listen”.
Forge asked about their campaign and manifesto ideas. They told us their big three points: “The first is ring fencing resources for the Student Advice Centre.
“Students say they care about cost of living, mental health, and financial issues.
“The Student Advice Centre is a massive help for that”.
They said: “I think making sure that in the context of us getting less money from the university with inflation, we need to make sure we’re safeguarding the most important services for students,
“And I think that’s the Student Advice Centre”.
Dylan Lewis-Creser’s second point is about opening a new community garden: “In the SU, I think it’s important that people understand where they get their food from and see it in action”.
They said: “I think the space outside Coffee Revolution on the Concourse would be a fantastic place to have a greenhouse or an allotment.
“Also to pressure the university to use their spaces to have similar initiatives and open it up to our student groups. So, VegSoc, Allotment society; I think they’d be really important in that”.
Their third point is: “To increase transparency in the SU. We have SU council six times a year, we have forums, but a lot of that is a one-way thing where students are telling us what to do.
“I would publish a monthly financial report on the SU’s finances, what we’re focusing on and where difficult decisions have to be made.”
They said: “I’ll use our forum system to inform decisions more widely.
“Students like postgraduate researchers, PDRs and mature students don’t get as involved in the SU because they don’t see us as having as much to offer them”.
They said: “I think I would make an active impact and reach out to those groups to find out why, to change that.
“Ultimately our job as the SU is to represent students, and if we’re not doing that for all students I don’t think we’re doing that at all really.”
Forge asked if they had anything to add. They said: “Essentially, I think I’m the candidate who will prioritise the SU’s holistic sustainability, so not just environmental but also making sure we are reaching out to groups that we don’t traditionally reach out to.
“Making sure that the SU gets to stay around for a hundred years more to ensure that we’re offering services to students and being a hub.
“I don’t think the university can offer that. I don’t think the wider city can really offer that.
“It has to be done by students and the SU is the best way to do that”.
