The task of a Union has always been to represent, to unite, to stand tall and proud in the name of the membership and in one true voice to hold those in power to account. Portsmouth Students' Union is no exception.

On the second of Febuary I will be taking students to lobby John Denham, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills at his constituancy office in Bitterne.

We will be meeting up with students from Southampton, Reading, Oxford and Chichester to present Denham with petitions containing thousands of signatures from students calling against spirraling debt, against increased fees and for a fairer education system based on the abillity to learn not the abillity to pay.

Denham will be a key figure in Government when the top-up fees cap is reviewed in 2009. If the cap is lifted institutions such as Portsmouth will be free to charge anything from £3000 to £12,000 extra per year. This will push back equality in the education system back by a hundred years. We are calling for Denham to use his position to influrence the future of education to benefit both the students of today and the students of tomorrow.

Free transportation is provided:

9:30 - 10AM Gunhouse Carpark (Students' Union)

To secure your place contact me at: Ben.norman@port.ac.uk

2007 has been a busy year, a year of change, it has been a year of new problems and of new solutions. Now that 2008 is upon us the question must now be asked, what has your Union done for you in 2007 and, perhaps more importantly, what are we going to do in 2008? The following is a brief report about what has been achieved in the field of activities and development as well as my goals for the months ahead.

Before we continue I would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to the hard working permanent members of staff who strives hard to make this Union work and without whose support none of the developments mentioned below would be possible. Thanks must go to Steve Baker, Mike Cooter, Rena Ellis, Tracey Anderson and Cherylyn Cuthbert for their continued dedication to UPSU, especially in those areas mentioned below.

At Presidents day at the start of term I stated that the academic year 2007/2008 would be “the year of the society”, I predicted an increase in society representation, activity and ownership of the Union and urged those present to hold me to my claim. It is with great pleasure that I report that as of December 2007 the number of students who are signed up members of societies has now passed the 3060 mark, with 500 outstanding membership forms. This means that, provided those forms are returned, society members now outnumber AU club members, this makes societies the largest, most diverse and most representative group of students within the Union and a proud testament to everything the Union stands for.

Since I took office in July we have seen the establishment of many new societies and we have also seen a huge rise in society events. From the creation of the new Hellenic and Cypriot society who have hosted live football, and a very successful Greek night, to the outstanding events organised by the Hindu society. Finally these, and many other society events, are getting the publicity and the credit they deserve, not only from the wider media but also from UPSU’s new Pugwash news Newspaper created by media officer Alex Harries. Thanks to Alex societies now have the opportunity to raise their profile and show the world the great things they have done.