Friday 27-06-2025 - 13:00

 
To mark their final day in office, after a fantastic year – we're celebrating the work that our Full Time Officers (FTOs) have done for Lancaster students.

 

 
 
This academic year, LUSU made big changes to how Full-Time Officers function. A new structure, and a new mandate provided the team (including three who were in their second term) with a fresh perspective on student life in a time of wide-spread cost-of-living fears. The new structure gave your FTOs the opportunity to work on their own self-led projects and campaigns, making impact in the places that matter most to students.
 

 
Jack Watson: Vice-President Sport July 2023 – July 2024, Activities Officer July 2024 – July 2025 
 

From his work as VP Sport, to this year as Activities Officer, as well as interim President, Jack’s success in his roles has been vast.  

A Double Roses Win! 
Of course, we have to talk about Roses.  

During his time as both VP Sport, and Activities Officer, Jack has been crucial in the major victory of two Roses wins for Lancaster – Home Roses in 2024, and Away Roses in 2025. 

This gives Lancaster the longest running winning spree in Roses history – after all, Roses are Red! 

 

Keeping things Green
Jack has continuously engaged with LUSU Green in LUSU’s Carbon Reduction Plan, working to make sure we continue on a greener path. 

This also involved the recruitment of a new sportswear provider for all Lancaster sport clubs, allowing students to access a wide range of good value, environmentally sustainable, and gender inclusive merchandise and team wear that provide a sense of identity while at Lancaster.  
 
 
Sport at LUSU 
Sport has grown significantly during Jack’s time as an officer. After a Sport Review, establishing the Sport Committee during his time as VP Sport allowed for continued engagement and support for clubs within the union.  

A review of the Sport Access Fund also gave crucial funding to students, giving them affordable access to sport. 

 
 
Harrison Stewart: Vice-President Union Development July 2023 – July 2024, Education Officer July 2024 – July 2025 
 

Over the course of two years and two roles, Harrison has had a huge impact on the student experience at LUSU. 
 
Helping your Reps
Throughout his time as Education Officer, Harrison worked with the Union’s Voice team to develop a comprehensive training and development programme for Academic Reps at LUSU. This included the annual Academic Rep Conference, in which over 100 members of the Academic Rep Community attended! 

This work enhanced rep’s confidence, preparing them for their roles and giving them the opportunity to be strong candidates for student leadership and beyond.  

Climate and Sustainability 
One of Harrison’s priorities during his time as an officer at LUSU was embedding climate and sustainability education into Lancaster University programmes. 

Through the university’s new Curriculum Transformation Programme, Harrison has been able to work with the university on inclusion of students in approval processes for new programmes, engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to do so. 

Sugarhouse Sponsorship Scheme
Harrison also dedicated a lot of time to working with and improving the Union’s commercial subsidiaries, particularly the Sugarhouse – a major part of the student experience at LUSU. 

The launch of the Sugarhouse Sponsorship Scheme provided funding support to student sport clubs at Lancaster while also strengthening relationships between Sugar and students.  
 
 

Ella Smith: Wellbeing Officer July 2024 – July 2025 

Coming into a (mostly) pre-established team, Ella still shone, leading on many successful projects throughout her time at LUSU
 
Introducing the Womens+ Network
Ella has engaged in a number of projects during her year in office, particularly in her work for the Womens+ community on campus. 

Alongside your Women’s+ Officer, Millie Ni-Elle Ashton, Ella helped set up and restructure the Women’s+ Network, a liberation group designed to support women+ students and the campaigns that matter to them - from initiatives such as ‘She Calls the Shots’ to the ‘Free Flow’ Campaign.   

Stop Sexual Misconduct and Harassment Campaign
One of her pledges as Wellbeing Officer was to prioritise safety for students, specifically challenging the University to implement a more robust policy on sexual misconduct and harassment. 

This involved engaging with students on campus to gather insight and data, hosting demonstrations on campus, and directly engaging with university colleagues to make change. Since the last campaign update, the University has committed to implementing high quality consent training. 
 
 
Engaging International Students
Another area of focus for Ella, has been the inclusion of International Students in LUSU events. 

This involved the creation of the International Meet and Greet: An opportunity for international students to meet one another and engage with the services LUSU and Lancaster has to offer. Alongside the International Students’ Forum, Ella was able to provide International Students with a supportive environment within LUSU. 
 
 
 

Cerys Evans: LUSU President from July 2023 – March 2025 

 
During her time as President of LUSU, Cerys led on many initiatives, many of which still impact LUSU now.
 
National Representation on BBC Question Time 
In 2024, Cerys featured on BBC Question Time, a high-profile debate programme where members of the public question guest speakers. She used this platform to highlight how the growing cost-of-living crisis was (and still is) affecting university students.

Her appearance on Question Time gained over 3 million views online, leading to further television appearances on ITV.

 
From LUSU to Policymakers
Beyond the media, Cerys has also taken student concerns directly to policymakers. She has been invited to Parliament three times, including as a guest speaker, and much more. 

The Officer Review
The Officer Review process was led by Cerys, who reviewed the previous team structure and explored how students could be better represented. She consulted widely, engaging with society execs, student trustees, and other student leaders to ensure the changes reflected student priorities.
 
 

A Fond Farewell
 
From the hundreds of hours of campaigning, outreach and lobbying - this is just a small portion of the work your FTOs have done throughout their time in office. We’d like to wish them all a very happy farewell, and good luck on their future endeavours - whatever it is, we know they will smash it!
 
We look forward to welcoming in the new Full-Time Officer team for the 2025/26 Academic Year from Monday 30th June.