Zee Iqbal.
Candidate for VP Wellbeing & Diversity
My name is Zeshan Iqbal, and I’m running to be your next Vice President of Wellbeing and Diversity. I am the founder of Young Minds are Precious, a mental health advocacy organisation as well as a member of diversity UK and Royal Holloway’s own Mentality.
Having been part of the Royal Holloway community for over four years now, I’ve been taught many life skills and I feel it’s time for me to give back to the University which has made me into who I am today
As VP wellbeing and diversity, I want to:
Increase student safety around campus and within union venues.
As VP, I want to:
• Enhance education around anti-spiking to tackle the nationwide spiking crisis.
• Implement more support for victims of spiking, to ensure a safe return to union venues.
• Make drug testing kits more accessible to students after nights out so they can check if they were drugged or spiked.
• Increase security cameras to those areas in union venues and around campus that are not already covered.
• Lobby for more sustainable lighting on campus for when it is dark and for more security outside buildings during evenings.
Focus and commit resources towards the mental health and wellbeing of students
As VP, I want to:
• Have more counselling and wellbeing support outside normal working hours by trying to extend these services to midnight.
• Bring SU shop delivery back for those struggling with their mental or physical health.
• Introduce quiet relaxation zones around campus so students can take a step back from a busy day when they are feeling overwhelmed.
Support and communicate with diverse student groups
As VP, I want to
• Organise multicultural and diverse events all year around, not just during history months and liberation months.
• Introduce culture swap sessions to give students the opportunity to learn about the wide variety of cultures and faiths that make up our student body.
• Give more support to people who have experienced discrimination and try to provide platforms for their voice to be heard.
If you want to #Zeethechange, vote for me between 14th-16th March 2022!