Kia ora,

For us, the last two weeks have been packed full of events. We hope you have been enjoying them!

Two weeks ago, for our second week of Re-Orientation, we had an ice skating rink and a toboggan run with real snow in the Quad. A huge shout-out to Snow Sports Club and our amazing staff Ros, Aaron and Amy for making it happen. As you can tell from the photo above, it was a lot of fun!!

Last week was EcoFest, run by our wonderful Environmental Affairs Officer, Alex, in collaboration with environmental clubs and our Executive. There was an awesome team behind making it happen. On Tuesday there was a Ecofest market in the Quad with free smoothies being created using the energy from cycling, an Op Shop sale and giveaways, as well as a stall where you could make your own beeswax wraps, deodorant, toothpaste and body scrub from scratch with organic ingredients. On Tuesday night we screened the movie Princess Mononoke in Shadows. On Wednesday we worked with the University to run a Sustainable Market Day at the Epsom campus, with free smoothies of course! On Thursday we ran a vegetarian free breakfast for students at the city campus, with hash browns, hot chocolates, crumpets, baked beans, spaghetti and more. On the same day, we also brought the blender bike to the Grafton Campus with a range of games for students to take part in. Finally, on Friday night our AUPISA representative, Juliet, ran a Captain Planet themed quiz in Shadows. A huge thank you to everyone who made this week happen.

Last Wednesday, Ngā Tauira Māori did a fantastic job of running Māori Day – Te Rā Māori in the Quad, which celebrated Maori arts, culture and kai. In the evening, they had incredible artists like Aaradhna, Troy Kingi & Tribal Conexionz performing in Shadows. Stay tuned to hear more about it next week!

A shout-out also to our Welfare Vice President, Luke, for running our food drive last week and thank you so much to everyone who donated. Everything donated will go into the food parcels available to students. If you ever need a food parcel, just drop into AUSA Reception. Students can get up to three food parcels a semester. There is also free bread available for all students at AUSA Reception every Thursday and Friday. If you are in need of a Hardship Grant or a Dental Grant, applications are available on our website.

Finally, last week we were working with the University’s new Wellbeing Coordinators on how to better support students. You will be hearing more about wellbeing initiatives on campus soon and we would love your thoughts!

I hope you have a lovely week.

Ngā mihi,
Anna