A campaign is when people come together to work towards a shared goal. You may recognise some campaigns from the news and social media, such as Greta Thunberg's School Strike for Climate, Black Lives Matter or #MeToo. These very visible campaigns all have something in common, they started with someone saying 'Enough! Things must change' A seed of an idea can change the minds of thousands of people.

Your Student Rights Team believe that each student has an idea for a campaign and together we have the people power to support them.

What is not a campaign?

If this sounds like you, seek advice from our specialist team at the Advice Centre.

Contact the Societies Team here at the SU to create your own, or to find out if one already exists with your interests. We love societies here at the Student Campaigns Team. A ready-made group of mobilised students who have a shared interest? Sounds like our kind of crowd. If your society would like to create change, within the Union, university or on a larger scale – get in touch.

Confused? We understand. If you have an issue on your course, you have lots of options before you plan your campaign. Approach your Course Rep, Dept Rep or College Officer to let them know what’s not right. They can support making changes to your course. Still not sure? Contact our team and we can support you with your issue, whether it is a campaign or you just need some help linking with your Student Rep team – we can help you.

Sheffield Hallam Students' Union's 'Safety Net' campaign, which pressured the University to introduce policies to help students during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. The campaign was led by a combination of Student Reps, Officers and students. Campaigners presented evidence to the University to persuade them of the need. They also launched an extremely popular petition, filming student testimonials to create a social media campaign, to pressure the University. As a result, the 'Fairer Outcomes' policy was introduced.

Students have experienced poor housing for too long. Your SU created the Snug scheme to work with Sheffield City Council to specifically improve student housing. For a landlord to achieve this accreditation they must meet a specific set of standards which are monitored by Sheffield City Council. The homes must be inspected every two years and the landlords must behave in a professional and conscientious manner. SHU now only advertises Snug accredited properties.

We have just finished running our Black History Month work where we reflect on how we can support the Black students at Hallam in both celebrating their own cultures & supporting their wellbeing.

1. Choose your aim
2. Determine your outcome
3. Connect with others
4. Plan your tactics
5. Draft your timeline
6. Launch
7. Promote
8. Evaluate
9. A clear vision - what do you want to change? If this is clear to you, it will be clear to your audience.
10. People are power - if you can connect with other students, this will help. You can run a campaign alone, but it might be more challenging. The more people you have involved, the easier it will be to reach others. Your Union can help you connect with others, if you need us.
11. Turn non-engaged students into your champions - how can you get students interested in your campaign? Use those interested to help reach the masses!
12. Use your Union - our team specialises in campaigns and we can support you to shape your ideas into a fully formed campaign which has the potential to reach 37,000 SHU students and beyond.