Email sent to members Friday 31st July 2026.
Dear Members
Today is the last day for me as President of our branch committee. As you know, I did not stand for election again for next year, due to failing health (CMVS/ME) and now needing to learn the adjustments I will need to be able to work as a trade unionist and anatomist/physiologist delivering fundamental science mostly on maternofetal vascular complications in pregnancies and teaching medical students.
I was very lucky, in that coming to the picket lines during our strikes in the last decade, I met some amazing colleagues, whose clarity of what is right and what is wrong, and how we can change it, made me completely understand how workers have rights and can demand them, within the law, and persuade management on what a university is about. We have a strong membership, amazing Reps and Rep systems, fantastic committee. This helped us win most of our fights, there were huge inroads in equality, decent working hours, freedom of speech, voicing staff concerns etc. The neo-liberal marketized philosophy, unfortunately, is still trying to diminish our universities and of course our own beautiful university. The fight continues, and we will challenge again and again.
Looking back, I joined the committee as an Equality Officer, then Secretary, then Vice-President, under the tutelage of fantastic Presidents like Matt, Agnes, Howard and Andreas. The committee members all brought their own strengths and expertise, whether government laws, Trade union rights, Case-work, and from different disciplines that allowed us to understand the totality of what a university is. As President, I was plunged into the Future Nottingham Fights, and here, yet again our members, our Reps, our committee with their collective approach to approved next steps , to stop this size and shrink, which completely ignored the importance of language, philosophy, music, and wants to diminish the sciences by reducing research time and pushing towards applied research and AI. In the last 2 years, using our rallies, picket lines, the mutually agreed JNCC meetings on university policies and our Consultation meetings during FN1 and FN2, we have spent many hours explaining the principles of right and wrong, arguing against the necessity of large SSRs, reduced research time, course closures and the unnecessary loss of livelihoods. We have together, managed to make Senior Management rethink, and accept that they had to revise the business case. Unfortunately, their tardiness in all this and their incomprehensibility of how much heart ache and stress all this is causing, continues! So we keep on the fighting.
As of 1 August, the new elected committee will start. We have a fabulous President, Nick Clare. There are new elected members who joined the committee (see below), I am honoured to still be on it despite some rumours!). We of course have our usual turnover of Reps, within the rotating system from individual schools. Our Comms Officers will update the website with their names, and mugshots I hope.
Officers UCU Nottingham University:
President: Nick Clare
Vice President: Andreas Bieler (semester 1); Mel Bhend (semester 2)
Secretary: Andrew Renault
Equalities and Workload: Jenny Elliott
Past President: Lopa Leach
Treasurer: Tony Padilla
Membership Secretary & rep organiser: Will Paterson-Bassett & Ella Guerin
Casework coordinator & Policy Review Lead: Onni Gust
Casework (and Health & Safety): Cyril Rauch
Health & Safety: Andrew Jackson
Workload Officer and Rep: Mel Bhend (semester 1)
APM Officer: Andrew Armstrong
Equalities Officer: Lisa Rull
Communications Officer: Tom Coogan
Social Media Officer: Peter Woods
Green Officer: Alan Barker
Ordinary members without portfolio:
Cecilia Testa
Marta Aloi
Peter Rutherford
Nabil Fadai
Hannah Robbins
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The reason for writing this today, is also because I wanted to thank you. It was a privilege and an honour to serve you.
Keep strong, we will stop this downward spiral.
All my solidarity,
Lopa