Hello fellow Students! My name is Richard Toner. I am standing for School Officer in Business and Creative Industries, currently a student here at UWS, Paisley studying BA (Hons), Tourism Management 3rd year. I am also the class representative. You have probably seen me wheeling around the campus in my wheelchair chasing for the lifts or in the coffee shop getting a flat white. I live in Troon, South Ayrshire. I am an approachable and outgoing person, always up for a chat. Come up and say hi the next time you see me. I have a physical disability and dyslexia and have experienced many challenges throughout my life, at times thinking I wasn’t going to get anywhere. However, I always managed to lift barriers and show people that my disability doesn’t stop me from taking part in society.
Before university, I attended college and studied HNC and HND Travel and Tourism, and was a vice class rep in HNC and class rep in HND. I enjoyed doing representative roles because I am a good listener and have great communication skills being able to give structured feedback to course management and presidents. I was always willing to support my classmates during good and difficult times. I have put myself forward to be a School Officer because I am a hard-working student who wants to support students and reps to improve their student experience.
I have good interpersonal skills and can build successful working relationships with the students and staff and able to work in a team. Once I am elected, I’m very keen to build on my existing skills while volunteering as a School Officer and throughout my degree. I find supporting people and helping them overcome difficult challenges in their academic year rewarding.
I am part of the Rep Society and have a close connection with other reps. From this, I can process and deliver student feedback to the school board and the senate. I would like to contribute to transforming and modernising student learning and encourage class reps to interact and communicate with fellow students to gather feedback within BCI making it easier for you to get access to the right information. I would like to make students' voices heard and have an enjoyable and smooth experience at UWS. As a current student here a UWS, I understand, the needs and struggles that students and representatives face before starting their academic journey.
I would make a good candidate and use my experience to try to support fellow students and reps enjoy their time at UWS help overcome any issues or barriers and raise awareness of all disabilities, visible or not. For me to do this, I promise to be available and visible around the university and to meet and listen to as many people as possible. This will allow you to raise your voice and be heard. This is why I should stand for election: because I feel strong and capable enough to raise these barriers in your school.