Orla Hillary, MDXSU Vice President Health & Education and Science & Tech, has been elected to the NUS Society and Citizenship Zone Committee.

Orla was one of just six candidates to be elected to the committee, with double the number of candidates for the total number of seats. As part of the committee, Orla will help shape the work of the National Union of Students (NUS), and represent students - Middlesex included - on a national level, championing the issues you care about and fighting for changes you want to see.

NUS is responsible for helping and supporting students across the country, both in their studies and their lives more generally. To help make sense of this huge remit and the different areas involved, the work of NUS is divided into five 'Zones', with elected Zone Committees helping to plan and support the work within their area.

Orla will be sitting on the Society and Citizenship Zone, which works and campaigns on issues that affect students in wider society and the world – such as environmental issues, involvement in national democracy, global conflict, students in the community, volunteering, world poverty and political issues in the community.

This Zone will be an extension of many of Orla’s responsibilities at Middlesex Students’ Union: alongside representing the Schools of Health & Education and Science & Technology, Orla is also the Student Officer responsible for RAG (Raise and Give), sport, volunteering, ethics and environment.

Orla stood for the her place on the committee in order to ensure students do not lose their voice or their vote, highlighting that the government is currently stripping thousands of students of this by de-registering them - "being able to vote is a right not a privilege."

Now elected, Orla has promised to "protect the voice of students in their communities, ensuring students do not lose their say because students votes matter... [and to] campaign for more inclusive communities, because stories like mine aren’t unique”.