Newcastle University Fellwalking Society

Being president of fellwalking is a very rewarding role. It requires a large time commitment. On trips your role is to lead walks and make decisions ensuring that the rest of committee are doing their jobs and that things aren’t overlooked.
You can drive the direction of the society having a large influence on the calender and ensuring everything runs smoothly.
You also talk to the Students union completing risk assessments in conjunction with welfare officer and trip forms. Being present and helping the society run is the main thing as well as welcoming new members and with the rest of committee helping members develop their own skills and help them to feel part of the community.
Basically if things don’t get done it comes back to you. Have fun in the hills. Good luck to all who apply.

The Welfare Secretary is responsible for making sure all members feel welcomed and supported in the society. This involves checking in on people during trips, being a point of contact for welfare concerns, and making sure events are as inclusive as possible and helping social sec with planning and running socials.

Hiya, I’m Liv and I’m the current Welfare Secretary for the Fellwalking Society. I’d recommend this role to anyone who enjoys looking out for others and wants to help make the society a welcoming space for everyone. If you’re good at listening, approachable, and care about inclusion, you’d be a great fit! One difficult thing about this role is ensuring you are able to spread a lot of time interacting with lots of new members to ensure they feel welcomed and there is a level of trust built. It is really enjoyable getting to know lots of new members and seeing them grow in their confidence and ability in mountaineering. Before being welfare secretary, I didn’t know how great of an impact small actions can have, like checking in with people and providing reassurance. To be good at this role, you need to be able to make people feel comfortable and trust coming to you when they need support or guidance.

Hi, my name is Em and I’m NUFWS Secretary. Being Secretary generally involves running the organisational side of the society (booking bunkhouses etc), as well as keeping members in the loop about what’s happening with the society (basically, sending weekly emails as well as info about trips!).

I’d recommend the role for anyone who considers themselves an organised person, as you have to make sure you keep tabs on what’s going on with the society in order to tell people about it. Also, you need to remember to book bunkhouses etc in good time. It also helps if you’re generally an approachable, friendly person, as people in the society need to know that they can get in touch with you if they have any questions about what’s going on.

One thing that can be a little frustrating about the role, is the time it takes to actually find good bunkhouses! It can take research to find one that meets the society’s requirements, in terms of where we want to go and how much we have to spend.

One thing that’s really enjoyable about the role is how much say you get over where the society goes! Since you play a big part in booking bunkhouses, you get a lot of say over where the society goes and when. You also get to attend lots of trips, since you always know when they’re happening in advance.

One thing I didn’t realise about the role, is just how many emails I’d have to send! Just remember, you really do need to tell members about EVERYTHING that’s going on with the society.

The main thing you need to be good at for this role is being a people person! You’ll spend a lot of time talking to people, both in regards to sending out the necessary emails, and answering any questions they have about the society.

The treasurer’s role is to keep track of money in the society, this includes keeping track of income through memberships, tickets, and grants but also deciding where and how much money is spent. In more detail, the treasurer has to sort out transport for the trips and also be able to account for expected and unexpected costs for every trip using educated estimates in order to decide ticket prices. Presenting the Finance Report at the AGM and handling refunds are also part of the treasurer’s responsibilities. This role is best suited for someone who wants to dedicate time for the society and wants to be involved in the decision-making as principal committee. Good time management and organisation skills are essential for a good Treasurer because even though the job is pretty straightforward, there’s a decent amount of time that needs to be spent updating spreadsheets regularly, creating tickets and booking transport. The best part of being treasurer is being involved in everything the society does without actually needing to be and do everywhere and everything, since almost in all decisions, finances is a key consideration. The treasurer needs to be committed to the society as although the main role is making sure the accounts balance the treasurer is involved in all parts of running the society.

The social media sec is responsible for running the social media and website, which mainly involves advertising and making posts after events/trips, as well as responding to queries.

Hi I’m Jacob and I’m the social media sec. I’d recommend this role to anyone who is interested in being responsible for the society’s branding and advertising, which is often the important first impression for new members. Or, to people who enjoy helping members out with queries and requests. Basically, those who want to influence how the society comes across. One difficult thing about this role is the amount of communication it requires, especially with the treasurer, social secs and president, who you’re constantly discussing info re trips and socials with. Something enjoyable about this role is designing the posts. During my tenure I wanted all the posts to have a consistent design language and to include humour, but you can be as creative as you like! One thing I didn’t realise when running for this role is how much time it takes to do the job properly; your essential duties are a big workload and and it’s important to be timely, even when not considering any extra fun things you might want to explore, so consider that if you want to run. To be good at this role, you need to be good at thinking about what members and non-members would want to see on the social media. This year in particular, we of course don’t have an instagram, and while that should be solved by the time of the handover, you’ll have to consider the high chance it’ll get taken down again and the stress of that when applying. Good luck!
P.S. You don’t have to be the chef too. Unless you want to.

As walk planner you create the routes for the day and weekend walks, as well as route cards for committee to use.

Hi I’m Matthew and I’m the walk planner. I’d recommend the role to anyone who likes to create and plan things within certain boundaries. Something difficult about the role is that you don’t choose where the trip is to, or where the coach parks for the day walks, so you sometimes have to get creative to make enjoyable walks. When running for the role I didn’t realise how much responsibility it actually is, as a good walk might be the difference between people becoming a regular or never showing up again. To be good at the role you need to have an attention to detail and know how to read a map.

My role involves taking inventory of the societies kit and making sure there is enough for people to borrow on the trips we run and extends to maintaining the kit. On day walks particularly the role is very hands on and requires you to plan and pack beforehand. Send any questions my way about the role L.cook11@newcastle.ac.uk

(You also have to do merch – dk why he didn’t mention that. Jacob)