Students of UCLan, the time to stand out and have your say will soon be upon us, and for this I urge all of you reading this to ensure you are registered to vote in the general election.

I know many students will ask themselves, “Why should I vote?” or “one vote won’t make a difference”. And it’s true, one vote may not seem to make that much difference, however, if as a student movement we stand up together, and we don’t ask ourselves these questions but think “we CAN make a difference TOGETHER”, then that is when we will effect change.

Imagine that you and your friend went to vote. Then your friend told their friend. And she told a couple more people. Who told more. Who told their families. Their colleagues. This chain reaction means that as students we are getting our issues raised and making people talk and vote about them.

Do you think it’s right that the government could take off the cap on tuition fees, allowing universities to charge upwards of £5,000 - £7,000 a year? Whilst talks of significantly reducing student support?

Or what about other issues, like the roads in your area, climate change or the NHS? These important issues affect us all, and are just the tip of the iceberg to reasons why you should vote.

To vote in any UK election you must be registered. As a students’ union, we believe that all of our students should register, so that when the general election is finally announced, you have the choice to vote. No registration, no vote, it’s as simple as that.

We are running numerous voter registration drives, organising husting events and producing information that will help you understand the election process. We want you all to be informed as much as you can, so you can make an informed decision.

Until then you can look at http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/ to get some information, or even start filling in the registration form at http://bit.ly/69X7NF

If you’re a student living away from home, you can register twice, both at home and your term time address. This gives you the choice on where you would like to vote.

And remember, whether you vote or not, somebody will get elected to represent us; as students, as people and as a country. Make sure it’s who you want it to be. Forgive me for getting so passionate about this, but the fight to make people realise that students are interested and will not just sit back and be ripped off has started…we have to make politicains realise we will not ignored any longer, listen to us!

Stand out and be counted….register NOW!

BWE x