Brazen SU officers condemned for Union funded bowling trip

Several union officers are under fire after apparently planning to use Union cash to fund a jolly up. 

Yesterday a screenshot of the closed Facebook group ‘ULSU Officers 2014/15’ appeared online showing SU officers, including President Michael Rubin, planning to spend Union money on a team building trip.

This comes after recent Union spending cuts.

Part-time Environment Officer Jack Reynard suggested a bowling trip so long as the taxi can be paid for with SU money.

Rubin appears in agreement with the suggestion and refers to it as “team building”.

The screenshot was taken by one of the part-time SU officers and sent to a friend. From there it was leaked to Facebook where it quickly drew attention and angry comments from students.

The leak, who insisted on anonymity, said: “As someone who runs a society, it annoyed me that they have cut back on funding for societies just to spend money willy-nilly. It feels like a slap in the face.”

He added: “Myself and people who are involved in the SU have been pushing for greater levels of transparency and haven’t really been having much success with it, I’m hoping this will help that along.”

Following the attention of the Facebook post the whistleblower received a phone call from the SU officers who “were very angry with her.”

There are now concerns that she will be forced to resign from her position.

ULSU President Michael Rubin denied the claims. He said: “No money has been spent on an officer social.

“Each year the union sets aside funds for officer team building and development to make sure we have the best officer team to represent you, of which most are voluntary, unpaid students.

“Overall the budget for sports clubs and societies this year has increased by £15,000, with the grant to societies increasing by £1000, despite a very tight Union budget.

“Supporting societies is always a top priority, and any funds used for officer team building and development are from a completely different budget and do not impact society funds.”

When asked specifically about the screenshot, Rubin declined to comment.