Update on UBLHC Campaign
Recently many of you will have seen the campaign from University of Bristol Ladies Hockey Club (UBLHC), challenging us on the content of our code of conduct and the support offered to student groups affected by sexual violence.
We are taking the concerns that UBLHC have raised very seriously and are fully committed to taking urgent and positive action.
We want to unreservedly apologise for the fact that our code of conduct is out of date and has been for some time. We are incredibly sorry and saddened that this has led to a loss of trust and that students have felt unsupported around sexual violence. This contradicts what we stand for and it’s clear that you’ve been let down by how we’ve handled this. We will do all we can to address this and regain your trust in time.
We understand the deep frustrations of UBLHC and respect their right to protest. We have had and are continuing to have meetings with their representatives and we want to thank them for continuing to engage with and challenge us on this.
We have apologised directly to their representatives for the distress and hurt they've experienced, and the impact it has had on all those involved. We have made a commitment to UBLHC on a range of actions, including a full review and revision of the Code of Conduct, undertaken in a trauma informed way with relevant external expertise, and making improvements to the support and signposting available for student group leaders. This work will be supported by consultation with UBLHC and our other student groups.
With reaffiliation opening this week we want to assure our student leaders that they will not be asked to sign our current code of conduct.
This is an ongoing process but we understand this is a very important subject and we will be keeping everyone informed along the way. We expect to give more updates, which will be available for all students, in the coming weeks about the next steps which will be taken. Once again, we are very sorry and will do better in the future.
