Election Address

I am Mark Prichard, a third-year Economics student. I play cricket for the university and football through the intramural setup. I am Treasurer of the Cricket Club, a large club that thrives on its highly active, mixed membership.

The biggest regret of my first year was not being part of the University’s sporting community: joining a Sports Union club has significantly enhanced my student life at Edinburgh, allowing me to participate and compete in sport. More importantly it has given me a really positive social experience. I’m passionate about reducing the barriers to joining sports clubs as I have seen first-hand how transformative it can be on a number of levels.

As Treasurer of the Cricket Club, I first focused on the basics ensuring the financial information was accurate and accessible through an array of different spreadsheets. After this I then sought out to financially futureproof the club. However, the role of Treasurer is much more than spreadsheets and I have continuously applied my communication skills, financial knowledge, and judgement to influence key club decisions. I am proud to say the Cricket club is now on a more secure financial footing, which demonstrates my aptitude for the role.

Manifesto

Increasing participation in university sport

The physical, social, and mental wellbeing benefits of sports are clear. Increasing student participation within the Edinburgh University sporting system would undoubtedly be positive. I strongly believe barriers to participation must be minimised. This is particularly critical given the current financial strains student find themselves in. In my current role I have raised awareness of the Participation Grant to drive club membership. This grant needs to be more widely communicated, alongside any other financial support on offer. My goal would be to use all possible routes to stop affordability reducing sporting participation to ensure as many students as possible benefit from engaging in sport.

Proactive engagement with club committees

I found the Treasurer training extremely useful. However, I believe greater knowledge sharing and networking amongst sports clubs’ committees and for treasurers would lead to stronger clubs. I will commit to increasing awareness of the financial opportunities for clubs and create forums for sharing ideas. I wish to provide more support to club treasurers, for example greater support for the completion of “Treasurer” spreadsheets.  I am committed to make myself available to sports club’s committees and their treasurers throughout the year, particularly to ensure there are channels for any issues to be brought up earlier so they can be effectively dealt with.

Ensure a wide variety of vibrant sport clubs for Edinburgh University

We need clubs to be well equipped and support performance athletes. I wish to ensure the funding for expensive equipment and elite sport participation is targeted to maximise results. However, I am also committed to ensuring this funding is spread across a wide variety of clubs and types of members so that no one is overlooked through short sighted funding decisions.