Over the past term we have been campaigning to encourage students to register to vote in the upcoming General Election. The campaign, entitled 'My Vote Matters' and led by the four current Presidents, has been pushing for students to participate in order to ensure that the next government is truly representative of all members of our society.

FXU members predominantly live across two marginal constituencies, Camborne and Redruth and Falmouth and Truro. As such we have focussed our campaign upon these constituencies and getting students registered to vote before the 20 April deadline.

There has been a hive of activity surrounding the initiative. Four MP Grills (two per constituency) have been hosted on the campuses over the course of the last term. These included the prospective candidates for each constituency and have had a range of chairs, including the current President of the National Union of Students (NUS), Toni Pearce. All of the events have been well attended with a good mix of students and members of the local community asking tricky questions tackling issues such as student fees, the NHS, the environment and the economy. 

We are also supporting BBC Radio Cornwall and the Royal Cornwall Museum to hold two further hustings events after Easter.

Registration drives have also been key to the campaign and on numerous occasions we have been out asking students why they feel their vote matters and encouraging them to register. Most notably, we held a multi-campus Voter Registration Day, utilising alpacas, llamas, a bouncy castle, free organic vegetables and discounts on lunches to draw focus towards the General Election. Throughout the day, registration stalls were set up for students to join the electoral register, with thanks to a successful bid for funding from the NUS. It is estimated that approximately 300 students registered to vote on this day and a further drive is planned for Thursday 26 March.

For Polling Day itself, a polling booth will be installed on Penryn Campus for residents of Glasney Student Village and members of the wider community to vote in. This is a massive credit to the FXU team, the electoral office, students, staff and members of the wider community, who collectively lobbied for a station. Free transport to their respective polling stations will also be provided for those students who do not live on site.

Since the launch of the campaign, voter registration figures in university accommodation have increased by 438%! Over the Easter break, we will be pushing to increase this figure even higher with online content whilst the students are off-campus. Overall, we hope that our efforts have encouraged students to participate and help shape the future of the wider community, of which they are proud to be a part.

If you have yet to register to vote, please go to www.gov.uk/register-to-vote by 20 April. You will need your National Insurance Number but if you are a student and do not have this please click 'I do not have my National Insurance Number' and the electoral office will run your details against the university register. Anybody originally from a Commonwealth Country is also eligible to vote. To find out if your home country is part of the Commonwealth follow this link http://thecommonwealth.org/member-countries.

For more information on the 'My Vote Matters' campaign, and for an overview of the candidates standing in the constituencies, head over to our online resource at www.fxu.org.uk/myvotematters.