Inclusivity and accessibility

Bullying is offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour involving the misuse of power that can make a person feel vulnerable, upset, humiliated, undermined or threatened. Power does not always mean being in a position of authority, but can include both personal strength and the power to coerce through fear or intimidation.

Bullying can take the form of physical, verbal and non-verbal conduct. Non-verbal conduct includes postings on social media outlets. Bullying may include, for example:

• shouting at, being sarcastic towards, ridiculing or demeaning others
• physical or psychological threats
• overbearing and intimidating levels of supervision
• inappropriate and/or derogatory remarks about someone's performance
• abuse of authority or power by those in positions of seniority
• deliberately excluding someone from meetings or communications without good reason

Harassment is unwanted physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct which may (intentionally or unintentionally) violate a person’s dignity or create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment, which interferes with an individual’s learning, working or social environment. It also includes treating someone less favourably because they have submitted or refused to submit to such behaviour in the past.

Unlawful harassment may involve sexual harassment or be related to a protected characteristic such as age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.  At Sheffield Hallam University we believe harassment is unacceptable even if it does not fall within any of these categories. 

Some forms of harassment are considered a hate crime.  A hate incident or crime is any act of violence or hostility against a person or property that is motivated by hostility or prejudice due to a particular protected characteristic. 

Harassment may include, for example:

• unwanted physical conduct or ‘horseplay’, including touching, pinching, pushing, grabbing, brushing past someone, invading their personal space and more serious forms of physical or sexual assault
• offensive or intimidating comments or gestures, or insensitive jokes or pranks
• mocking, mimicking or belittling a person’s disability
• racist, sexist, homophobic or ageist jokes, or derogatory or stereotypical remarks about a particular ethnic or religious group or gender
• outing or threatening to out someone as gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans
• ignoring or shunning someone, for example, by deliberately excluding them from a conversation or a social activity.

A person may be harassed even if they were not the intended 'target'. For example, a person may be harassed by racist ‘banter’ about a different ethnic group if the ‘banter’ creates an offensive environment.

As a Hallam student, you can apply for up to £50 from our Activities Inclusion Fund to help cover the costs of extracurricular activities, such as SU events and societies, that you may not otherwise have been able to engage with.

The Fund provides year-round funding support to all Hallam students so you don't have to miss out on fun, enriching experiences that can enhance your uni life.

Apply for funding

What the fund can be used for:

• Society membership fees
• Society events e.g. trips, balls (excluding trips abroad)
• Activities conducted by SU Officers or Reps
• SU events (excluding club nights)
• Rental of equipment to participate in society activity
• Travel to/from HSU volunteering opportunities
• Attending conferences/networking activity linked to society activity
• HSU Awards Ball

What the fund cannot be used for:

• Resources when running as an election candidate
• Trips abroad
• Club nights
• Course-related activities (your activities must be extra-curricular)

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the Activities Inclusion Fund, you must:

• have less than £1,000 in your bank account/savings
• have not made an application for the Activities Inclusion Fund in the past 4 weeks
• have not been successful in receiving funding from the Activities Inclusion Fund previously this academic year
• not be claiming in retrospect for activities that have already taken place

Successful applications must be spent within 2 months of funding confirmation and will be reallocated to the overall funding pot if unclaimed.

Reasons you may be unsuccessful in your application:

• You have a positive bank balance we consider to be adequate to self-funding (e.g. £1,000 after taking into consideration rent payments for the student loan period)
• The planned activity is outside the scope of the Fund (i.e. Sports Teams - see Sport Hardship Fund)
• The planned activity is within 10 working days of the application being submitted (e.g. an SU or society event)
• No information relating to personal or exceptional circumstances is provided
• The planned activity is excluded in the above list

Funding spaces are limited, and we will communicate when all funds have been allocated. After this, applicants will be placed onto a wait list for if/when further funds become available.

How your application will be assessed

We'll review your application based on the information and evidence provided, and we'll contact you with a decision within 10 working days of submitting your application (excluding the Winter teaching break).

All applications will be dealt with confidentially, with discretion and integrity. Those administering proposed activity (e.g. Societies, SU Events team, etc) will not be informed of any application or support allocated from the Fund unless permission is given.

If you think there has been an issue with the handling of the submission, please use our complaints procedure.

*Please note: The Fund is not designed as a support measure for students in immediate financial crisis, nor is it a long-term solution to funding difficulties.

When posting on social media you should try adding alternative text (alt text) to images. Alt text is used to describe the meaning, context, and sometimes details, of an image or visual in a digital setting. This can help people with different visual abilities to access the information you are sharing. It is also important to use captions as well as images; if you are posting a graphic to your Instagram with the time, date, and venue for your next event in the image, make sure you share that same information in the caption too!

You may find Microsoft's guide on writing effective alt text useful.

When creating content for your social media pages it’s important to think about how well your poster/graphic/image conveys meaning. It can be beautifully designed, but if your colour contrast makes it difficult for people with dyslexia or colour blindness, for example, to read, then it’s not effective. Equally, it’s important to think about what type of language you are using and whether it will make sense to everyone, including students whose first language may not be English.

The British Dyslexia Association have put together some guidance on creating clear communications that are dyslexia friendly.

Writing in what is called ‘Plain English’ helps to make your meaning clear to a wider audience. The University of Kent has created a guide on how to write in plain English.