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Head of Culture
LSTV 2025 Committee Election
- Nominations Start
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7 April 2025 at 12:00 PM
(3 months ago) - Nominations End
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5 May 2025 at 12:00 PM
(2 months ago) - Voting Start
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5 May 2025 at 12:01 PM
(2 months ago) - Voting End
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9 May 2025 at 12:00 PM
(2 months ago) - Voting System
- Single Transferable Vote
- Elected positions
- 1
- Filter
- Only active members of LSTV can vote in this election
Head of Culture - oversees any culture content and events happening in Leeds
Position Candidates

Charlie Petch
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Charlie Petch

Hi all, I'm Charlie Petch a second year Film, Photography and Media student and this year’s Head of Filmmaking. I’ve been involved in loads of LSTV projects this year and look forward to contributing even more as Head of Culture next year.
Why should you vote for me?
â—¦ I love Leeds and really enjoy capturing such a vibrant and fascinating city in videos, highlighting all the incredible events that take place.
◦ Over the past 2 years I’ve volunteered as a videographer at events across Leeds, such as Light Night and LIFF, gaining experience in capturing the energy and atmosphere of events on camera.
◦ I’m also very well connected within the Leeds arts scene, I’ve attended poetry readings, gallery openings, drag nights, clown shows and more all of which would make great content.
◦ As Head of Filmmaking, I’ve brought loads of new faces to LSTV and created lots of opportunities, this something I really enjoy will continue to do as Head of Culture.
My Plans:
I’ve got loads of ideas for content that covers all different kinds of culture, and I’m always up for hearing other people’s ideas and collaborating. It’s important to me that everyone gets a chance to share and celebrate their own culture.
Here are some of my favourite ideas:
- An anthropological series about unique individuals in Leeds where we’d interview them about their life and the city.
- Content covering the Leeds Queer and Trans scene: I know a lot of organisers for events like T40 and personally volunteer at a Queer food drive in Woodhouse Community Centre, I think it is super important to spotlight and document spaces like these.
- Campus events like the Holi festival and the World Unite Festival as well as local events like the Xmas markets, Light Night and Lunar New Year.
- Film exhibitions and interview curators at galleries in the region, as well as work with local theatre and performance groups such as Opera North.
- I’ve recently contributed to the Between the Bricks Digital Archive and used to work as an archivist, I’d like to consolidate some of LSTV’s old footage into an archive as well as work with local archives to bring to life old archival footage and contribute to collections to document Leeds’ culture for the future.
Why should you vote for me?
â—¦ I love Leeds and really enjoy capturing such a vibrant and fascinating city in videos, highlighting all the incredible events that take place.
◦ Over the past 2 years I’ve volunteered as a videographer at events across Leeds, such as Light Night and LIFF, gaining experience in capturing the energy and atmosphere of events on camera.
◦ I’m also very well connected within the Leeds arts scene, I’ve attended poetry readings, gallery openings, drag nights, clown shows and more all of which would make great content.
◦ As Head of Filmmaking, I’ve brought loads of new faces to LSTV and created lots of opportunities, this something I really enjoy will continue to do as Head of Culture.
My Plans:
I’ve got loads of ideas for content that covers all different kinds of culture, and I’m always up for hearing other people’s ideas and collaborating. It’s important to me that everyone gets a chance to share and celebrate their own culture.
Here are some of my favourite ideas:
- An anthropological series about unique individuals in Leeds where we’d interview them about their life and the city.
- Content covering the Leeds Queer and Trans scene: I know a lot of organisers for events like T40 and personally volunteer at a Queer food drive in Woodhouse Community Centre, I think it is super important to spotlight and document spaces like these.
- Campus events like the Holi festival and the World Unite Festival as well as local events like the Xmas markets, Light Night and Lunar New Year.
- Film exhibitions and interview curators at galleries in the region, as well as work with local theatre and performance groups such as Opera North.
- I’ve recently contributed to the Between the Bricks Digital Archive and used to work as an archivist, I’d like to consolidate some of LSTV’s old footage into an archive as well as work with local archives to bring to life old archival footage and contribute to collections to document Leeds’ culture for the future.

Emma Smith
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​

Emma Smith

Hello lovely people of LSTV! I am Emma Smith and I am a second year philosophy and politics student and I would love to be your next head of culture. I would love this role because I have had such a varied experience of uni so far as a member of 4 other societies (Leeds Policy Institute, cosy games, Christian union and Philosophy society) with people who would never normally interact with each other. Due to this varied experience I feel like I have a pretty good sense of some of the diverse experiences people can have at Leeds and I would like to primarily focus on LSTV next year to focus on showing our audience as many different experiences that people can have at Leeds. This is why I will interpret culture to be showing what university life is like in Leeds so we have a time capsule of our experience so when someone asks us in 30 years time we can show them the LSTV videos.
Because of my existing connections with other societies the main sort of videos that I would like to produce next year are non-sport society swaps. There are so many weird and wonderful societies at Leeds and I think it would be lovely to showcase what they have to offer. A great starting point would be with the cosy games society as it has a wonderful community and it would be great to show this in a society swap. I am planning to go beyond the societies I know and love and I will get in contact with other societies via Instagram or via email which I would find on engage to see if they would be interested in getting involved.
One of the main elements with culture is covering events in Leeds such as light night and the Christmas market. I would like to continue with these traditional videos with a twist - I was thinking of taking inspiration of jet lag for light night where teams try to visit every light display and they have to do challenges at each one to secure it in their score. The team that completes the most challenges at the most locations wins within a 1-2 hour time limit.
As part of event coverage I would also like to incorporate a society swap element to it. Many societies put on special events all the time and I think it would be great to cover them on LSTV. For example, the Philosophy society hosts special events all the time such as a Valentine’s Day event where speakers talk about the philosophy of love. However, they also do events before NATSA season such as open mic nights where members talk about a topic of their choice. This is just an example of one society but other societies such as faith societies also host events for their holidays. For example, the Islamic society hosted an event to commemorate the final Iftar of Ramadan and the Christian Union hosts an annual Christmas carol service in collaboration with the University Choir and Brass Band.
In terms of my experience at LSTV so far, I have mostly focused on camera work this year, doing camera work for the documentary and live NASTA as well as doing camera at Varsity. I have also produced some news reports this year, doing headlines and making news packages about the US election and negotiations between Ukraine and the US. I also worked on the Christie Cup this year on the aquatics. I was interviewing athletes, getting behind the scenes content and made sure everyone in my team felt included.
In conclusion, thank you for reading all of this I know it is long but hopefully I have demonstrated how much I would love to be your next head of culture and how I am capable to carry out this role and I would love if you all voted for me. I know I would have very big shoes to fill as Kate has done an outstanding job in the role this year.
Because of my existing connections with other societies the main sort of videos that I would like to produce next year are non-sport society swaps. There are so many weird and wonderful societies at Leeds and I think it would be lovely to showcase what they have to offer. A great starting point would be with the cosy games society as it has a wonderful community and it would be great to show this in a society swap. I am planning to go beyond the societies I know and love and I will get in contact with other societies via Instagram or via email which I would find on engage to see if they would be interested in getting involved.
One of the main elements with culture is covering events in Leeds such as light night and the Christmas market. I would like to continue with these traditional videos with a twist - I was thinking of taking inspiration of jet lag for light night where teams try to visit every light display and they have to do challenges at each one to secure it in their score. The team that completes the most challenges at the most locations wins within a 1-2 hour time limit.
As part of event coverage I would also like to incorporate a society swap element to it. Many societies put on special events all the time and I think it would be great to cover them on LSTV. For example, the Philosophy society hosts special events all the time such as a Valentine’s Day event where speakers talk about the philosophy of love. However, they also do events before NATSA season such as open mic nights where members talk about a topic of their choice. This is just an example of one society but other societies such as faith societies also host events for their holidays. For example, the Islamic society hosted an event to commemorate the final Iftar of Ramadan and the Christian Union hosts an annual Christmas carol service in collaboration with the University Choir and Brass Band.
In terms of my experience at LSTV so far, I have mostly focused on camera work this year, doing camera work for the documentary and live NASTA as well as doing camera at Varsity. I have also produced some news reports this year, doing headlines and making news packages about the US election and negotiations between Ukraine and the US. I also worked on the Christie Cup this year on the aquatics. I was interviewing athletes, getting behind the scenes content and made sure everyone in my team felt included.
In conclusion, thank you for reading all of this I know it is long but hopefully I have demonstrated how much I would love to be your next head of culture and how I am capable to carry out this role and I would love if you all voted for me. I know I would have very big shoes to fill as Kate has done an outstanding job in the role this year.

RON (Re-open Nominations)
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RON (Re-open Nominations)

Celeste Lau
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Celeste Lau

Hi everyone, I’m Celeste, your current diversity officer! For those who don’t know me already, I’m currently a second year media and communication student heading into my final year next year. You’ve probably seen me around campus, if not in LSTV, and I’ve been very involved since the beginning of my first year. I would love to be your new head of culture next year!
I’ve developed strong leadership skills from various experiences, from my role on LSTV’s committee this year, being a student advisory board member, course rep, etc. Also, I’m already extremely dedicated to society and have been involved in many videos in a variety of different roles and genres— both on and off camera. I’m a very organised person, and plan and coordinate videos, and manage all my responsibilities well.
As an international student from Hong Kong, I know the importnatce of inclusion and diversity— particularly culturally— and I would love to have the opportunity to showcase the culture of Leeds. In this role, I will continue to cover local events and festivities to LSTV while bringing some of my own culture in. Some events I want to cover include: Light Night (as always), the Black History Walk, Mid-Autumn Festival, various food and drink festivals, the Leeds International Festival of Ideas, Leeds Queer Film Festival, York’s Viking Festival, etc. I would also want to collaborate with other (cultural) societies, whether that be through joint socials or society swaps. Finally, I want to bring in opportunities for members, particularly new members, to get involved!
I’ve developed strong leadership skills from various experiences, from my role on LSTV’s committee this year, being a student advisory board member, course rep, etc. Also, I’m already extremely dedicated to society and have been involved in many videos in a variety of different roles and genres— both on and off camera. I’m a very organised person, and plan and coordinate videos, and manage all my responsibilities well.
As an international student from Hong Kong, I know the importnatce of inclusion and diversity— particularly culturally— and I would love to have the opportunity to showcase the culture of Leeds. In this role, I will continue to cover local events and festivities to LSTV while bringing some of my own culture in. Some events I want to cover include: Light Night (as always), the Black History Walk, Mid-Autumn Festival, various food and drink festivals, the Leeds International Festival of Ideas, Leeds Queer Film Festival, York’s Viking Festival, etc. I would also want to collaborate with other (cultural) societies, whether that be through joint socials or society swaps. Finally, I want to bring in opportunities for members, particularly new members, to get involved!

Katie Howard
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​

Katie Howard

Hey, I’m Katie, and I’m excited to run for Head of Culture to help bring more life, colour, and creativity into our student experience. Being in such a culturally rich city like Leeds, I want to make the most of every opportunity to celebrate and get involved as much as I can!
This involves:
* continuing covering events that Kate has such as Leeds Black History Month, Leeds Light Night, Yorkshire Circus and the Christmas market as she’s done such an amazing job this year
* giving a platform to cultural societies
* get more involved in different societies getting to know their culture through dance and music
* covering more festivals around Leeds
* getting to know more of the historical background of Leeds through organising a treasure hunt in its historical places
* getting students and members to recommend their favourite food spots and places in Leeds
* covering more charities and giving them a platform
If you would like to get involved in all these events and society swaps please vote for me!!!
This involves:
* continuing covering events that Kate has such as Leeds Black History Month, Leeds Light Night, Yorkshire Circus and the Christmas market as she’s done such an amazing job this year
* giving a platform to cultural societies
* get more involved in different societies getting to know their culture through dance and music
* covering more festivals around Leeds
* getting to know more of the historical background of Leeds through organising a treasure hunt in its historical places
* getting students and members to recommend their favourite food spots and places in Leeds
* covering more charities and giving them a platform
If you would like to get involved in all these events and society swaps please vote for me!!!