The University of Essex says it has one rule: never be ordinary.

Our Society's Model United Nations Conference takes this to heart. The aim is to engage students in challenging ways to help resolve issues that face the world, by challenging themselves and their point of view. This year the conference’s theme is: The Role of Global Institutions in Tomorrow’s World.

This is in light of the United Nations passing its 70th Birthday and reflecting on the impact it has had over the years. While the Society is a pro-UN group (in case you hadn’t guessed), we aren't always happy about the way things are conducted. We believe that in challenging the status quo, we can only progress. Going through this issue in a timid way won’t do. We have to be fierce. We need to take this issue to those around us here at the University, to those around us in Colchester and beyond.

We had people coming from all over the world to attend our conference last year, with people coming from Nigeria, Indonesia and Nepal to name a few. We have also been delighted to welcome the European Youth Parliament from Kosovo to come in and present a talk to our society. We will always do anything involving the global community: MUNEx is about the big picture.

While Model United Nations can require lots of research and preparation for a conference; the reality is that each student gets as much out of the experience as they put in, if not more. A student can just pitch up and put their heart and soul into the conference.

There is no definitive method of being good a good delegate. Model United Nations is not just about the refined speeches and the comebacks written weeks ago. The true point of Model United Nations is establishing oneself in a global community and learning from each other’s experiences.

What will we do if our project is successful (thanks to you)?

With £0 raised, we would need to ask every delegate to pay almost £40. We think this is prohibitive, as many students simply cannot afford this on top of other costs and charges. But we always pride ourselves in finding enough money to make MUNEx one of the cheapest conferences to attend.

So with £1000, we could decrease delegate fees by at least £10, by having all food, drink and venues paid for.

With £2000, our admin costs would be covered, which would include printing, and the provision of conference materials (paper, folders, USB sticks) to all delegates. This would make delegate fees drop a further £10.

Anything above £3000 can help fund part of the journey and accommodation of delegates from a developing country. Indeed, many delegates from poorer backgrounds do not have the means to go to many conferences, though they do not lack drive and skill. The more we can raise, the more remote the delegations we can reach, and you can help make it happen.

We are the University of Essex Model United Nations Society, and we will make our next conference better than the last. The question is whether or not you plan on joinING us on this journey.