It’s been an extraordinarily busy term, with everyone back on campus and countless events so we thought we'd take a look back at some of the best bits!
It’s been an extraordinarily busy term, with everyone back on campus and countless events so we thought we'd take a look back at some of the best bits!
Starting with the big one… Freshers’ Festival 2022.
Freshers' Festival
Back in September, we welcomed you to campus with over 40 events. From Give It A Go classics like the Colour Run and Petting Zoo to a TikTok Takeover in Medicine. Freshers' Festival also saw the launch of two new nights at The Packhorse: 5iver and Skint Saturdays.
During the day, we saw over 3,800 of you at the Sports Centre for Freshers’ Fair! You were introduced to over 110 student groups with lots of you signing up for taster sessions. We hope you've continued to get involved with our student groups, whether you've joined a sports club and played in matches and competitions or picked up a new hobby. If you've not joined any student groups this term, the start of next term would be a great time to have a look through all the different societies, sports clubs and media groups available and sign yourself up!
Lastly, you certainly knew how to celebrate in style at Freshers' Ball ft. Sigma! Donning your suits and gowns, you headed into Founder's South Quad and partied the night away.
If you’re missing the fun of Freshers' Festival or had to miss it entirely, we’ve got some good news for you! We’ll soon be launching Refreshers - a week packed full of events and good times to welcome you back to campus in January. If you don't want to miss out, keep an eye on our social media channels for Refreshers announcements to grab yourself a wristband!
Getting Involved
This term, we hosted almost 40 Give It A Go events for those of you who wanted to chill out with your friends, meet new people or learn a new or crafty hobby. From themed movie nights, crafternoons, and trips to Brighton to the final week of festive GIAG events it was great to see so many of you coming along and giving it a go! There’ll be plenty more GIAG events next term – so keep an eye out for the term two events calendar.
Lots of our student groups have also held events in our venues, with Desi Nights ft. Hindu Soc n Medicine and Musical Theatre Society's performance of Footloose - you can look forward to many more student group events in our venues next term.
Looking ahead to next term, mark your calendars for Varsity '22 (Wednesday 22 March)! Taking on our old rival, the University of Surrey, we need you there cheering on our sports teams from the sidelines so that we can take back the trophy.
Representing You
As well as getting involved with our student groups, lots of you have taken on roles to act as representatives for your fellow students - from becoming one of our 250 academic reps to heading up a Collective as a convenor, receiving training to ensure you are the best voice for your community.
We've also had lots of engagement with our Bright Ideas platform this term, receiving over 13 ideas submitted by students. This is a platform for students to submit an idea they think would improve life at Royal Holloway. If there's something you think we could be doing better, let us know by sharing your idea!
Next term is when student representation really kicks into action with the SU Elections. Whilst voting doesn't commence until March, nominations will open on Friday 13 January. If you think you have what it takes to be a sabbatical officer, get ready to nominate yourself next month!
Venues
Serving up delicious food is one of the things we do best, with over 2,500 burgers sold across our venues it's evident that our new and improved menus in Tommy's Kitchen and The Packhorse are a hit!
Officers & Campaigns
For the past 12 weeks, your sabbatical officers have been working hard as your representatives. Much of their work this month has involved working on two major campaigns: Black History Month and Disability History Month. The theme for this year's BHM was ‘Time for Change: Actions not Words’ and, working alongside African-Caribbean Society (ACS), we organised a ton of career-focused events including how to keep up a successful side hustle, a student showcase from ACS, a talk from activist and anti-racism strategist, Maia Thomas, and a ‘Celebrating Black Music’ Community Hour from Insanity Radio.
Disability History Month, headed by VP Societies and Sports, Hannah Hockin, and the Disabled Students Collective to raise awareness, empower students, and celebrate the diversity of our campus community. From the Disability Sports Day to Disability Looks Like Me Fashion Show, we hope you were able to get involved with some of the activities for our campaigns. If you'd like to take part, next term we'll be running campaigns for LGBT+ History Month and Women's History Month in February and March respectively.
Alongside the campaigns, the officers have been involved with loads of other events across the organisation. Maia also attended the vigil in the chapel for Trans Remembrance Day in November, Hannah hosted a successful Big Bears Wednesday despite the wild weather, and VP Education Shrey and Maia attended the Council College Strategy Day.
The officers have also been working towards implementing their manifesto points, with Maia lobbying the College to make changes to the extenuating circumstances policy and for free, sustainable and gender-inclusive period products across campus. Check out the officers' round-up blog for more details on what they've been up to this term.
Housing Week
The third major campaign of term one was Housing Week. Headed up by the Advice Centre team, over 300 students attended this year's Housing Fair to chat with local landlords, letting agents and accommodation-related companies. The Housemating Café also proved a popular event as you had the chance to meet with other students looking for potential housemates. The Advice Centre also produced several handy blog posts summing up everything you need to know about searching for private rented accommodation.
Looking Ahead to Term Two
Whether you've been getting involved with student groups, student representation or attending SU events (or all three!), we hope you've had a fantastic first term! Next term promises to be bigger and better than ever with SU Elections, Refreshers and much more!