Blog: Welcoming Eight New Student Groups

Last week, we completed our third round of ratifications of the 2018-19 Academic Year. Student Opportunities Committee representatives gathered with your VP Sport and I to pass through another eight student groups – seven societies and one club, further expanding the variety of amazing groups available for students to join!

This means that in total we have ratified a record breaking 15 student groups so far this year, and we are so excited to see a new sports club joining the campus community! Keep reading to find out more about them all!

What are the new additions?

Criminology Society

The committee of Criminology Society have worked really hard to create a society that bridges the gap between academic lectures and social, fun and informative events. They want to make the experience of learning about criminology more entertaining and interactive, as well as encourage people to expand knowledge beyond lectures. The society wants to create an invigorating social setting for students by organising dinners, meet ups and movie nights. These will be countered with organised debates on topics of crime, criminology and current issues as well as informal talks and guest speaker events. Trips to London and crime museums will be aplenty, so make sure to grab a membership as soon as you can!

Commercial Awareness Society

What is Commercial Awareness? Here is the society to help you find out! With a massive importance being placed on wider understanding of commercial awareness in the business world necessary for interviews and course content for some degrees, we think it’s important that this group is here for you. The society wants to engage members through interactive activities to grow their knowledge and understanding of the subject. They have already started creating some great links with academic departments with the aim of holding a variety of workshops and lecture events to help you become more employable!

Witch, Pagan and New Age Society

Already proving to be a very popular group, with a staggering 76 up-votes on Bright Ideas, they want to provide a safe space for students practising, or interested in Wicca. They will be meeting to discuss and practise tarot, palmistry, yoga, and meditation in an open and judgement free space. A qualified Reiki teacher will be on hand for all your energy healing needs, whilst they promote wellbeing amongst students. They are looking to run workshops and events to teach people about these practises in an inclusive atmosphere and are hoping to collaborate with a number of different societies.

Hellenic Society

Whilst at Royal Holloway, we have a number of cultural groups, until now, we haven’t had a Hellenic society! The committee want to create a sense of community for all Hellenic students on campus, as well as those interested in learning about the Hellenic culture. They will be looking to run regular events into London to visit the Hellenic centre and potentially collaborate with other London Universities. Fundraising will be a key focus for this group, who are seeking to create inclusive, exciting events on their own and in collaboration with other groups, to raise money to help the refugee crisis in Greece.

Latin American Society

In the words of the committee, the society should be run by all of those who are members, not just by those who are a part of the committee – this goes to show just how community based and inclusive this group are going to be. With the aim of integrating the different cultures from Hispanic countries in Central and South America and facilitate social connections between Latin American students, they have so much covered. They want to promote Latin pride and create a community where students can lean on each other for social and/or academic support, alongside creating social events with other societies and nation-wide Latin American Societies.

Liberal Arts Society

The aim of this society is so simple and clear; to unite the Liberal Arts students and provide them with further educational opportunities. By networking with a number of other societies (who they have already approached) such as Italian, PIR, Classics and Drama, they want to create a sense of unity among Liberal Arts students. Alongside this, they aim to create a hub for Liberal Arts students to share ideas through social events such as balls, meetings at the pub, and movie nights. This will also be a great opportunity to create stronger links between the department and the society. Importantly, they want provide careers events, trips, and lectures from both alumni and outside speakers to further both academic and future careers.

Pokémon Society

If you’ve dreamed of a society that would allow you to meet like-minded Pokémon lovers, look no further than the brand new Pokémon society. Running regular tournaments and events around the world-wide card game phenomenon and hugely popular Pokémon Go! This is a society that welcomes everyone from veterans to first time players, to fans of the anime. In addition to this, they aim to hold fundraising events at the University such as an egg hunt style event with a Pokémon themed twist. Noting the lack of life on campus over a weekend, they would look to run some of these fundraisers and events on a Saturday or Sunday alongside regular weekly meet ups. Make sure you Pika-up a membership quickly.

Boxing Club

Whilst we have a large number of sports clubs available for students to join, there is one that has been missing for a while now – a boxing club. They want to have regular training, by external coaches to ensure members are getting their money’s worth! They want to regularly engage with the competitions circuit, ultimately looking for national recognition through the BUCS league. They want to hold events, talks and workshops with pro boxers, immersing their members in the world inside the ring.  It won’t always be hard grind however, as socials will take place every few weeks as well a formal dinner such as a Christmas dinner and an end of year dinner and dance event. They want to engage with campus, and the wider community by joining in with national campaigns and charity fundraising.

We hope these news are as exciting for you as they are for us! Thanks for your awesome ideas. Because these groups were only ratified on Thursday, their memberships aren't yet on the website. We'll have them uploaded and available within the next week so keep checking back. 

Holly Hughes // Vice President Societies and Media

Dom Brown // Vice President Sport