Royal Holloway Students' Union exists to advance the education of students at Royal Holloway for the public benefit by:

• Promoting the interests and welfare of students at Royal Holloway during the course of their study and representing, supporting and advising students;
• Being the recognised representative channel between students and Royal Holloway, University of London and any other external bodies; and
• Providing social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities and forums for discussions and debate for the personal development of students.

Legally, the Union is a democratic charity (charity number 1141998) and must follow the laws and regulations which govern UK charity organisations. This includes the publishing of our accounts and annual report via the Charity Commission website.

Now let's break down that legalese a little bit. As we said at the start, we represent student voices and interests but that's just one slice of the pie when it comes to what we’re about. We’re also responsible for running all the sports clubs and societies (think of these as communities of students coming together to form a group around a shared interest or hobby) on campus ensuring there’s always an outlet for your passions, while we cook up a mean burger in our bars.

Away from the bar, we run an Advice Centre that offers confidential, impartial, and independent advice, while we also run free events with our Give It A Go programme, and loads more!

As a charity, the Students' Union is not run for profit. That said, our goal is to be a financially responsible organisation and we aim for a financial surplus each year so that we can build reserves. This ensures that we have enough funding to deliver larger scale improvements that have high costs e.g. refurbishing our bars or investing in new stage equipment. It also allows the Union to weather periods of instability like the closure of our venues - which we witnessed during the lockdowns associated with COVID-19. The key takeaway is that every pound we generate gets reinvested into the services we provide, be that student groups (via grants), the Union Shop, events calendar or our campaigns.

We are funded in a variety of ways:

• A Block Grant from the College
  Each year we get a lump sum from the University to run our services.
• Commercial Operations
  We run bars, cafes, shops, and hire out our physical spaces to external clients.
• Sales and Sponsorships
  We work with external organisations that want to engage students, selling them advertising and sponsorship opportunities.

Our values dictate the way we operate, the behaviours we champion, and how the organisation should feel:

• Student Focused
  Everything we do will have students at the heart of it.
• High Quality
  Your expectations are high and we must exceed them.
• Trustworthy
  We will ensure that we are transparent, honest and fair in what we say and do.
• Inclusive
  We will offer a diverse range of activities and services which are fulfilling and accessible.
• Brave
  We should be bold and not afraid to challenge the status quo.