A week of Freshers Fairs
With two fairs held each in Paisley and Lanarkshire, and one in Ayr, London and Dumfries. There was ample opportunity for new and returning students to connect with societies, sports clubs, the SU’s services and volunteering opportunities. That is exactly what students did, stats from our media partner Native from Paisley, Ayr and Lanarkshire put the average attendance at just over 1500 per fayre!
Highlights included live reptiles courtesy of the Zoology society in Lanarkshire, Free bhajis provided by Red Pepper, a local takeaway in Paisley, and a less formal pizza meetza in London. While high demand for making bracelets and painting at the creative station is helping to redefine the meaning of Freshers’ Week.
Get the party started
The Snug in Ayr hosted an open mic night, while the Base in Paisley had 150 at the white t-shirt DJ night. Sportsters operated up the student bar while DJ Miss Bundz kept people dancing until the early hours, being the first to test our newly refurbished historic sound system from Kings Tut’s.
Freshers Month?
Societies make freshers. We have seen everything from large cultural celebrations to cosy games nights. Some highlights include: LGBTQIA+ Societies’ drag bingo, the Latin American Society starting a salsa dance class, record attendance for the Ayr Tabletop Gaming Society, the Language Society who ran their event twice due to popular demand and seeing the delighted recipient of and electric vegetable steamer, for winning first prize at the Chinese Student’s welcome event. But the society event with the highest attendance this year was the Lanarkshire based Paramedic Society who were able to get 136 in the room!
With the first event being the Law Society opening night on 7th September and the last being the Pakistani Society’s high tea on 7th October, a program of events has spanned an entire month. That is not a bad thing! Be it due to visa delays, the stress of sorting out housing or the sheer overstimulation a first week on campus can bring, it is great to have welcoming activates to help students find communities accessible to those who missed the chance in welcome week. Many societies now powered by new members have started back up running regular meet ups, allowing social hobbies and taking a break to become part of the campus routine.
Looking ahead
The Paisley Nursing Society have already launched their October Step challenge fundraiser to a strong showing. We have are celebrating Black History Month with a program consisting of a celebration of food, art & fashion followed by an afrobeats DJ night. Meanwhile the K-pop and LGBTQIA+ Society have teamed up and are recruiting to organise this year’s Halloween Party. An ever-improving event space at Paisley and a push to support engagement with academic societies across campuses will yield many more opportunities for organised fun this term!
Some Stats and Reflections
Society events are the way to student engagement, events organised directly by the SU are popular in Freshers week, but attendance tends to drop, societies being student led however can sustain or even grow this engagement trough the term
International and Cultural societies are experiencing a drop in numbers, as numbers of international students fall nationally. The challenge for us going forward is how to support these important student communities to flourish even when an event can no longer as easily be made a success by the sheer volume of attendees.
Academic societies are on the rise, these can provide both community and representation, so it is encouraging to see enthusiasm and growth in this space!