What our Societies have been up to since Freshers Week 

Societies have burst into life this term. At RSU, we’ve been busy supporting Societies to deliver events, speaker talks, trips off-site, and collaboration with University staff.  

In fact there’s been over 300 Society events since Freshers Week, 2022. That’s 300 opportunities to make new friends, learn a new skill or hobby, or delve deeper into your subject interest or faith.  

We want to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteers for the amazing contribution they have made to Roehampton’s community. In this article we’ll run you through the figures, spotlight success stories form our Societies, and share resources on how students and staff can get involved with Roehampton Students’ Union.  

Impact Figures 

Societies have made an enormous contribution to Roehampton’s community, here’s some headline figures:  

• Events: Over 300 Society events on site since Freshers Week (commencing 19th September ’22)  

• Memberships: Over 600 memberships have been bought for a Society 

• New Societies: We have a range of new groups, including a Quiz Society inspired by Roehampton qualifying for University Challenge and a Bengali Cultural Society reflecting our new student intake - the full list can be found by clicking here

Work on Equality Diversity and Inclusion 

• Disabled and Neurodiverse Society, winners of Best New Society at last year’s RSU Awards, hosts weekly Friday meetups in The Base 

• The Mature Students Society hosts weekly Thursday drop ins at The Hive Cafe 

• RSU has been working with each college to start up Women’s groups, with Froebel Zeebrettes and Southlands Sharkettes  

• Universal Black Minds and the Islamic Society organised a talk with renowned speaker Mustafa Briggs on Black History and Islam with over 50 students attending 

• LGBTQ+ Society Lanyards will soon be available for purchase at RSU Reception, with all profit being donated to the LGBTQ+ Society to fund student-led initiatives. The progress pride flag is being used for the first time at RSU, signposting the contribution of the Trans and marginalized communities and illustrating that progress is still needing to be made 

• Our Faith-based Societies are: Believers Loveworld, Christian Union, First Love Roehampton, Islamic Society, Jewish Society, Kharis on Campus, Sikh Society  

Society Spotlight  

• "The Roehampton Quiz Society was established last month. Although we are still a very small society, we have already taken part in our first tournament: the UK Quizbowl Novice Tournament 2022, which was held at Imperial College, London. Our team of Catherine Archer-Richards, Yegana Mammadova and Harriet Lewis made a strong debut on the highly-competitive university quiz scene, in a tournament where all the other teams were from Russell Group universities and have long-established Quiz Societies. We managed 3 wins out of 9 matches. One of our players was the highest-scoring individual in the tournament." - Quiz Society

• “We're really proud of getting the society started, we've loved the process from idea to actually going out into nature and getting more and more people into hiking. it's been a really rewarding experience for us all.” - Roehampton Hiking Society 

• “New faces, exciting events and wonderful submissions for our journal.” - UR Writing Society 

• “We loved running the Roeamnesty society this term. Whether it be the events or the important conversations that have taken place, it’s been amazing!” - Roehampton Amnesty Society 

• "We had our first ‘hot topics’ discussion this week with the nutrition society. I did a short presentation and then we had a great group discussion about superfoods and the pros and cons. For early 2023 we have a nutritional therapist coming in as a guest speaker, blue poo muffins baking session, the start of some volunteering opportunities with a local food charity and hopefully another hot topics discussion!" - Nutrition and Health Society

• “It’s been really nice being able to create a safe space on campus for all of the students of Roehampton to ask questions about Christianity! We’ve had a lot of new members that either used to be Christian and want to ask questions to get more information, and some members of different faiths (or none) that are just curious! We’ve really loved having them and hosting events for all our members and their friends!” - Roehampton Christian Union 

• “Our experience this year has been beautiful, watching everyone progress & delve deeper into their yoga practice has been a gift” - Yoga Society

• "We have absolutely loved hosting socials for the women of Froebel/Roehampton this term, we can’t wait for all the fun we’re going to have for the rest of the year! Thank you to everyone who has made it incredible so far" - Froebel Zeebrettes 

How to get involved – Students 

There is still more than enough time to get involved in a Society. Many students start their studies at Roehampton in January, so Societies know and expect to see new faces at their events and welcome you in.  

You can join a Society via the Roehampton Students’ Union site page. Societies charge a one-off membership fee which funds their activities – this money is held by the Society and used exclusively for their events and activities.  

How to get involved – Staff 

RSU Activities Coordinator has produced tailored a tailored guide for University Staff on how to encourage students to start an Academic Society – with tips, information on academic societies, and template email copy which could be sent out to students directly or uploaded as an announcement on your virtual learning environment. This is available on request and has been disseminated within each School. 

Harry Jones 
RSU Activities Coordinator 
societies@roehampton.ac.uk