Author: Finnian Shardlow

British Weightlifting have selected Bangor University’s Catrin Jones as part of their 2018 squad for the FISU World University Weightlifting Championships. The competition will take place in Biala Podlaska, Poland between 20th- 23rd September 2018. Catrin represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year and finished 4th at the Junior World Championships which were held in Uzbekistan last month. As well as studying for her Psychology degree, the 19-year-old athlete trains at Canolfan Brailsford to prepare for tournaments. Dave Jones, Health and Fitness Manager at Canolfan Brailsford, said: “Bangor University has now got some very talented athletes training at…

Police officers from 34 different police forces competed in 2018 Police Sport UK 10 mile road race on Wednesday 5th September. The event was hosted by North Wales Police and started in Port Penrhyn, Bangor. The route used the Lon Las Ogwen track to Tregarth and a turnaround point at Bethesda before returning to Bangor. Following the race, an evening function and presentation took place at Bangor University in the Neuadd Pritchard Jones Hall. Chief Officer from North Wales Police was in attendance to present awards to runners of all different abilities. Police Sport UK has a membership of over…

Once again, Bangor University has been ranked in the top 10 of the UK’s non-specialist universities, according to the latest annual National Student Satisfaction Survey (NSS). The news follows the University’s inclusion among the top 100 European Universities in the recent Times Higher Education (THE) European Teaching Rankings. Bangor University was also awarded a Gold Standard in the first round of the UK Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework. The National Student Survey, a poll of over 320,000 graduating students at each university in the UK, provides the most comprehensive feedback on the student experience at each institution. This year, Bangor is…

A collaboration between Bangor University’s Counselling Service and the North Wales Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme has been shortlisted for a National Award. Bangor University’s Counselling Services cooperated with the North Wales Clinical Doctorate Programme to combat a rise in levels of stress, suicidality and self-harming amongst students across the UK. The project aims to provide treatment and practical support for students, and has now been shortlisted for a Times Higher Education Award under the category of ‘Outstanding Support for Students’. Working with experts within the University’s North Wales Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme, Counselling Service staff and clinical psychologists in training…

Helena Robinson, a postdoctoral research officer at Bangor University, has handed back her Ebola medal to the Government. Robinson, 29, from Guernsey, was awarded the medal following her five-week deployment to Sierra Leone during the West Africa Ebola crisis in December 2014. The PhD student was placed in a diagnostics lab in Sierra Leone over Christmas 2014 set up by Public Health England. She was assigned to the Kerry Town treatment centre which was run by Save the Children. Sierra Leone was declared free of the Ebola virus in November 2015. Along with 19 others, Helena handed back her medal…

Give us a brief introduction on yourself? My name is Alex Boss, and I am a winger at Bangor City FC. I started playing football from a young age, around 4-5. My dad always used to take me to the park for a kickabout, and I ended up joining in with a training session at a local side in Brighton. It was from then on I found a love for football. I’m an attacking winger, with a lot of pace, which helps me get past defenders. I can get past defenders by just knocking the ball past them, or using…

How have you settled into life as VP Sport? After being the Sports Publicity Officer in the AU Exec last year, I thought I really understood the intricacies of the role as AU President. Oh, how I was wrong! I was thrown into the deep end of Sabb life straight away, being sent to all sorts of conferences around the country. Sports Conferences, Student’s Union Conferences, Welsh Conferences, all to enhance the Bangor student sport experience. As well as this, I’ve been getting to grips with understanding the requirements of all of the sports, by meeting with site staff, conversing…

It’s the beginning of a new year. We welcome back some friendly faces but we welcome some fresh faces as well. Undeb Bangor is Bangor University’s Students’ Union. Undeb Bangor run Sports clubs, societies, volunteering projects, UMCB and course reps.This year, the Students’ Union is run by 4 brand new Sabbatical Officers and 1 returning officer. Ruth, Gethin, Mark, Louise and Muhammad are here to represent you on a whole manner of things. You can find out more about the fantastic work our Sabbatical Officers (Sabbs) do by following Undeb Bangor on social media or go onto our website. If…

A hushed incredulity sweeps onlookers of the Walled Garden stage; a communal, subconscious recognition of the uniqueness present before us. Piercing through a delicate current of strings – Susanne Sundfor’s tender, effortless and, at times, soul-wrenching vocals. She softly purrs: “I’m as lucky as the moon.” No crowd rabble. Just pure, unadulterated stillness, and a sincere reverence given to every word. To call the Green Man attendee a ‘festivalgoer’ is quite possibly discourteous. Perhaps a more applicable term would be ‘aesthete’: a person with great sensitivity to beauty. Glanusk Park provides a haven for artists which, at other festivals, would…

Bangor 33 – Aber 10 Once again, Bangor University win Varsity in momentous fashion, lifting the illustrious trophy for the fourth year running – a landmark in the competition between the two Universities. The final overall score was a resounding 33-10 to Bangor, leaving Aberystwyth University in the dust. Tatenda Shonhiwa, Bangor’s VP for Sport, said: “This year has been an enormous year for Bangor’s students. We should all be proud of what we have achieved as an AU as well as what we have done as our individual clubs.” He added: “Today we delivered yet another massive win against our friends…

Potent flusters of emotion are engrained in almost all of my Green Man memories. This year, the most notable moment wasn’t something being said. It wasn’t even a song being sung. It was the willowy glint in Julie Byrne’s eye as she gracefully sat and showered in the adoration of an ever responsive Green Man crowd. No bravado. No disconnect between artist and audience. Just a collective mutual pleasure in creativity. That, for me, is the personification of Green Man Festival. The organisers could probably book MC Hammer to headline all four nights and still attract a 20,000 strong horde…

A group of 12 proofreaders have been found locked away in a secret basement under PJ Hall, police can confirm. Investigators were at the scene at 1 p.m. this afternoon when passers by called emergency services after noticing activity beneath the PJ floorboards. It’s rumored a heated argument about the correct use of a semi-colon could be heard from below the foundations of the building; the debate has yet to be resolved. A past Seren sub-editor has commented: “They went down there to look for a dictionary to check whether they should have used effect or affect in a sentence and…

Wavy, candid, sleek. Bearcubs strikes an engulfing balance between indie-pop song structures and rippling, densely packed electronica. We spoke to him about his back catalogue, discovering singing and his new EP, Underwaterfall. I saw you back in 2015 at Bestival around the time you released single, Paper Walls. Since then you’ve released an EP, and now you’ve released another. Have you stopped to have a breather at any point? There was a period after Paper Walls where I was reflecting on how to go forward. But it wasn’t really a break. I was mainly writing and trying to get as many…

The XX – I See You I See You represents a courageous gamble from The XX to reverse from their self-imposed cul-de-sac of moody, barren atmospheric indie – a sound which, like antihistamines, should come with a drowsiness disclaimer. Make no mistake, that pensive breeze of soft-souled indie is still there, it’s just been stripped of its lethargies. The XX deserve genuine credit for parting with the sonic security of Coexist and XX to embrace an experimental palette of bubbling synths and quaking percussion. 8/10 – A unification of the diverse creativity within the band that, until I See You, remained dormant.…

With a sun-drenched soundscape, Idle Frets have truly conquered that glistening indie-pop ambiance which often eludes many upcoming bands. Armed with new single, Glow, the band are ready to rouse crowds on their Spring UK Tour. How did Idle Frets start? Ben: We have all been involved with music or enjoyed music from an early age. I got asked to get a band together for a function gig, and I managed to persuade my best mates to play in a crappy band with me and to this day I’m still doing my best to not let them leave the crappy band. What…

After the artificial ‘smokey bar’ effect had subsided, the dazzling elegance of Cabaret Pontio’s façade was there for all to see. A classy arrangement of seating crowded the stage, glimmered by a striking sheet of twinkling white lights. An apt aesthetic for the melodious character of the music to come. Firstly, huge praise for support act Plu (meaning ‘Feathers’ in Welsh). The Snowdonia trio captured the audience in a net of traditional Welsh folk and subtle pop structures to form a catchy, endearing hybrid. As a non-Welsh speaker, never was my attention swayed. Nor did I feel distanced from the…