It’s been an exciting and full first semester. We can’t believe it’s almost over. Our Heroes welcomed new and old students on September 15th and 16th, helped them with luggage and answered any queries they had about their time here in Bangor, it feel like only yesterday! We had an interesting Serendipity this year. Due to high winds we weren’t able to get the usual set up at Main Arts so we were lucky enough to have two huge halls at Brailsford where we could host the event!
We brought back Meet and Mingle for Welcome Week and it was even more popular than the previous year, so popular in fact that our VP for Education Mark Barrow decided to host Meet and Mingle on a regular basis as an alternative night out for those who want to steer away from alcohol and the hustle and bustle of busy nightclubs.
It’s been a semester full of campaigns! We’ve had housing campaigns, Don’t Panic and Marks out of Tenancy. We’ve had two liberation campaigns so far this year, Black History Month and Disability History Month. Period Poverty is something we’ve focused on this semester and we now provide free Tampons and Pads for students (Mon-Fri between 9am & 5pm). A popular campaign has been the plastic-free campign, with students getting involved in all kinds of activities to help reduce the use of single use plastic. Our latest campaign is No Grey Area. A campaign Launched on the 26th of November with our video explaining what sexual violence and harassment is and how to get help from the University if it is experienced. Students took to the streets of Bangor to Reclaim the Night and march for gender equality and against sexual violence and we have been taking our pledge board around the University so that student can sign it and stand against sexual violence with us.
Some of our key events during the first semester include Destresstival, UBC and Course Rep Elections, and Su’Mae Day. Canine Calming brought students to see our cuddly canine friends and we raised over £300 for Guide Dogs Wales. UMCB, the Welsh Students’ Union have had a very busy semester. Highlights of their semester includes their trip to the inter-college dance at Aberystwyth. The AU were involved with This Girl Can. We introduced our brand new Wednesday afternoon event ‘MaturiTEA’…. Get it? Tea for Mature students!
Our clubs and societies and volunteering projects have been busy with training and events and everything in between. We’ve seen many win competitions and many performances. We cannot be prouder of all our clubs, societies and volunteering projects.
We have loads more to come in the next semester and we are continually trying to improve the student experience. If you would like any more information on anything we have going on next semester or would like to know more about the things we got up to this semester, please do get in touch. You can contact us via e-mail, or through our social media pages.