Bristol SU 2024 Round-up
What a busy year it’s been! Although it’s hard to select only a handful of highlights, take a look at our round-up right here.
September
Welcome 2023
In September, we celebrated Welcome 2023, welcoming so many students to the University of Bristol. And what a great celebration it was!
We organised and hosted over 130 Welcome events this year, 50% of which were free, with over 10,000 tickets booked. Even when we added extra capacity for these events, most were fully booked!
But Welcome doesn’t stop there. Of course, we can’t forget our Welcome Fair – which saw nearly 15,000 of you in attendance, making it one of the biggest in the country.
Donate your Plate
September also saw the launch of our Donate your Plate and Take a Plate campaign – which was featured in BBC Points West, BBC News Online and on BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat to Greg James' 'millions of listeners’! Over 1,500 items were given away for free to almost 500 students. We’ve just launched Donate your Plate for 2024, check it out and donate what you can.
October
Representation Review
Our ‘Representation Review’ began back in November, which is a review of the democratic structures within Bristol SU. We invited all students to complete a short survey on democracy to capture a diverse range of voices and to make sure our structures are working for everyone. You can see all of the updates for the review since October, and what has happened so far, right here.
Special Events
We've kicked off our TB1 Special Events programme with our first large production Special Event – Dola Re Garba, in collaboration with our Hindu Society. The event sold over 400 tickets, with attendees from across Bristol and the South West coming together for delicious food, dancing, and live music!
November
Campaigns
November was a busy month, with Sustainability Month, Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM) and International Students’ Week all taking place.
Highlights include:
- Sustainability Month: We launched our Swap Shop in the SU Living Rooms!
- International Students’ Week: Our International Students Exhibition, where we displayed the profiles of international students with leadership roles.
- Islamophobia Awareness Month: Our Instagram takeover ‘Ask A Muslim’ where all students are invited to engage in conversation, as well as BRISOC's Public Forum and our Sustainability Month Collaboration Event.
Harm Reduction Bags
Your Student Living Officer – Izzy Russell – worked alongside ‘The Drop’ in November, a service run by The Bristol Drugs Project which focuses on club and festival Harm Reduction. Together, they distributed 500 Harm Reduction bags to first-year accommodations in time for Halloween.
Diwali
On 9 November we held our Diwali special event in collaboration with Global Lounge, Indian Society, and Hindu Society. 300 students bought tickets for the event, which had some amazing student performances, food, mehndi stalls, activities, and lots of dancing. It even picked up coverage from Indian National News, which you can see here.
December
Cost of Living Cooking Series
In December, we launched our first officer recipe in our Cost of Living cooking series, after partnering with UoB to promote cooking safety and cost reduction! To offer some food inspiration at the end of term, Adam, Izzy and Pat cooked a Malaysian-style curry. Why not give the recipe a try?
January
Refreshers
Refreshers launched on 20 January to bring you into the term with new opportunities. From our Give it a Go! series (to try out a new society), to chances of discovering somewhere in the city. Around 1000 students came to Refresher's Fair to learn about local Bristol businesses and university life.
The Big Bristol SU Survey
Our Big Bristol SU Survey went live on 22 January, allowing students to tell us about their experiences with Bristol SU. By helping us understand what we're doing well, and where we can improve, we can shape our student services for the better. Overall, we had 1584 responses!
Bristol SU World Cup Tournament
Your Union Affairs Officer, Adam Michael, and our Sport and Student Development Officer, Pat Gibbs, held our first-ever SU World Cup Tournament. Whilst celebrating our diverse student population they brought students together for fun and social sports.
Read Adam's round-up of the successful event here.
February
Activity Hardship Fund and Group Grants
In February the Activity Hardship Fund panel met for the third time in the academic year. Reviewing 140 applications, the panel were very pleased to be able to fund 57 of them, totalling £7,460. The grant funding panel also awarded £17,765 through Bristol SU Group Grants and the Alumni Association Student Grant – funding projects such as a kitesurf sit-board to help members with mobility issues.
Palestine Fundraiser
A Palestine Fundraiser organised by the Volunteering and Fundraising Networks (in collaboration with other groups and our FTOs) raised over £2750!
March
Elections 2024
March saw the results of Elections 2024. We've loved seeing candidates getting out and about, filling the Bristol campus with posters and banners - and spreading the word about Elections to all students.
It was a record-breaking campaign with 7861 students voting and 60K+ total votes cast – one of (if not the) highest voter percentages in the country at 25.4%. Of course, this led to an introduction to our new Full Time Officer Team for 2024-25. Check out your new Officers, and the full round-up, here.
Derby Day
Your Sport and Student Development Officer, Pat Gibbs, hosted and organised our first-ever Derby Day in March! All sports clubs at Bristol had the opportunity to invite their rival Universities to come and play in one big community and showcase sporting events. It was the biggest sporting event of the calendar year. with over 500 athletes, hundreds of spectators and some VIPs including Evelyn Welch. It's safe to say that Pat has elevated our sporting community, and we look forward to making Derby Day an annual tradition.
April
Bristol SU: 50 Most Influential
Our new-style Awards campaign for 2024, Bristol SU:50 Most Influential Students, was a huge success! We launched the campaign in April to recognise students that have had a positive impact on our student community. After many amazing nominations, we celebrated our 50 winners with a fantastic awards evening in May where our 50 Most Influential students were invited to recognise one another's achievements, enjoy canopies, collect certificates, and take professional headshots. In case you missed it, you can see each of our winners – and the reasons that they won – right here.
May
£540k Cost of Living Support Secured
In May we announced the work your Full Time Officer team have been doing alongside the University of Bristol to secure £540k of additional funding for several schemes to support your student experience. You can find out the latest on this here.
Bristol SU Housing Report Results
The ‘Bristol SU Housing Survey’ was launched on 29 January, as part of Izzy's My Rent, My Rights campaign, to gain a deeper insight into the Bristol renting crisis, that around 30,000 students face if renting to attend the University of Bristol. We published the report in May and it received media attention from BBC Bristol, as well as the Bristol Post. We’re looking forward to driving change in the new academic year based on our findings. If you haven’t already, you can read the report here.
Harm Reduction
Last week we released the first in a series of seven Harm Reduction videos in collaboration with the University of Bristol, Bristol Nights, Bristol City Council and Bristol Drugs Project. Through this series, we hope to outline different areas of drug and nighttime safety in an open and educational way. Check out the video here.
Alongside this, around 85 students came along to a further STI Screening in May which we held alongside the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Exam Wellbeing
In line with Exam season, our Undergraduate Education Officer Nicole ran her Exams and Wellbeing campaign throughout May – which offered students a chance to take a break during their studies. The campaign saw 1146 students enjoy events such as Meet The Dogs, Free Exam Breakfasts and two amazing movement sessions led by externals. Nicole even organised an Ice Cream Van to offer free ice creams to over 260 students.
