I thought I’d keep you in the loop - now that I have two minutes to sit down and write a blog.

This is by far the biggest semester of the academic year,  with events such as refreshers fayre, Varsity, Superteams, Societies Dinner and Society & Team photos all coming round in very quick succession it was always going to be hectic time. We have also got the first draft of the ‘Activities Strategic Plan’ where we are literally planning the future of Activities in Aberystwyth, I’ll go into more detail now…

Refreshers Fayre

A huge thank you must go to Kate Heaven and Dan Meehan, they worked incredibly hard on the Refreshers Fayre! As a group, we highlighted that the current format of the fayre’s were unsuccessful. They lacked any footfall and they were pointless for students to waste their time sitting in an empty room for the duration of the day when they have studies to do. The introduction of some businesses that were offering great deals for students was the way forward, a fashion show was also organised and it went down as a great success. We hope to continue with this design next year by developing it even further, enabling clubs and societies to get the most out of this opportunity to recruit!

Varsity 2012

It was a huge disappointment to me we were unable to bring the Varsity trophy home this year. I must say our clubs were heroic in their efforts with many games going down to the wire. Both male and female football matches went to penalties, netball was won by a last second basket and we won’t go into the issue of the rugby pitches. I would also like to commend our Table Tennis Squad who in their fist competitive match ever, and came away victorious against their Bangor competitors. I was incredibly proud of everyone’s efforts and behaviour in Bangor – it proved to be fantastic day for all 400 students that stepped on the buses up north! But rest assured they are coming to our home turf next year and that trophy will be rightfully returned to the Aberystwyth Guild Building!

Superteams 2012

Superteams 2012 was a massive success with 42 teams taking part, with a brand new schedule and events. If it definitely took the competitors to the next level of physical fitness and at the same time banter and fun. Whether it being the bleep test on Friday afternoon, to mystery event on Blaendolau on Sunday; both weekends I hope was truly memorable for everyone taking part. Huge congratulations must go to everyone who took part in making the event such a success like every year, and I would also like to thank all those that helped out.

The winners of the female event was – FC Dirty Tackle

The Winners of the Male Event was – The King Cobras

Society & Team Photos

Happened with great success Take That Photo company came in and took photos of as many clubs and societies that signed up, with our groups taking two days of constant photography, I think everybody came away with a great memento of their year within a club or society, and the company were incredibly complimentary of our students. They will also be placing all of their photos on their website very soon.

Societies Celebration Dinner

Scheduled for this Friday (23/3/12) we are hoping for an increase on last year again, we have received a large amount of nominations, all with great reasons behind them. We are working on making this evening where we can recognise all those that work so hard for their society. I’m sure it will be fantastic in the Pier brassiere on Friday. I will up date you on the event after Friday.

Process Improvement

I have also started improving Guild processes for clubs and societies to follow. At the current moment in time, some are long winded and seem to hinder many rather than help. There will a new revised copy for disciplinary procedure for club/society members or committee members, a new and easier method to set up a society/ club and a freshening up some aspects of society/sport constitutions. All of course to be run through GM and sent around for comments - This of course may take some time with other events going on but the ball has begun rolling.

Activities Strategic Plan

The first stage of the Activities Strategic Plan has been drafted, there now has to be some work done on it to prioritise and work on how these developments can be implemented that best suits students in Aberystwyth. It should excite many what could happen with some backing from the University and what sports, societies and volunteering could be in the future.

Video Placements

I have now been in contact with Television, Film & Theatre Studies, where the Guild will provide placements for 2^ndyear students to come in and create videos. It will be coming out to TFTS students in the near future for them to apply; it will provide them with an opportunity to add to their CV and video portfolio.  They have now been recruited and will be working on making some new videos in the near future.

Sports & Societies Stats Pad & Importance Paper

I will be putting a paper together soon of all statistics, regarding clubs and societies to back up a paper that will present how important clubs and societies are to the student experience of Aberystwyth.  In true style to transparency there will also be a document placed on the Guild website outlining the funding methods of sports and societies.

Things Coming Up

Just a few extra things coming up in the pipe line will be the Athletic Union Dinner, Rugby 7s so I will have plenty to keep me occupied,  And hopefully in the near future try and secure some storage for the summer if not permanent for clubs and societies.

It has been a while!!

I know I know I haven’t done this in a very ling time and I apologise for that. I think the last was in August 2010 my bad!

So there’s a fair bit to cover like the whole of last year and the start of this year, but I’m going to narrow it down and just bring you all up to date with the world of activities and the Guild as a whole.

First of all can I say thanks again to all those that re elected me, and hopefully you have faith in me to carry out my role. But being a second year sabb has proven to help me a lot, now that I should know what I’m doing, creating change and analysing where we are falling short is something I can address and make lasting change to better the deal for students. First of all I’m going to highlight something that myself and Jon Antionazzi brought back last year and which we are now seeing its teeth is The Courier, our re launch and revamp of the student newspaper is going from strength to strength due to the hard work of the new committee, I can only see it growing and getting better and better every issue, and I am so glad to see student media growing and making a bold statement across campus, if you do have an interest get here and get involved it’s a fantastic way to spend your spare time.

Perhaps one of the most pressing issues that I am trying to deal with currently is the societies grant, at this moment in time the pot is not big enough, and in turn we have managed to douple it this year from the original £2000 to £4000, which in my opinion is still not enough and I will be approaching the university with a proposal that is already written, very soon to have the support for our clubs and societies increased dramatically. The £4000 has now been allocated to all of those societies that applied, to fund some fantastic projects.

We are also in the process along with the university in finding a secure storage facility for clubs and societies. So that all equipment is not stored in student houses and clogging up bedrooms, once an area has been identified we will be clearing it out and getting your stuff in there and working on a process to make sure that it is safe and secure. So we can free up those hallways and kitchens from the training gear, amps and hoodies.

Further more this year we have changed the way in which the Athletic Union is structured and I just want to thank you all who have helped and been patient in the process. The grant application process has changed to give even more lasting change to the clubs and try to promote even more development. The grant funding has been allocated and we look forward to seeing some development going on.

This year we have also secured some alumni funding for some portable floodlights which will be an invaluable tool for all our clubs, to aid in training during the winter. We are currently waiting on the funds to be raised and we will hopefully see them purchased in the New Year.  Within activities we are also trying to produce a strategic plan for sports clubs and societies to take to the university, in highlighting how important they are to the student experience! Something that we will be asking for your feedback, through surveys which will be sent out in due course, to make sure you’re involved in the process.

There are many other things on the cards, not to mention all the events coming up in the second semester. From Varsity, Superteams and societies quiz. There are plenty of ideas coming around so please if you have anything bring it in and I will do my best to help you out.

Just on a final note it was great to see so many people coming to the first general meeting, it was fantastic to see some true student politics coming through. And please make sure you head to the next one where some pretty hefty policies are coming through.

And thanks to all that completed the survey, we really appreciate you taking the time to fill it in, and all information and trends that you have gathered we will be trying to deliver by the end of this academic year. Thanks Again!

Keep popping in people, trust me I will help you with anything (within reason) to my utmost ability, and I promise to make you all more aware of the wins we have on the activities front.

I promise to do more of these even though it pains me to say this I’ve quite enjoyed writing this even as an anti social media kind of guy!

Cheers

Min

Note:  Please find attached breakdowns for grants to clubs and societies below!!

Attachments:

Breakdown of Grants to Sports Clubs	[ ]	152 Kb
Breakdown of Grants to Societies	[ ]	61 Kb