After the madness of Freshers’ Week has settled down, we always like to take a moment to reflect on what we collectively achieved. The Freshers’ period is more than just the week itself; it takes months of planning and co-ordination, and your induction period doesn’t just stop after Freshers’ Week.
What makes Bath so unique is how Freshers’ Week really is student led, we had two wonderful Freshers’ Week Event Managers who started with us in March to build an unforgettable timetable of events and support a team of over 80 Freshers’ Week Captains. Huge thanks to Gabby and Assanatou who did an amazing job running training sessions, planning events, and working non-stop to deliver the best possible experience for our students.
We’re so proud of our programme this year, we had the most events ever on and off campus and we had a whole new sellout wristband offer this year which was a reaction to student feedback from previous years. It’s always such a joy to see students coming alone to events and leaving with new connections made and potentially friends for life.
We rely so heavily on our student volunteers, from the Captains to our Student Group Committees, who add to the Freshers’ Week calendar by running events, hosting taster sessions and even performing at our central run events. Particular thanks go to Backstage who once again transformed the Founders Hall into a huge indoor arena.
Below are just some of our key highlights:
- Recruited and trained over 80 Freshers’ Week Captains
- Sold 2,100 Freshers’ Week Wristbands
- Held over 60 individual SU-led events including mixers, arts and crafts, fairs, street food market and so much more.
- Transformed the Sports Hall into a huge 2,500-capacity Arena and ran three huge Arena Nights, including our first ever Freshers’ Week Ball!
- Held daily mixers which helped form communities of students with similar experiences and backgrounds
- Distributed hundreds of FW T-shirts in halls colours, creating that sense of community.
- Ou Captains packed and distributed 4,000 bedroom bags to students living in halls.
- Got arty with workshops, live music, a murder mystery and more at the Edge.
- Built our own Paint By Numbers mural, completed by Freshers over the first few days of Freshers’ Week
- Over 100 groups set up on the parade for our Groups Day with creative and innovative stalls to engage new students.
- Every Sports Club attended the Sports Fair with thousands of visitors throughout the event.
- Signed up over 8,000 members of sports, societies, and volunteering groups since the start of September.
- Held over 60 Give it a Go events led by student groups, offering a chance for students to try before they buy!
- Had 50 external companies attend the Freshers’ Fair with approximately 3,000 visitors through the door, so much pizza was consumed!
- Were visited by acts such as Hacker T Dog, Tinchy Strider, Switch Disco and our favourites, the Chip Shop Boys
- Ran a sellout Postgraduate-only timetable of events including a cheese & wine night, a pub tour, and visits to The Holborne and American Museum
- Handed out hundreds of slices of Domino’s pizza at during the moving in weekend.
- Hundreds of horns were honked on arrivals weekend with encouragement from our FW Captains
- Sold over 500 items of vintage clothing over the week.
- Launched our Bath Active sessions, our free recreational sport offer.
- Held 21 Peer Mentor Welcome Events with different departments across the University.
- 533 PGT students were buddied together over the course of 5 PGT Buddying Welcome Events
- Created links with venues in the city to offer variety of entertainment of campus including trampolining, bowling, and museum visits.
- The SU Officers introduced The SU at 15 UniLife Talks
- Hundreds of students bounced their way through inflatables day in the Sports Hall
- Launched our Academic Rep, Hall Rep, and other elections to give students the chance to make a stand!
- Advertised a wide variety of part time job vacancies ranging from bar work through to retail, care, and campus-based roles throughout September.
- Supported over 40 students to find the advice and confidence they needed to resolve an academic, housing, or personal issue.
All of this and in such a short amount of time! Huge thanks to each any every one of you who came our events and really made the most of the experiences on offer to you. We hope this has set you up well for the academic year! Remember the induction period doesn’t stop here, there are so many opportunities still on offer to you. Check out the ‘What’s on Pages’ for all our events and browse the website to join groups, take on a role and discover your home away from home.