2022-2023
SUPDATES
SEPTEMBER 2022
Kicking off the academic year, the Royal Welsh Students Union hosted a range of activities for Fresher’s Fortnight! Beginning by welcoming the new students to Halls and helping them move in, we handed out our Welcome Pack Tote Bags including vital information about moving to Cardiff and becoming a student. FreshFest22, the first night of Fresher’s, combined karaoke with a meet and greet activity where students were randomly given names of bands and encouraged to meet new people by finding the rest of their band members. Continuing week one with traditional Fresher’s events such as Fresher’s Fayre, Bavarian night and Bike Servicing and Repairs, the SU Team also planned new social activities such as Craft Night, Burrito & Mojito and UV Party.
Week two saw the rescheduled Club Night at Kongs as well as Pride Society Takeover including a Panel Talk followed by a film screening. Tuesday introduced the weekly quiz, Wine and Cheese style, before the perfect mid-week check-in on Wellness Wednesday supplying advice, support and a relaxing evening of yoga. Finishing Fresher’s Fortnight in true Royal Welsh style could only mean Live Music Thursday (LMT) where three fantastic bands consisting of current and past music students performed at Tramshed.
OCTOBER 2022
After a successful and busy Fresher’s Fortnight, the SU team got to work with the normal term time activities. We attended the usual meetings and had our first Union Council meeting – hearing feedback and thoughts from the student representatives.
Continuing in true Royal Welsh spirit we hosted an array of regular events including the weekly quiz. This month quiz themes included Animals, Children TV shows, Harry Potter and Halloween (thanks G!) which of course involved our Frog Off tie breakers!
Other social events included Live Music Thursday (LMT) by Abs Bangers and Sax O’Clock News, Bame Society takes over Writer’s Night, Karaoke and a Halloween Party.
Wellness Wednesday is also a weekly occurrence led by our VP of Welfare Pea. This month we hosted an International Students Meet and Greet and also gave out resources and created a collaborative poster in the SU for World Mental Health Day. We looked at the cost of food and gave out free pasta bake ingredients for students to make. Coinciding with Stress Awareness Day, we hid stress relief care packages around the College for students and staff to find as well as having some colouring activities in the SU. Each Wednesday also has a free yoga session in the evening.
This month we have also seen a huge interest in societies with many new societies being formed. Each society have been very busy with their regular meet ups which offer an escape from academic work!
NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2022
November brought another action-packed month of activities in the Royal Welsh Students’ Unions. Firstly, a huge congratulations to the Movember Team who have raised over £2,500 for men’s mental health, suicide prevention and prostate and testicular cancer. We have seen Cassius Kay and the sports society host quizzes and ‘A Cute Night In, Cinema Night’ with the addition of various sports challenges and marvellous moustache growing!
This term has had a particular increase in the activity of societies with the emergence of DJ, Dance, Film, Musical Theatre society and plenty more. Role Play Group and Real Ale and Cider Society have both hosted quizzes as well as DJ Society taking over Live Music Thursday (LMT). Due to the rise in extracurricular activity, we have launched Society Night, a space for groups to socialise and for students to know what opportunities are on offer.
Usual LMT business occurred including Charlie Herbert’s Bruno Mars band and The Bells Angel’s Band-eoke. Writer’s Night was back in full swing as well as a new Drama Social night for the department to get to know each other.
This month’s Wellbeing Wednesday campaigns have included Preparing for your practise and The Importance of Headspace. We also host various craft related activities throughout the month to highlight the importance of taking time out of academic work. We have also just launched our Christmas Candy Cane Delivery Service for staff and students to send candy canes and Christmas cards to spread some festive cheer!
I attended the Conservatoire’s UK Student Network conference at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, representing RWSU. This was a fantastic opportunity to meet other conservatoire SU Presidents and learn about their SUs. We have planned to do many joint campaigns this year to benefit students all across UK.
JANUARY 2023
With a new calendar year comes a new lease of excitement to the Royal Welsh Students’ Union. After handing out over 250 candy canes before the winter break, the SU Team got prepping for the new term. Natalie and Pea completed Mental Health First Aid training which we hope will help the SU Team to support students throughout the academic year.
Refreshers week kicked off with Krazy Karaoke, where students found new karaoke partners to sing the night away with. We ran Royal Welsh College’s first Animal Club, a day where students could meet, hold and learn about different animals. We were visited by snakes, lizards, guinea pigs and rabbits. Classic events returned such as the Quiz, Bavarian Night and Craft Night. We had daytime visits from South Wales Police and bike servicing from Cardiff Cycle Workshop. We learnt about how these organisations interact with students in Cardiff. We finished the week with a fantastic gig at Porters showcasing two College bands: Abs Bangers and Funkyard.
As term got into full flow, the Football Society hosted a charity quiz promoting their upcoming game against the alumni team. We also had a Writer’s Night where students from all courses shared new and old works.
As well as hosting a Chinese New Year Quiz, we celebrated Dydd Santes Dwynwen (the Welsh patron saint of love) by hiding presents around the College for students to find. We finished the week with a Burns Night ceilidh which saw many Scottish traditions including addressing the haggis!
february 2023
Any student who studies in Wales will experience the nation's strong sense of togetherness which is particularly embraced through music and sports. Community is a huge part of Royal Welsh College, both across the academic departments and within the Students' Union.
To support this sense of community through our Well-being Wednesday activities we gave out free ingredients and recipe for sausage and bean hotpot so students could cook a free meal for their housemates. We also celebrated Valentine’s Day by sharing chocolates and roses and asking people What or Who do you love? and hanging it on the tree in the SU.
Live music events such as Musical Theatre themed Bandeoke, Bells Angels, Beatles Themed Night and a St David’s Day Twmpath, continued to bring people together to sing, dance and party the night away. We have also had many sports events on within the SU: the football society hosted a pool tournament and ping pong night and a football match against the Royal Welsh alumni team, raising over £400 for the Open Door charity!
Streaming some of the Six Nations rugby matches has also filled the SU, bringing together supporters cheering for all the nations involved. The SU Team had the pleasure of attending the launch event of Cronfa Syr Bryn Terfel, a new foundation with Bryn Terfel on the day of the Wales vs England match which was a very celebratory reminder of how wonderful Wales is. This appreciation for Wales only grew during St. David’s Day where the SU Team handed out 200 of Cardiff Bakestones’ finest Welsh cakes from the market.
Natalie also represented RWCMD at the CUKSN conference at Royal Academy of Music in London where the network of conservatoire SU Presidents planned future collaborative campaigns and projects and of course she took them all some Welsh cakes too!
