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I Joined Students at Reading University Freshers Fayre

Posted by Rob Wilson, MP for Reading East, at 11:51, Thu 3 October 2013:

On 2 October 2013, I joined students at the University of Reading Freshers Fayre. Rob was taken on a tour of the stands by the Student Union President, Mark Kelleher.

This was the first of two Freshers Fayres that the University holds each year. This first contains stands for social societies, while the second is for sports societies.

Student societies are student run organisations within the Student Union. The University of Reading has one of the country’s most diverse Student Unions for societies, with over 160 societies in total.

I met with a wide variety of associations, covering a range of student interests.

I always like to make a point to visit the Reading Uni Freshers Fayre each year. There’s always a real sense of enthusiasm from the students running the Fayre. They’re all volunteers that organise the societies alongside their studies. The societies offer students a chance to take part in something that interests them and also to make new friends, which for someone new to the Uni, is something that’s really important.

The variety of stands is always impressive. Of course there are societies that are there just for fun, the Rollercoaster Society and the Lockpicking Society being really successful examples of this, but there are also societies for faith groups and social causes, like the St John’s Ambulance and the Raising and Giving Society. The Sign Language Society even taught me some signing. I now know the sign for “ghost” for some reason! There are also academic societies, for example, I know that the Law Society has been particularly successful over the years.

I was also impressed with some of the other activities available. The student newspaper Spark* for example always looks professional and gives valuable experience to young journalists at the university. One new group I did see was the Cheerleading Society, which was providing some incredible acrobatic shows for the other students.