10 Fundraising Tiomsú

Airgid

University of Galway Students’ Union ran a selection of unique charity events this year raising €19,000 for our chosen charities: Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Galway Simon Community.

Galway Rape Crisis Centre is dedicated to providing a professional, caring and confidential counselling and support service for those in our community affected by sexual abuse and sexual violence.

Galway Simon Community provide support and accommodation services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the West of Ireland.

Our giant Christmas Raffle raised over €2,800 with staff and students purchasing tickets online for a chance to win 30 amazing prizes kindly donated by Galway businesses.

Our Take Me Out night was a big hit at Sult hosted by comedian Steve Bennett with students vying for the chance to take part, have the craic and try to find romance!

We held two saucy, sold out rounds of Sex Toy Bingo at Sult during the year to raise more funds for the SU Charities hosted again by the fabulous Steve Bennett.

During SHAG Week we hosted a Galentine’s Day Brunch which was so successful we brought it back for International Women’s Day with lots of pancakes, prosecco and goodie bags from Ceravé.

The Swifties of University of Galway united for our Sult Taylor’s Version Night with Swiftie Society to raise more money for the charities.

We hosted our first ever Drag School with Prof Annie Naggins at the helm ably teaching our pupils the art of Drag. The school end of year show at our first ever Drag Race was a huge success with Steven Sharpe on co-host duties with Annie.

We held a massive quiz night, a charity 5 a side competition, a pool competition and charity yoga classes during the year. More brave students and SU Officers sacrificed their hair doing the Shave Off challenge to raise funds for the charities. Postgrads showed they had brains to burn at our Postgrad Quiz Night.

We continued to sell our Big Yellow Thing Socks online and on campus. The socks designed by Galway Company Irish Socksciety feature a tribute to the iconic “Galway Yellow” (AKA Big Yellow Thing) sculpture on campus. All proceeds from the sock sales went to the SU Charity fund with the socks proving very popular as presents for alumni, graduates, students and staff.

Entertainment & Events

Siamsaíocht agus Imeachtaí 11

Freshers’ Events

At the start of September we took part in Fáilte Fest with a pop up Gaeltacht, pop up charity shops, free rapid HIV testing, a Céilí and a County Colours Night at Sult. Our SU Rudaí Áille tote bags were back and packed with freebies and the SU magazine to welcome students to campus throughout September. The ever popular Outdoor Cinema returned with free popcorn and a showing of Madagascar. Our Refreshers Fair made it’s long awaited return with food trucks, inflatable games, a vintage clothes pop up, music, competitions, great students offers and, of course, more freebies.

Walktober

We had a huge amount of University of Galway staff and students taking part in the Smarter Travel Walktober Challenge in October with 49 teams registered. The month long event kept everyone active and connected whilst encouraging sustainable transport choices.

Hallows

In October Hallows was the first of our big collaboration events with Sult and the Societies Office to mark Halloween. The sold out event featured an amazing performance by the Dirty Circus, DJs, drama, costume competitions, activities and more transforming Áras na Mac Léinn, Sult and the Bailey Allen Hall in to a spooky Halloween experience.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day returned in November with events in Áras na Mac Léinn and Sult to help students start spreading the festive cheer early and take a break from the books. Free events were run during the day by the SU and Societies with Santa Claus in attendance and students donning their Christmas jumpers. Verve DJ’s took over Sult in the evening for a sold out gig.

Sult (Taylor’s Version)

At the end of November we teamed up with Swiftie Soc again to have another amazing Taylor Swift night at Sult in aid of the SU Charities.

Pink Training

In November we again hosted the national Pink Training conference. Pink Training is Europe’s largest LGBT+ Conference, which sees over 300 student delegates attend a weekend of residential training. The weekend includes talks, workshops and plenary sessions run by USI (the Union of Students in Ireland) along with social events including another fabulous Dirty Circus performance.

Thriftmas Market and Pet Farm

During Study Week in December we organised a Thriftmas Market and Pet Farm visit at Áras na Mac Léinn. We had students selling their arts and crafts, a pop up second hand clothes shop with Galway Simon Community and music from DJ Soc in Áras na Mac Léinn. Outside there were Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Chicks, Chickens, Ducks, Goat and a Llama from Wooly Farm!

Early Bird Ents

At the end of August/start of September we worked with the International Office to put on a series of Early Bird Ents to welcome our early arrival students to campus. These included campus tours, Galway tours, a Croagh Patrick hike, quiz nights, karaoke, scavenger hunts, Gaeilge 101 and speed friending.

International events in January

There were more Early Bird Ents in January to welcome visiting students to campus including an Arriba Latin American night, a Movie night, speed friending, campus tours, karaoke, a scavenger hunt, a pub quiz and a board game night.

Refreshers Fair 2

In January we hosted a second Refreshers Fair with freebies, giveaways, exhibitors, J1 information, food stalls, a second hand clothes sale and more!

SOS

On Donegal Tuesday/Valentine’s Day we teamed up with the Societies Office, Sult and Groovy Tuesday to put on Galway’s biggest-ever dance music event SOS. The sold out event took over Áras na Mac Léinn, the Bailey Allen Hall and Sult with an amazing line-up including Cody Currie, Shee, Chaz Moloney, Maedbh O’Connor, IMO and DJ Socs finest!

Voter Registration

The SU continued to encourage students to register to vote throughout the year with Voter Registration Drives for first time voters along with encouraging Graduates to register for their Seanad Éireann vote during Graduation events.

Freebies

Throughout the year we held promos in the SU Office with lots of great freebies from companies like Vodafone, Mooju, Hot Press, Energise and Avonmore. We also had a Just Eat challenge event where a student won a trip to go to the UEFA Cup Final! To celebrate the opening of the SU Síbín social space we did giveaways of tea/coffee, fruit and pastries a number of times during the year.

Postgrad Events

Throughout the year we worked with Postgrad Society to put on movie nights, quiz nights, speed friending and coffee mornings to help the postgraduate community connect with each other. We also held a STEM Movie Night for our STEM students.

Take Me Out

In February we took over Sult for a sold out version of Take Me Out. Contestants aimed to impress in the hopes of finding romance at the event hosted by comedian Steve Bennett.

Drag School + Drag Race

The budding Qweens and Kings of University of Galway signed up for our month long Drag School hosted by Professor Annie Naggins. Then our amazing drag students took to the stage at Sult for our first ever Drag Race hosted by Annie and Steven Sharpe to raise funds for the SU Charities.

International Women’s Day Brunch

In March we held another sold out prosecco and pancake brunch to mark International Women’s Day.