Worc Hard Play Hard | Issue 7

#7

May2019

WSU

Brought to you by Harrison Jarrett and Worcester Students’ Union

WORC HARD WORC HARD PLAY HARD PLAY HARD

UNIVERSITY OF WORCESTER

Varsity 2019 concluded with the scores standing at 13 all. This means we share the trophy with the University of Gloucestershire. Well done to everyone who competed for #TeamWorc. Your hard work really paid off and we couldn't be any more proud. Read match highlights and more from page 5.

UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Hi, I’m Harrison Jarrett, your Vice President Student Activities.

I am delighted to present the seventh issue of your Worc Hard Play Hard magazine. One of my key manifesto aims was to make sure the profiles of both sports clubs and societies are raised and that achievements are celebrated and shared throughout the University during my time in office.

Producing a majority student-led magazine showcasing sports, societies, volunteering, RAG, Reps and much more will help us to achieve this.

Varsity 2019 has just passed, and what a huge success it was. I was immensely proud of everyone whether you participated in a fixture or were part of the increased number of spectators that showed immense support at all fixtures. It really did show the fantastic #TeamWorc ethos we have here at Worcester. You guys really are amazing.

During the ten days the score kept repeatedly changing, however, I am proud to say together we managed to bring home the 13-13 draw for #TeamWorc.

Looking ahead to round off the year we have our Celebration Week rapidly approaching and I am really excited to showcase our wonderful achievements this year at both Colours Ball and Union Awards.

I suppose this is also the final sign off from me (I know you are all absolutely devastated about this‌) I would really like to thank each and every one of you for the continued support you have given me with #TeamWorcTV, allowing me to attend your sessions and a wealth of events throughout the year.

I have no doubt that Mike will carry on my hard work and produce an even better year in 2019-2020.

I would like to take this opportunity to give a special thank you to every individual who has contributed towards this edition of Worc Hard Play Hard. I really enjoy hearing about all the great achievements from our students. Please keep writing to us about all your successes and achievements throughout the year. Showcase them and be proud! I can assure you we definitely are.

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CONTENTS

CLUB NEWS 17-21 18 Dance Competition Season 19 Men’s Rugby & Cricket Men’s Rugby and Cricket raise £1420 for Movember 19 Fencing Continued success for Fencing 20 Swimming team up with Cricket 21 Success for the Athletics Club

SOCIETY NEWS 13-16 14 Education Enhancement Teaching Fair 15 Debate Society Why debate is important...

15 Societies Out and About Birmingham Comic Con 16 Meet Our Brand New Societies

VARSITY & MISC.

05-08 Varsity 07 Final Score 08 Match Reviews 09-10 Elections 2019

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11 Over £400 raised for Papyrus and Cancer Research 12 Member of Women’s Hockey raises over £2000 for charity 22 Say NO to single-use plastic

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N O I N I P O N A E V A H

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LUB C R U O Y S A H ING H T E M O S T GO OR SOCIETY E? R A H S O T T THEY WAN

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CONTRIBUTE TO WORC HARD PLAY HARD ONLINE OR IN PRINT. Please email sucommunications@worc.ac.uk to find out how you can get involved.

READ OUR LATEST EDITIONS HERE: www.worcsu.com/whatson/worchardplayhard/ 4

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3 1 3 1 E R O C S L A N FI Varsity 2019 proved to be another fine and fierce sporting occasion. #TeamWorc started off strong, with six consecutive wins from the get-go. #TeamGlos slowly caught up throughout the remainder of the week (not without a fight) and the final score stands at 13-13, meaning the trophy is shared with Gloucester. Win or lose (or draw!), Varsity is always an occasion to saviour.

Well done to everyone who competed for #TeamWorc. Your hard work really paid off and we couldn't be any more proud. And a big thank you to all our #TeamWorc followers for getting out there and showing your support. Varsity wouldn't be the same without you all.

ARENA DAY 2019

09:00

Eager fans start arriving at the Arena

14:45

A close loss for Rowing.

Amazing effort but #TeamGlos gain their first point of the day.

10:55

First win of the day for #TeamWorc. Women’s Badminton win 6-2.

16:30

The Saints are victorious. 7-1 to #TeamWorc

11:15

Second win.

Women’s Volleyball secure #TeamWorc their 4th overall point.

19:00

Tight game for Netball, losing to #TeamGlos.

Basketball miles ahead in the scores.

We had an incredibly successful Arena Day this year. This is how it played out...

12:00

Men’s Badminton win 8-0!

22:00

We finish on a high, with Futsal winning 9-4.

12:45

Not another one! Table Tennis claim the victory. 6 Varsity points to Worcester.

Match Reviews Te is

Varsity 2019 was definitely one of the biggest highlights of our tough season, and we were more than happy to have introduced a women’s fixture for the first time in our history. We put everything into it, from the hard work and preparation to the fixture itself. Even though we lost overall, the matches were very close and we are proud that we did our best. The men won 92-84 games overall, however they lost on matches won which was a massive frustration. Women lost 17-22, not including tie-breaks. Our man of the match was Ryan Lockett who showed his physical and mental strength when he came from losing the first set to winning the match in a tie-break. Our best woman was Lauren Evans who won her match even though she was injured.

Bring on e 2019/2020 season!

Women’s Rugby The University of Worcester’s Women’s Rugby team put on an earth-shattering performance at this year’s Varsity, winning 102-7 against the University of Gloucestershire, scoring so many points that we even ran out of space on the scoreboard.

Table Te is

convincingly against Gloucester 13-4 in Varsity was the icing on the cake. It was a crowd favourite!

Henry Cugnoni (Chairman and Captain) Varsity capped off a great year for the Table Tennis club! After our first ever season competing in BUCS, winning

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The support was amazing from everyone throughout the morning, and really boosted the team morale throughout the event!

Jess made her Varsity debut, playing some great table tennis to get three solid wins and Lewis and I competed in our last Varsity for the University. Lloyd and Lewis put a shift in to just about win the doubles after an intense morning of play, and finally a special mention to Lloyd who pulled off the performance of the event against Gloucester’s top player with an emphatic 3-1 win. The Varsity win for Table Tennis got #TeamWorc hyped and raring to go for what was a very successful Arena Day. Much appreciation for all the support, and hopefully it will be the same again next year!

ELECTIONS 2019 Congratulations to the brand new Officer team for 2019/20!

On behalf of everyone here at the Students' Union, we would like to say a massive well done to all the candidates in this year's elections. You were truly amazing. And a final thank you to everyone who didn't duck out of democracy and once again made these elections our most successful ever.

MEG PRICE

DENT

PRESI

HARRY LONSDALE

VP EDUC ATIO

N

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MIKE HARRIS

VP STUDE NT ACTIVITI ES

HARRY LONSDALE

PRESIDENT

My name is Harry Lonsdale and I am going to be your Students’ Union President for the 2019-2020 academic year. I am currently finishing my masters in International Sport Management after four great years studying at the University. In this time I have been the RAG Chairman for two years, a Student Council representative, a School Representative, and I have been on the Men’s Rugby club committee for the last three years.

I want to make sure that you all have a great academic year coming up and there are many things I want to do to represent you, engage you, and improve your well-being. I want to lobby for a GP on campus as I feel this is a 'must have' service, make sure feedback is much more accurate to help you move forward, and create a Students’ Union app so you know about all events going on. I also want to create a directory for students of useful services and fun things to do in the Worcester area, create a wellbeing space at the university, and write fortnightly blogs on how to improve your student experience.

I cannot wait to start in June and I am sure we are all going to have a great year!

VP STUDENT ACTIVITIES

MIKE HARRIS

VP EDUCATION

MEG PRICE

Hi everyone.

I’m Meg and I’m a third-year Sport and Exercise Science student who has gratefully been voted in as your next Vice President Education 2019/2020 at the SU. During my time at Worcester I’ve been engaged in sports and societies, Raise and Give and Women’s Rugby, as well as being a Course Rep for three years. Next year I hope to review the incentives for Course Reps, and I also have some ideas on celebrating the successes of the changes made by Course Reps. I am also looking to create more extracurricular workshops to add to your academic experience. I’m really looking forward to the role and can’t wait to get started!

Hi Everyone!

For those of you who I have yet to meet, my name is Mike and I am the incoming Vice President Student Activities. I am really excited to meet many more of you over the coming year and help you build the best University experience possible! Some of the things I am looking forward to doing over the summer is working on Live Streams, speaking to Course Leaders about course-specific activities and working with Sports and Societies committees to help them achieve all their goals for the year. For now though, best of luck with your assignments and good luck to those who are leaving us after this year!

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Over £400 raised for Papyr us and Cancer Research

By Isobel Lines

blindfolded in order to gain an understanding for individuals who have visual impairments. This contributes to my studies as I'm looking to be a PE teacher and may find myself teaching students with disabilities in the future. Both Equestrian and Women’s Cricket also set themselves the target of walking in full kit.

‘Walk With A Purpose' was a charity event organised by me where anyone could take part in walking up the Malvern Hills with a 'purpose'. The chosen charities were; Papyrus, Cancer Research, and BWAP. I asked everyone who took part in the event to set themselves a target or have a specific purpose as to why they are taking part. Mine was to walk up the hills

Despite the terrible rain and hail, everyone managed to complete a 2km walk within an hour! Overall, from the event we raised £470 with donations still coming in now.

Top fundraisers is semester: Trampolining raised £236 for The Princes’ Trust during their 24 hour bounce-a-thon.

Dance and Wheelchair Basketball – raised £145.85 for Prostate Cancer UK. Education Enhancement raised £453.92 for the NSPCC during their Teaching Fair.

There has been so much brilliant fundraising over the last semester – too much to fit all on this page! See a full breakdown here www.worcsu.com/volunteer/ rag/fundraisingtotal/, or make sure you like RAG on Facebook to keep up to date with everything going on.

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Pole Fitness raised £723.58 for WMRSASC during their VK Rave Night at Velvet.

Daniel Williams braved the shave and raised £245 for Macmillan Cancer Support

RAG Fundraisers

s over Member of Women’s Hockey raise

£2000 for char

Many people have asked me over the past weeks, "OMG! Why did you do it?" The answer is simple-David Lock. He is the single most selfless man I know and I have the good fortune of being his goddaughter. Over ten years ago, David volunteered his time to help a struggling boy’s orphanage in Ukraine, a country struggling with corruption and social injustice.

I miss my long hair. It was so long (95cm) that I could sit on it, but I don't regret it for a second. I believe that those who have the ability to help have the responsibility to do so. The hair itself has gone to The Little Princess Trust, so there was even more incentive! Thank you so much to everyone that donated and sent kind words, it means so much to David, the boys, and myself.

The long and short of it is that he's still there, but in a new capacity as one of the Managing Directors. As well as teaching the boys English in the school, David looks after their health and wellbeing, often engaging in custody battles over parents or carers who abuse the boys both actively and through neglect.

Want to become part of some amazing fundraising on campus? Why not join the RAG Committee? Students have raised over £20000 for RAG and various charities so far this year, and that number just keeps on getting higher. Visit www.worcsu.com/volunteer/RAG to find out more and apply.

The Family Home of the Living Pearl Orphanage is always in need of support, and I've always wanted to do something that would make a difference. So I thought... ‘What would be the most shocking thing to do? What could raise enough money to help?’... Shaving off my hair seemed like the logical choice somehow!

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The next few pages are dedicated to showcasing our brilliant societies here at Worcester.

From organising hugely successful fairs, to the importance of debate, and attending ComicCon, here’s what they’ve been up to. #TeamWorc

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Educa on Enhancement

Society News

Teaching Fair

Inspired by a visit to the ‘Education Show’ held in London this year, the Education Enhancement Society committee decided to organize their own, smaller scale ‘Teaching Fair’, to be held here at the University of Worcester. The committee managed to contact and confirm the attendance of 25 different organisations and individuals that could benefit trainee, current or prospective teachers across the region. Some of the most popular stall-holders included well-known organisations such as the Teachers’ Shop, TOTUM, Child Bereavement, Makaton Charity and Morrell’s Handwriting.

There were also members of staff from the University of Worcester community; promoting education courses, the University itself and its wider opportunities such as the Worcester Award and links with The Hive.

Feedback identified that attendees had travelled a great distance to attend the fair, from as far away as Oxford; with one attendee stating that it was a “very

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professional, well-presented and an impressive event that benefits allâ€?. Positive feedback was given in relation to the organisation, range of stalls and ‘buzz’ felt at the event, with positive comments still being made days after the fair. From the event, the society managed to raise over ÂŁ300 for the NSPCC, the Education Enhancement Society ‘charity of the year’ as chosen by members. The event not only provided attendees with resources and information that will support them in their current or future careers, but also inspired and developed a deeper passion for a career that has such a huge impact on our children.

@edenhancement @edenhancement L

Why debate is impor nt...

By Saraella Kekkonen & Olivia Dowell The Debate Society creates a relaxed and tight knit space where students can utilise problem-solving skills and creative thinking to build a more convincing argument than an opposing side. Members often take drastically different approaches to a topic, showing there is never a single way to approach a debate and each individual can add their own personal twist. It is a space where students can debate and discuss an issue in an objective manner, without hostility and judgement. It also allows students to view topics from different sides, building their world view through being exposed to new ideas and becoming more empathetic to opposing views while also giving opportunity to play devil’s advocate.

Many students are put off from debate because of exposure to toxic “debate� online or breakdown of political processes and the negativity that is associated.

It’s unfortunate that debate has been conflated with this sort of behaviour. It creates a breakdown in the sharing of ideas, as the debate society believes that sharing of ideas is an antidote to discrimination.

Furthermore, being more informed about the world means that students are better able to make positive life choices.

Many prominent figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama have owed much of their success from being involved in debate societies while at university. Debate can help students in everyday life, whether that is being more competent when explaining an idea, becoming a better team leader through improved confidence or simply becoming better at winning an argument. However, winning every argument in a relationship might not be a good thing (the debate society holds no responsibility for any failed relationships due to improved arguing skills!).

Socie es Out and About Birmingham Comic Con

In March we organised a trip to Birmingham Comic Con at the NEC in collaboration with the Anime & Manga and Gaming societies. It was a great opportunity for everybody to cosplay as their favourite characters, attend panels for shows such as The Umbrella

Academy, Merlin & Supernatural, and check out a huge range of merchandise. It was lovely to get to spend so much time together as a society, get to know people from the other societies and unwind from the stress of exams and assignments.

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L @MarvelDCWorc F @MarvelDCWorc

Society News

New societies are always joining #TeamWorc.

Check out some of our most recent additions below:

Br sh Sign Language Society

Physicians A ociate Society “The society is a great way to empower Physician Associate Students within Worcester. The University has been running the program now for five years. We are the first year to launch the society and we hope to have speakers, society socials and increase awareness of the profession in the area and throughout Worcestershire.�

“The British Sign Language (BSL) Society aims to provide students with the platform to communicate with the deaf community and others who may use this recognised language.�

O upa onal erapy Society

e Arts Coec ve

Paramedics Society

UOW Indian Society

“The Occupational Therapy Society is a group for Occupational Therapy students, where we can do work in study groups/ study sessions as well as meet and get together outside of study during socials.�

“The Arts Collective provides space to be creative and to make work, facilitating Arts events around the University. The Collective will provide exciting artistic opportunities, enabling members to meet and network with their fellow creatives.�

“India is the country shaped by its people, encouraged by its places and alive with adventure and opportunity. This society will manage various events and help Indian students who come across any difficulties in University life.�

“Our aim for this society is to enhance the knowledge and skills for Paramedic students, as well as educate other students and the general public.�

You can find out about all of our amazing societies and how to join them at www.worcsu.com/societies 16

We all know how much sport is a huge part of student life here at the University of Worcester, and these next few pages demonstrate just that. With success at competitions, to raising thousands of pounds for charity, here’s just a few examples of the amazing work of sports clubs that make up #TeamWorc.

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Dance

Club News

n! o s a e S n o

e p m Co

By Abbie Simms (Dance Chair & Captain)

On Saturday 23rd March we then took to the University of Nottingham for the University Dance Championships.

Despite again being up against lots of amazing universities during a very fast paced competition, we managed to bring 4 trophies back to Worcester. 1st place for Ballet, 2nd place for Tap, 3rd place for Jazz and 3rd place for Contemporary. As the championship’s motto says, ‘Go Hard or Go Home’ and we certainly did.

March, for the Saints, marks the start of competition season! For the first year we decided to take our teams to the next level and compete in two competitions, as well as Varsity!

We first took to the stage at The University of Manchester’s competition on Saturday 16th March. This competition is one of the hardest and most prestigious competitions to compete at, so even having our application accepted was so exciting. The competition took place in an arena venue with over 1000 people in the audience. Although we didn’t bring back any top three places we had some amazing achievements across the board. Four of the six dances we entered placed in the top half of their category with two of these just missing out on a trophy at 4th place!

An outstanding achievement at such a prestigious competition.

The team spirit and professionalism the Saints showed over these busy weekends cannot be faulted. From both dancers and spectators, who gave up their weekends, they represented the Saints Dance Society and the University of Worcester wonderfully.

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Club News

Men’s Rugby and Cricket

ber m e v o M r fo 0 2 14 ÂŁ e is a r

Back in November Men’s Rugby and Men’s Cricket decided to team up in order to raise money for The Movember Foundation. This charity raises awareness for men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide, which is sadly a big issue in today’s society. Throughout the month all the boys grew moustaches’ of all shapes and sizes in order to raise awareness throughout campus. As well as this, a successful pub quiz and cider night was organised in The Hangar, with raffle prizes and some challenging questions, which attracted a large audience and raised over £300 alone.

Weekly updates of how the boys were getting on was shared on social media and the total on our Just Giving page continued to rise.

The final total exceeded all expectations, raising ÂŁ1420.67 for The Movember Foundation. Thank you to everyone that helped us reach this amazing total, as well as The Hangar for letting us host a great quiz and the SU for all their support with spreading the word.

Fencing

ing! c n Fe r fo

e

su d e u n Con The Fencing club has had a fun and successful year. We were happy to start fencing in Tier 1 with our BUCS women's team this year and we are even happier to have shown such good performances throughout the year to keep ourselves in Tier 1 for the upcoming season.

Back in February, our club members Alexandra Davis, Maarja Konrad and Zoe Davenport took part in the BUCS Individuals held in Sheffield.

Day 1 - Alexandra Davis was fencing in Women's Sabre and managed to get all wins in her poules, which ranked her 3rd. Seeded to the Tableau of 32, Alex won the match to top 16, with a score 15:2. After that, unfortunately she had to take a very tight loss to get into the top 8 with a score 15:14, which ended her day with a 10th place out of 24 fencers.

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Day 2 - Maarja and Zoe were off to Sheffield for Women's Epee. The day started with Maarja getting 3 victories and 2 losses in her poules. Zoe got 1 victory and 4 losses, which ranked them into 29th and 61st place after the poules. In the Tableau of 64, Maarja won her first DE match with a great score of 15:4 and secured herself a place in the top 32 fencers. But unfortunately she had to finish her day after taking on a loss next with a score 15:10 so she finished her day with 26th place. And sadly Zoe lost her first match in the DE with a score of 15:4 and she finished her day with 61st place out of 78 epeeists that day.

Follow us on

@uow_fencing_club

On the 1st March, nineteen of Men’s Cricket’s finest turned up at King’s Pool for a session of water polo against the Swim team, a session that the players had been looking forward to and the lifeguards and referees had been dreading! After having a quick warm-up (checking that everyone had some form of swimming technique), we ran drills to mimic play, such as treading water, and throwing and catching one handed (harder than it sounds when you can’t touch the floor and you can be tackled when the ball is in your hand..!)

The game is split into two halves with seven people on each team and rolling substitutes.

Everyone’s favourite rule, and the one no one forgets, is that when the ball is in your hand, you can be tackled, or essentially dunked, underwater until you release it. So much of our time is spent wrestling the ball off of the other team underwater!

Whilst the scores didn’t work out in our favour (maybe next time we will choose a team that doesn’t revolve quite so much around throwing and catching!!), we then used the rest of our session to show what the Swim team is best at - a few good old fashioned sprints and relays.

It was a really good event for Swim as it’s not an activity we get to do very often as a team and the chance to have visitors in the pool, seeing what we do and where we train helps to highlight how much work and training goes on off campus as well as on campus.

Our Social media handles are:

F Worcester Uni Swim Team 2018-19 @uniworcswim

L @WorcSwim

p u m a e t g Swimmin w h Cricket!

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Club News

Su e for e A le cs Club!

Club News

The Athletics team here at the University of Worcester has just finished its second year officially competing in BUCS and its fourth year since officially becoming a club.

In the last few years the team has grown so much and in so many ways. We have gone from starting with a team of five to this year having 17 members. This may not seem like a lot but it’s a massive step for us as a sport not widely known about at the University.

Throughout this year, every one of our members have ‘worced’ hard (pun intended) to get to where they are, so I would like to start by saying thank you to every single one of you who has helped make the club what it is today.

At BUCS Outdoor Championships 2019, we had Chris Styles compete in the Ambulant Men’s 100m Final, Jess Cherry in the Women’s Shot Put (just missing out on the finals), Sophie Segun competing in the 100m and 200m events, Jo Smerdon competing in the Javelin with a season opening throw of 30.70m and Aaron Cooper ran in the 800m, reaching the semi-final and running 0.3 off his Personal Best.

Now for some serious congratulations‌ Yasmin Somers gained two gold medals in the Women’s Wheelchair 100m and 800m.

Yasmin is one of our star athletics who is a 100m CP World Games bronze medallist and who will be spending the next May Bank Holiday 2019 in Switzerland at The Swiss National Series and IPC Swiss Grand Prix.

Here’s next year and even more briiant performances.

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Say NO

Single-Use Plastics

By Shannon Bolton (SU Sustainability Officer) This campaign is all about reducing the amount of single-use plastic in and around our University and Students’ Union. Single-use plastic is everywhere!

From plastic straws, to sauce sachets and even coffee cups. This stuff may be convenient but it is severely damaging our world and the wildlife which we share it with.

Single-use plastic is unavoidable at the moment in scientific research and of course in healthcare, but that doesn’t mean we can’t reduce the amount we throw away every time we buy a take-away coffee. Straws and coffee cups can be replaced by a more durable, multiple-use equivalent, and they come in many different styles and patterns.

The aim of this campaign is to reduce single-use plastic wherever we can within the University and Students’ Union, and to encourage sustainable alternatives. We’ve teamed up with Plastic Free Worcester and are ready to tackle the single-use plastic challenge.

So what can you do? Say no to single-use plastic straws and invest in your own re-usable straw.

There are many types and of course all the colours you could imagine. Sauce sachets? Grab a bottle and never have to scrape the last few drops out again! Finally, most coffee shops offer discounts when you bring your own coffee cup.

If you’re an active coffee buyer it won’t be long until you’re making money back on your sustainable coffee cup, and you’re helping the environment.

Every little bit helps and even one change by one person can make a big difference!

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24th May | The Hangar | 8pm - 1am Free entry for anyone in fancy dress Special summer themed drinks offers throughout the night

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Worcester Students’ Union Henwick Grove St John’s Worcester, WR2 6AJ www.worcsu.com