Starting a vegetarian group at university
or college
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How to go about it
There are a lot of advantages in starting an official Students Union
society – you’ll get access to lots of facilities. They will
vary somewhat from place to place but may include things like meeting
rooms, storage facilities, photocopying, use of communications facilities,
dvd player, maybe even a minibus!
Every University will have it’s own rules for starting an official
SU society so please check your own uni’s website for details,
however they will follow a similar pattern:-
• Recruit a certain number of members (usually 20 or 25)
• Write a constitution that sets out your aims and objectives
• Make up a committee – you’ll need at least a
treasurer, secretary and a president or chairperson.
• Write a risk assessment for your activities
Many Student Union websites offer you lots of help when it comes to
writing your constitution and risk assessment etc so, again, do check
your own uni’s.
Your society will have to be considered by the societies committee/council
who will be checking to make sure that your group won’t be duplicating
the activities of an existing society so do check the list of existing
societies first.
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| Recruiting members
The best opportunity for recruiting members is the Freshers
Fair, so
if you want to start up a new vegetarian society at your university,
make sure you apply for a stall early, usually before the end of the
previous term, and be prepared to work hard creating a good visual and
material presence with an ample supply
of leaflets and posters.
Make a special note of anyone who shows a genuine enthusiasm for the
vegetarian ethic and chase them up afterwards to form a reliable nucleus
to help with organising, committee etc. Don't be put off by any opposition
you encounter, a Freshers Fair will represent a broad spectrum of human
opinion. Don't waste time trying to convert those who are obviously unreceptive – this
is your opportunity for signing up those already interested, not for
making new converts.
If you’ve missed the Freshers Fair for this year, then you will
have to rely on other methods of reaching people such as posters, and
messages on any e-groups, online forums, websites, student newsletters
or radio stations your university may operate.
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