{"id":3925,"date":"2024-06-17T15:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T14:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/?p=3925"},"modified":"2024-07-02T09:07:36","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T08:07:36","slug":"your-semester-wrapped-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/2024\/06\/17\/your-semester-wrapped-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Semester Wrapped 2024\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>That\u2019s a wrap on the final semester of 2023\/24 at Queen\u2019s Students\u2019 Union.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Records were broken, our volunteers and entrepreneurs did us proud, and student democracy created impactful change.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a recap of your time at the SU this semester.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#475191\"><\/span><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-3926\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/Womens-1stXI.jpeg\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/Womens-1stXI.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/Womens-1stXI-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/Womens-1stXI-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/Womens-1stXI-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/Womens-1stXI-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><strong><strong>SU Clubs &amp; Societies<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A massive number of you got involved in clubs or societies, with <strong>17,775<\/strong> memberships as of this semester (Clubs: <strong>3,687<\/strong>, Societies: <strong>14,088<\/strong>).&nbsp; That\u2019s the highest number on SU records!&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>20 new Clubs and Societies<\/strong> were founded this year, covering a wonderfully diverse range of interests, from <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/clubssocieties\/12740\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Country and Western<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/clubssocieties\/12850\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Streetlifting and Calisthenics<\/a>, to <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/clubssocieties\/qub_ares\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amateur Radio<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/clubssocieties\/europeanaffairs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">European Affairs<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But you didn\u2019t just show love to new clubs and socs, <strong>3 dormant societies<\/strong> were given the love they deserved too and revived for a new bunch of students to enjoy. Welcome back <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/clubssocieties\/scoutnetwork\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scout Network Society<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/clubssocieties\/wildernessexpedition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wilderness and Expedition Medicine<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/clubssocieties\/obsgynae\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">and Obstetrics and Gynaecology<\/a>!&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>436<\/strong> of you were down bad for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/Qubswiftsoc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Taylor Swift Society<\/a>, making it the number 1 subscribed society of this semester. <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/clubssocieties\/soccer-mens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Men\u2019s Soccer<\/a> are the biggest club with <strong>365 members.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find more info on our<a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/club-socs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> 220+ Clubs and Societies.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#7b7864\"><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2040\" height=\"1536\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-3927\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-18.jpg\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-18.jpg 2040w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-18-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-18-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-18-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-18-1536x1157.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2040px) 100vw, 2040px\" \/><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><strong><strong><strong><strong>Volunteering<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>150<\/strong> of you <strong>supported 398 children and young people<\/strong> with their homework this year. That\u2019s support they might not have had otherwise which can lead to underachieving in school, low confidence and limited future opportunities. Get involved with <a href=\"https:\/\/qubsu.org\/VolunteerSU\/Opportunities\/HomeworkClubs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Homework Clubs<\/a> here.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Our local community felt the love from <\/strong>417 of you who took part in the <a href=\"https:\/\/qubsu.org\/VolunteerSU\/Opportunities\/HandyHelpers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Handy Helpers<\/a> programme. Together you delivered 17 projects, including gardening and litter picks ups, as well as activities like handing out leaflets on behalf of Neighbourhood Associations.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1,521 of you progressed your volunteering journey<\/strong> and enhanced your employability skills with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qubsu.org\/VolunteerSU\/Training\/JumpIN\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jump In<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/Pages\/ResponsePage.aspx?id=6ner6qW040mh6NbdI6HyhoD3ipp4_GBPjR8FZye_md1UQlNPOVg1SDQxRUVTU1dFOUFERldGNlEzVyQlQCN0PWcu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sign up<\/a> to first when training sessions, volunteering fairs, and webinars are announced!&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qubsu.org\/YourUnion\/QUBRAG\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RAG<\/a> raised almost \u00a32k for our charity partners Hope 4 Life and Brainwaves NI.&nbsp; Do you have what it takes to take RAG to the next level? Recruitment is underway for the<a href=\"https:\/\/q-su.org\/jobs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> 24\/25 QUB RAG Chair.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#7b6d6a\"><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1836\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-3928\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/photo_-363.jpg\" style=\"object-position:48% 9%\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" data-object-position=\"48% 9%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/photo_-363.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/photo_-363-300x230.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/photo_-363-1024x783.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/photo_-363-768x588.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/photo_-363-1536x1175.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/photo_-363-2048x1567.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" \/><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\"><strong><strong>Enterprise<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the 2023-24 academic year, with the support of SU Enterprise<strong>, QUB students secured over \u00a3390k<\/strong> of equity-free grant funding to develop their business ideas.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>11 student businesses<\/strong> progressed to the final of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qubsu.org\/EnterpriseSU\/Opportunities\/DragonsDen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">QUB Dragons\u2019 Den<\/a>, with the top prize of <strong>\u00a310k <\/strong>going to \u2018VioFeel\u2019, <strong>\u00a36k<\/strong> to \u2018Allergy Armor Pro\u2019 and <strong>\u00a34k<\/strong> to \u2018HAVSense\u2019.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>21 student graduate businesses are participating in <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/qubsu.org\/EnterpriseSU\/Opportunities\/Quest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>QUest<\/strong><\/a><strong>.&nbsp;<\/strong> The bespoke programme offers students and graduates funding, expert training, mentoring and coaching.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2 student businesses<\/strong> progressed to the semi-finals of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invent24.co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">INVENT 2024.<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>7 student businesses<\/strong> competed in the final pitches in <a href=\"https:\/\/wearecatalyst.org\/programmes\/co-founders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Catalyst Co-Founders<\/a> and <strong>1 QUB business<\/strong> received <strong>\u00a310k<\/strong> in funding.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>7 QUB graduates<\/strong> are currently on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk\/business-support\/student-first-sale-fs2fs#:~:text=Financial%20support%20in%20the%20form,education%20sector%20into%20self%2Demployment.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">From Student to First Sale programme<\/a>, each receiving a stipend of <strong>\u00a315k.&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Interested in launching or growing your own business? Check out how <a href=\"https:\/\/qubsu.org\/EnterpriseSU\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SU Enterprise<\/a> can support you.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover is-light\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#9a9485\"><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1475\" height=\"1106\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-3931\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-17-1-1.png\" style=\"object-position:47% 19%\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" data-object-position=\"47% 19%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-17-1-1.png 1475w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-17-1-1-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-17-1-1-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/MicrosoftTeams-image-17-1-1-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1475px) 100vw, 1475px\" \/><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><strong><strong><strong><strong>Student Advocacy and Representation<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As a result of lobbying from our student officer team:&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Queen\u2019s Accommodation committed to raise the <strong>bursary cap threshold<\/strong> from <strong>25k to 40k.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Funds were secured for almost <strong>10,000 free meals<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Upwards of <strong>100 roles for students<\/strong> are set to be created thanks to the implementation of a new student partnership model. It will mean more representation in high level University strategic decision making!&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/russellgroupstudentsunions.org\/manifesto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Student Manifesto<\/a> was launched following a Russell Group Residential attended by our SU President and PG Education Officer. It calls on calling on Government to prioritise students ahead of the next general election which takes place 4<sup>th<\/sup> July (psst&#8230;don\u2019t forget to vote!).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2 of our student officers<\/strong>, Grace Duffy (Student Officer Undergraduate Education) and Kieran Minto (Student Officer Postgraduate Education), were winners of the USI Student Achievement Awards Ireland 2024 <strong>Education Campaign of the Year <\/strong>for their work on advocating for enhanced approaches to digital learning in Queen\u2019s.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>An All-student vote<\/strong> resulted in the University agreeing to continually review its direct investment in weapons manufacturing and fossil fuel industries. Get the full details <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C6wUF2TNsNa\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>What a year! To top it all of the SU recently placed 3<sup>rd<\/sup> best SU in the UK from over 100 SU\u2019s in the \u2018What Uni Student Choice Awards\u2019, which is the only University Awards in the UK based solely on student reviews.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can\u2019t wait to see what next semester brings.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>That\u2019s a wrap on the final semester of 2023\/24 at Queen\u2019s Students\u2019 Union.&nbsp; Records were broken, our volunteers and entrepreneurs did us proud, and student democracy created impactful change.&nbsp; Here\u2019s a recap of your time at the SU this semester.&nbsp; What a year! To top it all of the SU recently placed 3rd best SU [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[169,96,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-3925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-student-life","8":"tag-semester-wrapped","9":"tag-studentlife","10":"tag-students","11":"czr-hentry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/Womens-1stXI.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6B2ST-11j","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3925"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3932,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3925\/revisions\/3932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentsunion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}