Zoe McMahon
Our club, the Economic and Social History Society, hosted our very first event, “Horrible Histories Binge” on 9 October, 2024. We had planned this event to be our first for multiple reasons, mostly because of the show’s fun and cosy -and potentially nostalgic- atmosphere that may have brought many students to study history. We wanted our event to be warm and inviting, but also educational so we held it in the Base Bar of the (GUU) -a small and snug place- that promoted socialisation between the new committee and our members during the screening.
Despite some technical issues, our event went smoothly and gave us a fantastic opportunity to introduce ourselves to our members, share our aims as a society, and build fulfilling relationships between the committee, and those who had come to our event.
As President, I had asked members to fill out a survey of their evaluation of the event and from the responses, the average rating of their overall included: “More Horrible Histories events/horrible histories karaoke?”, “Make more posters.”, “Maybe a place less busy”. At our next committee meeting, we shall review these suggestions and take them forward.
I had also asked my fellow committee members to write a short personal reflection of the event, including more personalised words towards the fund that made it possible, the STEF Student-led Activity Fund. A few highlights from our vice president, Laurie, included:
“With the help of the STEF fund, we were able to book a space that we would’ve otherwise had to host a fundraiser for beforehand, and with the timing of the event taking place so close to the beginning of the semester, this wouldn’t have been done easily. We are very grateful for the fund giving us this fantastic opportunity to allow us to educate people, not only about history, but also about our society.”
To find out more about the Student-Led Activity Fund and how to apply for funding, please visit the Moodle Information Hub here.