RaW take ‘Best Society’ of the year

The annual Society Awards ceremony took place in the Students’ Union’s Copper Rooms last Tuesday evening, hosted by Warwick’s Societies Federation, and saw Radio at Warwick (RaW) receive the top prize for Society of the Year.

The award, one of eight presented by the Societies Committee judges on the night, was RaW’s third success in the category during the 14-year period in which the event has been staged. The judging panel selected the winning society ahead of both the Debating Society and Music Theatre Warwick, having initially selected the final three nominees from a more comprehensive shortlist of societies.

Speaking following the event’s conclusion, RaW’s Deputy Station Manager James Murthi described the award as a “shock and an honour”.

The first awards of the evening went to the Psychology Society and Music Theatre Warwick, recipients of the WiNGs and Warwick Volunteers Community Award respectively. This was followed by a spirited opening performance carried out by the Irish Dancing society.

Freshblood Theatre was then rewarded by the committee for Freshfest – a theatre festival held for the first time this year – receiving the award for Best Non-Social Event. Upon the conclusion of a ten-minute performance from the Belly Dancing Society, the Best Social Event accolade was awarded to the Malaysian Students Association for Malaysia Night.

Marking the mid point of the evening was an exhibition from the Pole Dancing Society, who set the stage for another honour new to this year, Best Exec, which went to Warwick Student Cinema. Music Theatre Warwick and the Break Dancing Society then entertained the audience with successive acts to introduce the final section of the evening’s presentations.

Most Improved Society went to MORSE, joining a list of previous winners which includes such societies as Warwick TV, People & Planet and the Islamic society. Indeed, many of those societies which receive the award for Most Improved often go on to win Society of the Year at some point in their history.

Prior to the announcement of the Deloitte Award for Best New Society was a performance from Warwick Tap. The award was subsequently awarded to Warwick Finance Society, represented on Tuesday night by society Chairman, Tunde Olusanya, a third-year Accounting and Finance student who, when asked for a personal response, commented: “It’s cool. It feels really good and is great for the society.”

The Salsa and Street Vibe societies then provided the closing performances of the awards ceremony. The evening concluded with former RaW Station Manager, Daniel Fraser, accepting the award for Society of the Year 2011. In addition to the trophy presented on the night, RaW also received a check worth £150.