Society memberships soar

After the overwhelming popularity of this year’s Societies Fair, it has been revealed that at least 8,939 students have joined at least one society.

Warwick Students’ Union (SU) proudly proclaims over 250 societies: the largest number of any Students’ Union in the country. Despite this, over the last few years there have been concerns regarding membership of the Societies Federation and societies. At this point in 2010 only 7,270 students had joined the Societies Federation out of a total student population of 18,000.

Furthermore, between September 1 and November 1 this year, 31,133 individual memberships had been purchased, compared with just 25,239 during the same period last year. The number of societies is still high, with 251 societies existing at the present, and more looking to become established later this year.

SU Societies Officer Matthew Rogers attributed the surge in membership to how proactive societies had been in recruiting this year and the success of this year’s Societies Fair. He highlighted that “in the past it has been too busy and people haven’t wanted to stick around”, which resulted in him implementing a policy of restricting two-day stalls. He also stated that the large number of performances on the piazza had “galvanised quite a lot of interest” in societies.

The realisation of Rogers’ manifesto pledge of the creation of a new space on central campus for societies to use has been said to have greatly helped societies.

This rise in membership figures and general expansion looks to increase further in the near future, with the Refreshers Fair promising to secure new members who may have overlooked societies during Freshers Week.

Ben Sundell, President of Warwick Salsa, reported a surge in membership figures, with current numbers at an unprecedented 253 members. He partially attributed the rise to moving from Westwood Dance Studio to central campus: a change of location which he said has “really helped the accessibility of our classes”.

Indeed, it seems that Rogers has been the driving force behind much of this expansion and enthusiasm. Many of the societies have lauded his performance thus far, with Sundell stating that he “has been fantastic since taking over as Societies Officer – and I know I’m not alone in thinking this”.

However, despite these achievements, there is still an uphill battle to engage some of the student population. Joseph Dale, a third-year English Literature student, said that he had given up on societies, stating that the fee for joining the Societies Federation (membership of which is a prerequisite for joining societies and currently stands at £14) was too high.

Overall, society membership seems to be an ever more desirable addition to university life. It is likely that the year ahead will see further increases, with Rogers hoping to see his successor continue to expand society membership.