Throughout the year, we know that planning events is a big part of what you do for your members. Events or activities are anything which your group does together, advertised by your group and open to members to attend. Events can be anything big or small - from a party for 200 people through to a film screening for 8 people. They can take place on and off campus.
If you're planning an event or activity for your group, it's really important that you let us know about it, so that we can support you in running it, and make sure it's safe for you and your members. You can let us know by completing an event proposal form at least 10 days before your event.
An event is anything that your group wants to put on, no matter the size or location. You should let us know what your group is planning using the Event Proposal Form. If we haven't approved your event, then you will not be covered under our insurance if something goes wrong.
Regular activities are the only exception to this. If your group has a recurring event which is the same every week, in the same location and same activity, and this has been approved by your coordinator, you do not need to submit another proposal for this. If you're not sure, please get in touch with Student Opportunities to check.
Give yourself plenty of time to plan your event, especially if you're expecting lots of people, you want to book a specific location or need support from Student Opps in other ways.
We will need time to approve your event proposal, so the minimum times for planning events are below.
- Small Scale Events (fewer than 100 attendees), events off campus or in academic rooms: 10 working days.
- Small Scale Events in The Stannary (fewer than 100 attendees): 3 weeks.
- Large Scale Events (more than 100 attendees), large events in The Stannary or other large venues, events which need additional support (e.g. security): 4-6 weeks' notice.
- Guest Speaker Events (regardless of attendees): 21 days' notice.
- Trips away in the UK including overnight: 4 weeks' notice
- Trips abroad: at least 3 months notice
Location, Location, Location
Think about what kind of location you'd like to hold your event in. Some spaces will need more notice than others, and some will need you to complete additional paperwork, e.g. the Outdoor Space Booking form.
All on-campus spaces are booked through the Student Opportunities Team, so if you want to use any campus spaces, you must complete the Event Proposal Form. There is no charge to use the on-campus spaces themselves, but you may have to pay for caretakers or security to be able to use them.
Some large spaces on campus need additional planning time to be used, so have a look at the minimum booking times when you're planning.
Some off-campus spaces also need to be booked through the Student Opportunities team. If you're not sure, get in touch.
Providing food and drinks
If you're providing food and drinks for your attendees, you'll need to make sure you've budgeted for these in your event. Under some circumstances, you can pay for these from your group account.
You should ensure that your risk assessment includes any risks related to serving food or drinks, including food poisoning, alcohol consumption, allergies, etc.
If you're providing alcohol for an event on campus there are some special mitigations that you need to put in place with regards to licensing. Your coordinator can give you more detail on these.
If you are serving food for an event outdoors on campus, you must sign a waiver if you are providing your own catering.
If you want to invite a guest speaker to one of your events, you must follow the guest speaker process.
Guest Speaker events must be submitted through the Event Proposal Form like other events.
All guest speaker events need 21 days' notice for the event.
Find out more about Guest Speaker Events
It's important to think about how your event will be funded. Think about how much you will need to spend to get the event running, and where this money could come from.
Costs you might need to consider include: Food and drinks, venue hire costs, additional services like security, costs for acts or speakers, equipment hire, etc.
To help fund your event, you can sell tickets to attend. You may also want to consider fundraising, sponsorship or your group account as other sources of funding.
If you are planning a large event, you will need to submit a budget as part of your event proposal.
Every event proposal must also include a risk assessment. This is important for insurance purposes, and to make sure that your event is safe for anyone attending.
You can find more guidance on risk assessments and how to complete them in the Health and Safety section of the committee hub, or by following the link below.
Guidance to complete your risk assessment
The best way to get attendees to come along to your event is to advertise it! There's lots of places you can put it to reach students, but we would always reccommend starting with listing it on The SU website!
You can find a guide to uploading your event to the website by following the link below. Once you have uploaded your event to the website, you can also add tickets to your event, to help to fund it.
How to upload your event to the website
Transport: getting where you want to go
If your event is happening off-campus, you'll need to think about how you're going to get there. Have a look at our transport page for more information.
Transporting your group