KU ran its Refreshers Fair this January to get more students involved with university life

Poster of refreshers week in the foyer of Penrhyn Road Campus, the host of the fair.

Kingston University’s Student Union hosted a Refreshers Fair at Penrhyn Road Campus this week to get more students involved with university life.

The fair ran all week with stalls run by societies, sports, companies offering job opportunities and extracurriculars. It was inspired by the Freshers Fair that runs for the first week of each academic year to encourage new students to explore other interests beyond their chosen course.

“The purpose of the refreshers fair is obviously in January we have a new intake of students both international and postgraduate coming in, as well as students who might have been quite shy in their first term, who might have now settled in and decided they want to try something new,” said a spokesperson for the Student Union. “We also have a lot of people coming back from the winter break who now have lots of new years resolutions where they might be trying to do something new.”

Each day of the fair had different events including sports teams promoting their societies, with students running stalls to recruit new members.

A student from the hockey society Ria Patel said: “The fair was a great way for us to get more students involved with hockey and recruit more players for the team who might have missed the chance at the beginning of the year.”

The fair also included food stalls, a plant sale and volunteer opportunities.

“It's basically just as people get partway through the year they might turn around and think they do want to join a sports team or try a new activity. But it's also for all the people who are joining us who didn’t get the opportunity to experience the full freshers fair at the beginning of the year and can get to experience refreshers,” said the Student Union.

By Eleanor Yates