When we kicked off the very first Student Opportunities Managers Network (SOMN) meeting back in October 2024, there were just 13 of us on the call. We swapped ideas for super-niche clubs and societies we’d love to start, laughed over a scavenger hunt, and shared our experiences of the Welcome period. It was informal, friendly, and full of practical ideas - exactly the kind of space we wanted to create.
Fast forward to today, and our network has grown to over 100 members. Each with knowledge and experience that makes the network what it is, a place to share what works, tackle challenges together, and leave each conversation with something tangible to try.
In today’s changing financial and social climate, is it still feasible—and beneficial—for students’ unions to rely heavily on student volunteers to make activities and events happen?
This week, the Student Opportunities Managers Network (SOMN) had a fantastic session diving into the unique challenges of supporting medical students' involvement in student opportunities. 🩺✨
From unions with a central medical society overseeing various groups to those supporting individual clubs independently, one thing was clear—medical students often don't feel a strong connection to their SU. Instead, they rely heavily on their schools and established traditions, which can make engagement tricky.
At the December Student Opportunities Managers Network (SOMN) session Elisabeth Whittall will be sharing more information about an ongoing project considering what the future of student volunteering will look like at University of Manchester Students' Union.
Ahead of the session, Lissie has written a short blog about the project and what questions they are still facing.
Last week we spent a few days in Manchester at Membership Services Conference. Hosted by the Union at Manchester Metropolitan Students’ Union. Organised by Alan Roberts, the SU and NUS. We’ve been involved in some way for many years and it’s always a pleasure.
I know that student opportunities can be ‘risky business’ but that shouldn’t stop great things happening - that’s why we’ve developed training to give coordinators and early managers a solid introduction to risk management in student opportunities.
In this paper, we share the story of our Sports Membership Review at City Students’ Union and what we learnt along the way. Faced with rising costs, students with tighter budgets, and an ongoing merger, City Students’ Union recognised that their sports membership model might no longer be working for them. Organised Fun led a research project exploring sports membership models and ultimately made a recommendation ready for the trustee board.
Last Friday, Students’ Union UCL invited me to London to judge the final presentations of the UCL Consultancy Challenge. I spent the afternoon enjoying presentations about sustainability in urban gardening, social media solutions to volunteer engagement, redesigning training programmes, and designing new fundraising initiatives for charities. As their consultancy specialist judge I sat alongside senior staff from UCL and we had to decide on the winning project.
