Planning 'Give it a Go' events

Keeping active is not only good for the body but it is extremely good for the mind! Our wide range of clubs cater to all abilities, whether you are interested in competing or just keeping fit and socialising, you should give our Active events a Go.

• If you are an active club, looking to attract competitive athletes or individuals who enjoy exercise, or would like to introduce sport to those who haven't had experience before, GIAG Get Active is a great way to run accessible taster sessions to showcase your group.
• Something to remember would be that Give it a Go is an oppourtunity for pressure-free activity and active groups can help to remove barriers to participation by avoiding competitive elements of GIAG events and allowing entry level activity to be prioritised.
• A top tip is to run a social/active session before separating any groups by ability or running any trials. You can also run a 'Meet the Committee' session for students who would like more information before trying a new sport.

Wednesday 4th October- GIAG Get Active @ The Union

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It’s very easy to get stuck in the Imperial bubble. How would you like to swap London for the Great Outdoors..?

Here you’ll find a vast range of opportunities to explore some beautiful parts of the UK and beyond. These activities run from beginner to advanced so take this opportunity to be adventurous at all experience levels.

• If your activity is particularly adventurous or involves lots of regular trips, GIAG Explore is a great umbrella to attract those with an appetite for something a bit different.
• University is a fantastic oppourtunity for students to go on adventures they may not have access to otherwise so making these sessions accessible and informative is key.
• As the Welcome trips themselves may take place later into October, GIAG can be used to showcase equipment, talk through trip plans, share information about regular activity and introduce a welcoming Club culture to beginners.

Thursday 5th October- GIAG Explore / Find a Hobby @The Union

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If high energy activities aren’t your thing, CSPs still have lots to offer you. Getting involved in Union groups is a great way of making friends and creating more opportunity for socialising outside of your studies with lots of students across the University. So many CSPs are created to bring people together with shared interests and hobbies. If you're tired enough from your degree, find out about our student communities you can unwind with & relate to.

• GIAG Find a Hobby is for CSPs who bring together those with common interests. Sometimes moving to University can be daunting so finding a hub where a student feels they can express their interests and share their hobbies can make them feel more at home.
• Bring your best books, plushies, games, posters and memorabilia and get chatting! These sessions can showcase everything your society has to offer on a regular basis or offer something completely different like a themed quiz or games day.
• Encourage members to share what they like about this hobby or share what you like- potential members may never even have heard of your interest before, how can you introduce them to something you love?

*NOTE The brand name currently advertised is 'Relax & Socialise'- this will be updated before bookings open and replaced with 'Find a Hobby'

Thursday 5th October- GIAG Explore / Find a Hobby @The Union

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Imperial College Union is a vibrant, multi-cultural body and we aim to have a student-led community representative of this. If you would like to find a piece of home at Imperial or are just curious about other cultures, GIAG Culture events are the perfect way to connect with others.

• GIAG Share Your Culture allows all of our many cultural groups here at the Union to represent the diverse student community at Imperial.
• All cultural groups will have the oppourtunity to put on events introducing their culture or relating to others through shared identity and customs.
• Give it a Go events in this sense can be unique to the cultural identity of the CSP to welcome in students who may find comfort in a familiar space, language, food or tradition.
• Equally, these activities can be light socials or something completely out of the box- whatever you feel will help introduce the positive group culture to new students and will create fun and inclusive student communities.

Friday 6th October- GIAG Share Your Culture @The Union

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We have such a huge range of creative societies here at Imperial. These student groups show that Imperial isn’t just all about being in the lab, we’re a creative bunch too!

How you show your creativity is unique to you and allows the talents of all individual students to be showcased. Whether you want to perform or just need an artistic outlet, there is a student group for every interest and ability.

• Creativity is key for these sessions!
• There are so many CSPs which explore arts and creative culture at Imperial which are great outlets for students to get involved in activities entirely different from their degrees. GIAG Be Creative is a broad brand which will allow new students to access their artistic sides.
• Some groups in this category undertake large production projects and some offer more for individuals- the key to these GIAG events is a balance of making activity accessible for beginners and individuals whilst also fostering community and encouraging members to dream big!
• Think about offering tours and information sessions for specialist activity and offering hands on sessions with individual projects to take away- who doesn't love a freebie?

Saturday 7th October- GIAG Be Creative @The Union

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Give it a Go is all about trying new things and many of our societies offer great opportunities to build on your personal expertise and allow you to learn a craft or skill you may not otherwise have the opportunity to.

Getting involved in student communities at University equips you with so many unique skills and is an opportunity for enrichment outside of your degree.

This category is broad and allows you to see our societies offer more than meets the eye...

• CSPs who may identify with this category can be academics but also can be groups who aim to teach and develop a range of skills, ultimately enriching a student's time at Imperial.
• Some CSPs who offer creative oppourtunities also offer more specialised services, so consider running GIAG events on both days and advertise to the right audience based on their interest.
• Whilst a community of highly skilled people is great to be a part of, entering into this may be hard for new students. A tip would be to ensure your GIAG sessions introduce skills at an entry level and explain the oppourtunities available to develop.
• Even a social, explaining what you have done so far as a society and what you will be offering whilst getting together in a relaxed setting would be ideal for making these events accessible to everyone.
• For DepSocs, don't just rely on students making connections through their courses- what do you offer as a society and how can you welcome new members outside of academic spaces?

Sunday 8th October- GIAG Learn a Skill @ The Union

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As student volunteers, you work hard to put on events and activities all year round but new student may not know the faces behind the CSP.

If you would like to introduce yourselves as a committee, get to know potential members and share more information beyond Welcome Fair, consider running these sessions.

Give it a Go isn’t just for Welcome.

Students can get involved in CSPs at any point of the year- remember some courses have different start times and it may be daunting to join a student group in full swing. Help us remind them it’s never too late to get involved!

You can choose to use this brand so any tasters you run throughout the year are easy to find for those looking to try new things.

Planning

1. What do you want your sessions to look like? How many will you be running? Which GIAG brand does your event identify most with? 
    
2. Submit your Event Proposal Form (23/24 form will launch in September)
    
3. Submit a room booking- either through the Ad-hoc process or through our Give it a Go portal.
    
4. Upload your events to the Union ‘What’s On’ page. 
   
   You can do this by navigating via eActivities / Administration / Clubs, Societies & Projects / What’s On / Create New Event and filling in the information to reflect that which you submitted on your proposal. 

Clubs running sessions in Ethos or Harlington on Wednesday 4th October will be allocated space and transport by Move Imperial. 

Marketing

We will promote all of your events via the ‘What’s On’ calendar and on our social media platforms. 

We have a range of marketing assets for you to use: 

• Web Banner 

• Email Banner

• What's On Themes: Share Your Culture, Learn a Skill, Get Active, Explore, Be Creative, Relax & Socialise, Meet the Committee, Give it Another Go

• What's On Tiles (pick the colour to match your theme!): Share Your Culture, Learn a Skill, Get Active, Explore, Be Creative, Find a Hobby, Meet the Committee, Give it Another Go

Logistics

Event Signup and Register  

• All Give it a Go events have a sign-up register on the ‘What’s On’ calendar. This is so CSPs can keep track of interest and potential membership uptake.  

• You can download your event register by going to eActivities / Administration / Clubs, Societies & Projects / What’s On / Event Sign-up Reports - then find your event from the list.  

Where to meet?  

• For a lot of students, this will be their first time getting around campus and maybe even London. For events that will be based in or around South Kensington, we recommend setting Beit Quad as a meeting place.  

• If you are based in Charing Cross campus, we recommend meeting around Reynolds.  

• Outside of any Imperial College campuses, we recommend any central locations or tube stations. 

• Ensure that someone from your committee is waiting at the meeting place in plenty of time before the session and make sure that they are clearly identifiable for the new attendees. 

What to charge?

• We strongly advise that your Give it a Go events are free of charge (or, if it is unavoidable, as affordable as possible). 

• These sessions are designed to be accessible and just a taster or light version of the type of activity you run. Sessions that are free of charge have a higher possibility of better attendance and uphold the ‘try-before-you-buy’ ethos of Give it a Go. 

• Any events that cost more than £5 will not be classified as Give it a Go events.

Health & Safety

• If your Give it a Go event is a regular activity, ensure that you have mentioned non-members in your risk assessment.

• If it is a one-off event, you will need to write a new risk assessment for it and attach this to your proposal form.

• Ensure attendees are briefed on the space and do not undertake any activity they aren't comfortable with.

Top Tips 

• Make your sessions cost-free or under £5.
• Do not have competitive elements or trials in the first session. If you need to run trials for teams, at least have an option to try the activity prior to this. Remember that lots of new students may not have even tried the activity before so competitive trials can be alienating.
• Think about dates carefully. Running multiple sessions may be a way to give students more of an opportunity to get involved. 
• Adding your event to the Union’s ‘What’s On’ page will ensure the most visibility- all ICU members will be signposted there. 
• Include your Give it a Go session in your CSP Spotlight- send an email to icu.comms@imperial.ac.uk for a chance to be featured on the Union Instagram.
• Use your own social media! Be sure to tag @icunion in your posts so we can re-share them! 

The Activities Team are always around to help. If you would like any further support, please contact activities@imperial.ac.uk 

After the Events 

So you’ve delivered a great first Give it a Go event! But what now?

Run some more Give it a Go sessions!  

Give it a Go will be running throughout the year, so we highly recommend planning some more events.

We have found that students don’t just want to join clubs and societies at the beginning of term but feel that it might be too late to do so once term is in full swing.

Running Give it a Go sessions throughout term takes away this worry and ensures that your CSP is always approachable for potential new members!