About Kickstart

You’ve made it back after Christmas and you’ve finished all your exams, yay you! Now you deserve a treat.

Kickstart is the Students’ Union’s way of welcoming students back and helping them settle after their exams, giving them the opportunity try new things, join societies again in a more relaxed environment, and reengage with their Students’ Union.

Kickstart is here to provide you with just that; our Kickstart Fair will be taking over the Portland building on January 30th and 31st with over 60 groups and societies, Try-It sessions will be returning for you to give your undiscovered talents a test run or to sample volunteering opportunities; want to be a student leader? Then we’ve also got Candidate Academy for you on February 4th. You could be planning to run this year or next year, it doesn’t matter! You’re welcome to come along and find out more.

Get Involved

Try-it is all about getting involved and finding new ways to do so, we all want you to have the best university experience you can have. Getting involved isn’t just about sampling clubs and societies though (even when we have over 200!), there’s also volunteering opportunities all year-round, 70+ sports clubs, and of course loads of events.

If you’re unsure where to start with societies, try out our Activity Matchmaker.

Find Support

You’ve made it through your first term and exams, you’ve probably figured out the bin rota in your flat by now, and mastered how many seconds it takes to get from bed to lecture…but sometimes we all need an extra hand; your Students’ Union is here to provide just that. The Student Advice team can help with money, course, and welfare issues, student-led charities including Nightline are there to talk if ever you need, and your student community is also a huge support network on your doorstep.

Make Change

Seen something and have an idea to make it better? We’ll help you turn it into action. Looking to change your Students’ Union? Perhaps you want to make a change to benefit your whole student community both now and in the future? Running for part-time and full-time Student Officer positions is for you. Want to report from your school bring about change to your course mates’ academic experience? Run for Education rep for your school or faculty.