SU – The Orbital

Back Gate To Close Overnight, Following Resident Complaints

16Jul

By Jamie WoodsNo Comments

News

Back Gate To Close Overnight, Following Resident Complaints

In what has been described as a "difficult" decision, Royal Holloway College have today announced they are going to resume closing the back gate overnight. From the start of term in September, the gate will be closed at 12:30AM each night, and re-opened at 5AM. The back gate originally closed at 12:45 on Friday and Saturday and 11:15 throughout the remainder of the week. The back entrance to campus is located on Spring Rise by the Senate House Library depository. It had been opened overnight in January 2018 following lengthy campaigns run by students and the Students' Union, starting with a petition in 2015. Access had been provided through the use of swipe cards outside of regular hours. The announcement follows lobbying from local residents, who told the college that students ar...

5Mar

By Madeline BreedNo Comments

Elections

VP Societies and Media

In a joint venture with Insanity Radio, we have interviewed all the candidates for VP Societies and Media and created a podcast with questions that delve deeper into their individual manifesto points. Our ongoing Sabbatical Officer coverage and involvement with the elections has been exceptional this year, with the media outlets chairing Candidate Question Time, and we will continue with this by interviewing all winning candidates on elections night so keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are our brief summaries of each candidate and their manifestos: Marta Barton-Navarro - 0:00.30-0:11.30 Marta is promising to meet with media managers monthly, improve communication between the SU and student groups, and engage more societies in Varsity. All of these issues have been key to every c...

4Mar

By Madeline BreedNo Comments

Elections

VP Sport & Development

In a joint venture with Insanity Radio, we have interviewed all the candidates for VP Sport & Development and created a podcast with questions that delve deeper into their individual manifesto points. Our ongoing Sabbatical Officer coverage and involvement with the elections has been exceptional this year, with the media outlets chairing Candidate Question Time, and we will continue with this by interviewing all winning candidates on elections night so keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are our brief summaries of each candidate and their manifestos: Joshua Bibby Josh explained that his campaign focuses on cross-club collaboration, better communication between clubs and the SU, better reporting of fixtures by student media outlets and transparency in decisions for Colours Ball...

SU Support for ‘Ask for Angela’ campaign

19Feb

By Becca BashfordNo Comments

News

SU Support for ‘Ask for Angela’ campaign

The ‘Ask for Angela’ campaign - first launched by Lincolnshire County Council and now officially supported by the Metropolitan Police - has been rolled out in the Student Union. The main goal of ‘Ask for Angela’, according to the Sexual Violence & Abuse Strategy Coordinator for Lincolnshire County Council, is to “promote a culture change in relation to sexual violence and abuse … and to empower victims to make a decision on whether to report incidents. Sexual abuse and violence is a national issue and all councils have a responsibility to tackle abuse.” The campaign offers discreet help to anyone who is made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe, whether that be by a stranger, a tinder date, or anything in between. Venues which support the campaign provide posters which are displayed in to...

Bright Idea – University Guarantor Service

19Feb

By Abby KingNo Comments

Features

Bright Idea – University Guarantor Service

It’s been a week since third year student, Jake Shepherd’s, Bright Idea took off. He wants the university to introduce a ‘Guarantor Service for Students from Non-Home Owning Backgrounds’. I caught up with Jake, who studies Geography, Politics and International Relations to chat about his idea. What are the motivations behind your Bright Idea? As a disadvantaged student and the first in my family to go to university, there wasn’t really anyone to warm me about the potential difficulties in finding a UK guarantor. What are these ‘potential difficulties’? Often your guarantor needs to be a UK homeowner who can satisfy a credit reference agency check (up to 9 linked addresses, no County Court Judgements (CCJs), Electoral Roll data and Credit Score). Whilst house hunting with friend...

13Dec

By Becca BashfordNo Comments

News

Stabbing Reported Outside SU Shop

Surrey Police cordoned off the Student Union shop and the surrounding area in the early hours of this morning between 2.30am and 4:30am. A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance Service confirmed that they responded to reports of an assault. Surrey Police have confirmed that the man was not a student at Royal Holloway. They believe he knew his attackers, but it is unclear why he was on the university campus. There is speculation that the stabbing occurred on campus but this has not yet been confirmed. The SU shop is now open as normal. Surrey Police have released the following statement: “In the early hours of this morning (13 December) Surrey police were called to disorder at Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham. We responded quickly and, working in partnership with the univ...

Full Disclosure: The Addams Family Musical

18Nov

By Emma HalahanNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Full Disclosure: The Addams Family Musical

After wowing us with campus hit Love Island: The Musical, Director Harriet Williams, Musical Director Daniel Looseley and Choreographer Bryony O’Hare take on the musical adaption of cult film and TV series, The Addams Family. With a puff of dry ice and a scarily sombre prologue, the SU main hall ‘moves towards the darkness’ into the disastrous Addams Family mansion – and full disclosure, you are greeted immediately by some stand out performances. Newcomer Emily Quillin makes a delightfully macabre Morticia Addams with both a stellar acting and singing performance that draws every laugh, gasp and blush. From motherly mentor to seductress señorita, Quillin carries that signature Morticia mannerism with her throughout the show, providing an energy unmatched – a testament to Harriet William...

24Oct

By Clement JonesNo Comments

Opinion

Unethical Investments

Being your Students’ Union Vice-President of Education last year was extremely rewarding. As I was a course rep for three years, I was extremely excited to represent your academic interests to the College, and I’m pleased that Jack O’Neill has now picked up the reigns. However, another burning desire of mine was to ensure that, as an academic community, we were taking drastic measures to fight against what the famous United Nations’ Copenhagen Accords acknowledges as “one of the greatest challenges of our time”: climate change. I ran to be your President on a flagship manifesto point of pledging to ‘Clean Up Our Campus’ by lobbying the College to make sure it is investing its money in socially responsible industries. The Copenhagen Accords maintain “that climate change is one of the gre...

21Oct

By Lina PlamenovaNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

A Truly Amazing Night At The Theatre

Ever imagined, even in your wildest dreams, seeing Morticia Addams, Dorian Gray, and Romeo and Juliet all in the same place, at the same time? No? What if they were accompanied by wild dancing performances, amazing musical numbers and sketches that make you laugh so much that your stomach hurts? Then apparently, you have never been to A Night at the Theatre (ANATT). If you have never even heard of ANATT (where have you been all this time?!), it is an event that features performances by more or less all the creative societies at Royal Holloway, varying from dance, drama, musical theatre, fashion, pole dancing and the works of some independent artists. It is an excellent way to spend an evening, leaving all your worries behind, while watching your fellow students express their creativity...

2Jun

By Josip MartincicNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

There’s nothing tame about this!

Shakespeare Society’s always highly anticipated Summer Term production was a true triumph this year. The remarkable thing about this particular show is that it is entirely done by 1st years. This fact fills me with hope for the society’s future, as the already stellar work and passion by everyone in the whole cast and crew can only grow from this point onwards. The performance was held in the Boilerhouse Lecture Theatre, a vast space which is challenging to perform in due to lots of seating - which I was pleased to see very pleasantly filled. Stage manager Emma Currie set the space with a golden fringed backdrop and a small carpet of an art-deco design. The soundtrack of the roaring 20s was playing as the audience took their seats and during scene changes, which, alongside the costu...