News – Page 25 of 37

Racial Volunteer Force clashes with student protesters at Royal Holloway

24Oct

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Racial Volunteer Force clashes with student protesters at Royal Holloway

On Saturday the 22nd October, a political group called the Racial Volunteer Force organised a demonstration at the main gate of the Royal Holloway campus. Prompted by an ongoing case involving two outsourced cleaning staff, hired by the company, CleanTech, contracted by the Students' Union, they arrived at the entrance just after 2pm, carrying flags, banners, and a megaphone. The 10 men and 1 woman were met with a throng of at least 50 students, which grew to maybe 80 or even 100 later on, brandishing their own banners and homemade flags. Their anti-fascist agenda was made clear as chants of “Nazi scum, off our streets” arose to welcome the arrival of the RVF. In both groups, faces could be seen covered by scarves, wary of betraying their identity to the opposition as well as the ...

Vehicle Incident at the gates of Royal Holloway

10Oct

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Vehicle Incident at the gates of Royal Holloway

This morning at approximately 10.05am there was a collision by the front gates. Student Evie Courtier was crossing the bridge at the moment of the crash just after 10 this morning and states she “heard a commotion below” before looking down to a man disembarked from his motorbike, and at least 3 cars involved. The situation seemed severe, but the public passing below took action immediately and within minutes the police and an ambulance had been called. When passing about 20 minutes later other students commented on the situation, however it all seemed to be in the control of the emergency services. Details have not yet been released on the severity of the incident or any casualties, however it is not believed to be fatal. Egham Hill is a notorious location for crashes, this is al...

10Oct

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Man Restrained by Police outside SU

A man has allegedly been restrained by police and forced into a van after becoming aggressive towards SU staff at Tommy’s. The incident occurred at the burger bar at lunchtime. Details are unclear at the moment, but eyewitnesses suggest he was drunk and may have acted inappropriately towards female students and staff; prompting a complaint from one student. It was as the SU staff became involved that the man became aggressive. Grace Bilney complained to the SU after the man “made uncomfortable comments about girls on campus”, and claims she overhead him saying he worked at one of the construction sites on campus. “He said he was too drunk to work and so was ‘kicked off site’, so I assume he was working on one of the building sites at the uni.” Eyewitnesses say he then had tw...

7Oct

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Varsity is coming to Royal Holloway!

With the start of the new academic year, exciting news was announced at the SU on Monday 3rd. Over 1000 ‘bears’ attended the SU to hear the announcement from Steph Milne, the Co-President of Sports and Development, that a Varsity between Royal Holloway and the University of Surrey will be occurring on the 29th March 2017. A varsity match is defined as a sporting fixture between two university rivals. The first varsity was between Oxford and Cambridge University in 1827 – Royal Holloway’s inaugural participation means 2017 will be the year students here have the opportunity to join the tradition. After being announced at the SU, the official video was shared on Facebook the following morning – revealing the Varsity Teaser Video. The University of Surrey previously competed against ...

5Oct

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Egham Boasts Michelin Star Restaurant

Looking for a casual meal at a Michelin star restaurant? Look no further than Egham. This unassuming Surrey town is now home to the county’s only Michelin star restaurant as the Tudor Room at The Great Fosters hotel grabbed the coveted dining accolade. Previously, Drake’s, in Ripley, and The Latymer, in Pennyhill Park, represented Surrey in the Michelin awards. However, they were stripped their previous accomplishment in the recent launch of the Michelin Guide, Great Britain and Ireland. Instead, Douglas Balish’s restaurant, situated in a 16th century royal hunting lodge-turned-hotel, now boasts the elite seal of culinary prowess. Described as “classic but with a modern twist”, the cuisine at The Tudor Room will set you back a modest £58 per person, with the menu including glut...

Royal Holloway Among Universities to Raise Tuition Fees

7Sep

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Royal Holloway Among Universities to Raise Tuition Fees

The Mail has recently reported that it is only two out of 123 institutions with full-time students rule out increasing their charges. Every single English university in the elite Russell Group as well as the 1994 Red Brick Institutions will raise fees, including Royal Holloway. The tuition fees cap will rise £250 a year to £9,250 from 2017, and could apply to students currently enrolled on a course. Durham, Kent and Royal Holloway were the first 3 universities to announce that they would be raising the fees, however the changes are still subject to official government approval. Royal Holloway states online that ‘The Government has proposed changes to allow tuition fees for UK and EU students to rise by inflation. These changes are currently subject to approval. If approved, they would t...

6Sep

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Body Discovered at Virginia Water Lake

A man’s body was found in Virginia Water lake by police on Friday evening (August 26). Surrey Police were called to Windsor Lake at around 6pm following reports of a man struggling in the water, and the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service's water search team and the National Police Air Service assisted in the initial search of the area. Eyewitnesses reported seeing fire engines and ambulances at the lake and the man was pulled from the water just after midnight by specialist divers. This was announced to the public via Twitter on the 27th of August by Runnymede Police who stated that ‘a body had been recovered from the water the previous evening’. The man was aged in his 20s and his death is currently being treated as unexplained, although there is not believed to be any third party i...

Protest planned over alleged firing of cleaning staff

11Aug

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Protest planned over alleged firing of cleaning staff

There is a group threatening to hold a demonstration at the university, over the alleged sacking of two cleaning staff on political grounds. It is alleged that the Racial Volunteer Force will be demonstrating outside the main gate of Royal Holloway on October 22nd, between 2pm and 4pm. The protest is supposedly in solidarity with two outsourced cleaners, who have allegedly been fired after being connected with an anti-Shomrim Demonstration. According to further tweets publicly published on the protest group's social media page, '#RHULdemo', the group goes on to say: ‘#RHULDemo ‏@Stevenj12792056 Aug 2 Before the #RHULDemo will probably meet @CrownEgham and the Holly Tree Englefield Green impeccable behaviour by all attendee's expected.’… ‘#RHULDemo ‏@Stevenj12792056 Aug ...

10Aug

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Egham War Memorial Vandalised

A monument in Egham bearing the names of the town’s lost soldiers has been defaced in what police have called a “shocking act of criminal damage”. The obelisk and accompanying plaques, just outside of St. John’s Church, were targeted for the senseless destruction sometime over the night of 3 August. It appears as if the perpetrators prised off the plaques before shattering them, while damage was also committed to the memorial wreaths surrounding the monument. The attack comes just a few months before Remembrance Day. The vicar of St. John’s church, Rev. Jeff Wattley, today expressed his sadness at the events, saying: “It’s very sad that something as precious for the memories of many people in Egham has been mistreated in such a way. “It looks as if it was primarily just p...

University operating as usual after Russell Square attack

4Aug

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University operating as usual after Russell Square attack

One woman has died and a further five injured in a knife attack in Russell Square last night, close to Senate House Library and 11 Bedford Square. Now seen as a random attack by the Metropolitan Police, a 19 year old man was arrested at the scene and investigations are continuing into the man's background and motivations for the attack. Despite initial fears of terrorism, the police have deemed that there is enough evidence to suggest that the incident was spontaneous and motivated by mental health issues of the suspect. The attack comes as more armed police have been announced to patrol the capital's streets after European events have increased the terrorist threat. In London the number of armed officers will increase to 2,800 from the current 600 and 900 more officers will be deplo...