Sports & Socs

Inspired by the giant Oil Spill in Santa Barbara, California in January 1969, the first Earth Day of April 22nd 1970 was an American movement spanning coast to coast, uniting senators to students and a total of 20 million Americans to take to the streets to demonstrate against American industrial development that was, and still is, polluting the world we are stewards of. It was a movement that united huge portions of the American public around the universal issue of the protection of the environment. The political impetus of the first Earth Day led to businesses donating tens of thousands of dollars to Earth Day projects, the prevention of an anti-environmental advertising campaign by those same businesses and, while they refused the offer, an invitation from President Nixon for the organ...

Happy 420 Within recent times there have been some interesting developments in cannabis legislation, with Mexico set to be the next country to join the list of ever-growing nations to legalise recreational marijuana use. However, in the UK, we appear a good while away from being able to legally purchase weed for recreational use, with the Liberal Democrats being one of the only large parties to support legalisation. The Lib Dems outline in their manifesto the benefits that come with legalisation, arguing that it could raise around £1 billion in tax which they would spend on crime prevention and tackling the climate crisis. London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has also spoken about the topic before, claiming the UK needs to rethink its drug policies. It's not hard to see why the Lib Dems are pushi...

What do you think of when you hear ‘Bicycle Day’? If you’re anything like me, you probably thought, as the name suggests, that it is related to the two-wheeled vehicle many of us have used at least once in our lives. However, Bicycle Day is not a celebration of the bicycle, but something entirely different. On the 19th of April 1943, the first recorded LSD trip happened. A guy, named Hofman, ingested a small amount of the psychoactive substance and experienced unusual and profound changes in perception. Worried that he might’ve poisoned himself, Hofman got on his bicycle and rode to his doctor, who could not observe any bodily irregularities, except for dilated pupils, meaning Hofman was experiencing a trip. Hence, on “Bicycle Day” we celebrate the discovery of LSD as a psychedelic. You m...

Hello dear readers, we’re back after a brief hiatus, and if the old saying has any merit then our absence should have made your hearts grow fonder, which is perfect as we are talking romance.  It was Valentine’s day earlier this month and whilst I’m not entirely sure what a martyred bishop from the Roman empire and overpriced heart shaped chocolates have in common I was quickly reminded by my lapsed catholic girlfriend that as I am a heathen, I’m not entitled to comment on ecclesiastical history. Looks like someone isn’t getting that £5 single rose from the Spar in Englefield Green.  Consumerist manifestations of religious holidays aside, a date in lockdown is a challenging prospect. Especially when a quiet night in with a bottle of wine is what the government has been ask...

With an increasing number of LGBTQ+ role models within sports and the conversations being had and the advocacy of work being inclusive, these are just some of the British sports stars who are openly members of the community and work to promote equality. Gareth Thomas  As the first openly gay professional rugby union player when he came out in 2009, he has been a vocal supporter and activist for NSPCC, ChildLine and Stonewall. In an interview in 2009 he was quoted as saying, “I don’t know if my life is going to be easier because I’m out, but if it helps someone else, if it makes one young lad pick up the phone to ChildLine, then it will have been worth it”. When in 2018 he was the subject of a homophobic attack, Welsh, French, English, New Zealand and USA rugby teams wore rainbow lac...

As I swapped out my pink astro laces for rainbow-coloured ones before a hockey match last year and had my cheek painted with a rainbow flag, I had little knowledge of the great work that this movement I was supporting did. Royal Holloway Hockey Ladies 2s have always been an inclusive team that has supported one another through every obstacle the club and University has thrown at its members. So, to walk on to that pitch with the whole team kitted up in support of a cause deeply personal to many of our team, was inspiring. It demonstrated the power of sport and the unity and support it can bring to many people.   The Rainbow Laces campaign launched by Paddy Power and Stonewall UK in 2013, set out to tackle homophobia in football by distributing rainbow-coloured football laces to ever...

Thom Cuffin-Munday In the past month, the student-led campaign ‘Royal Holloway on Ecosia’ has successfully managed to convert our university to Ecosia, a search engine that uses its income from ads to fund tree planting projects. To date, over 115 million trees have been planted worldwide (as of 14th December 2020) as a result of those who use Ecosia. With the campaign now adding Royal Holloway to the list of contributors to the project, we have to recognise this tremendous achievement by some of our students! Ecosia began in 2009 in Germany after the founder, Christian Kroll, experienced the issues of deforestation around the world. The main focus of Ecosia is to plant trees in areas that need reforesting – such as restoring the watersheds in Brazil, where the first trees were ...