Community and Belonging

Promoting inclusive activities

If you lead or run events for a student group, it’s important now more than ever to consider financial factors for anyone who might want to attend your events.

Everyone is responding to the Cost of Living crisis differently, and some people may be cutting back on going out for food or drinks, ordering takeaway and delivery, buying alcohol, paying for event tickets, or other expenses to try and save money where they can. When planning events, it’s important to be mindful of this so that everyone can participate and feel included, without feeling pressured or expected to spend money.

Events that may create pressure to spend money	Helpful alternatives to try
Coffee meetups at a café	Coffee/tea meetups at someone’s flat (BYOM – bring your own mug!)
Committee meetings at a pub/café	Book a room in the Union by emailing [email protected] or using the ResourceBooker online system, or just snag a free table in Main Bar or Sandy’s for your meeting.
Pub crawls	Try sticking to one or two pubs for a social instead, so that people don’t feel like they have to buy another drink at every pub.
Pub socials	Host a fun themed social at someone’s flat instead so people can bring their own drinks, alcoholic or not.
Trips out of town	Show everyone how to get their free bus travel if they’re under 22, and see if your budget can cover the travel costs for people 22 and over.
Drink & draw at a pub	If hosting at a pub, make sure there is no minimum spend or if there is, that your budget can cover it if needed. Your advertising of the event should not pressure people to buy drinks. Alternatively, you could look into holding it in Sandy’s, where people can buy drinks from Main Bar if they’d like, but there is no pressure to.
Craft social at a pub	Consider booking one of the many spaces in the Union that are available for student events of various capacities! Plenty of craft socials and board game nights have been held in the Small and Large Rehearsal Rooms, Sandy’s Bar, and even in the Society Rooms and Meeting Pods for smaller gatherings. Email [email protected] with your enquiry.
Going out for a group meal at a restaurant/café/pub	If you really want to go out for a meal, you could anonymously poll attendees in advance to choose a place, in case people would prefer a less expensive option. Alternatively, you could host a potluck where everyone brings their own dish—people can have the option to buy a pre-made dish or cook something, depending on their budget and free time.

Other free / low-cost activities:

Group walk along the beaches or down Lade Braes
Visit free museums/exhibits (check out the Spaces section for more information on what’s on near you).
Movie night at someone’s flat or in a Union space

Offerings from Saints Sport

Saints Sport offer a participation programme which seeks to widen access to sport with beginner friendly free or low cost activities. One of these activities is dodgeball which runs weekly on Tuesday nights at 8:30pm at the Sports Arena. These dodgeball sessions are free to all St Andrews students.

At the beginning of the semester, Saints Sport ran a free taster session, and they are hoping to have more low and no cost events in the future to improve access to sport and physical activity.

Some students who receive access scholarships are eligible for discounted Saints Sport membership. You don’t have to disclose that you are eligible, Saints Sport are aware of those who are able to get this discounted membership.