A scheme designed to improve the inclusivity of our student groups.
The Inclusivity Award is an SU scheme designed to improve the inclusivity of our student groups for underrepresented groups. Student groups can sign up and complete projects to embed equality, diversity, and inclusivity into their work. This year we redesigned our Inclusivity Award to ensure it creates lasting changes to student leader activity. Find out more about how the award worked here.
We’re pleased to share that 22 amazing groups have completed the Inclusivity Award! They’ve been allocated Bronze, Silver or Gold awards based on the projects they completed. We’re honestly so proud of these groups for the work they’ve done, and it’s been amazing to read their submissions. We wanted to share with you some of our favourite projects that were part of the Inclusivity Award this year:
Bath University Computer Science Society have held discussion events around gender inequality in technology, LGBT+ inequality in technology, and disability inequality in technology to educate their members. Lacrosse organised an introductory equality, diversity, and inclusivity session for their members, which was run by the SU Community Officer. This session had amazing attendance and great engagement, with members asking questions to learn more about the topic! Student Minds committee have made an effort to complete various inclusivity training modules, including Be The Change, Inclusive Language, and Digital Accessibility sessions.
A huge number of groups focussed on improving inclusivity for LGBT+ students. Bath University Guides and Scouts group held an amazing event for LGBT+ History Month, educating their members around LGBT+ identities and the history of LGBT+ rights, followed by a quiz and a film screening. They received really positive responses from their members around this event! Archery Club also held an event for LGBT+ History Month, including a quiz for their members to develop an understanding of queer representation in archery. BURBAN Dance group organised an LGBT+ workshop, in which they learnt a dance style originating from LGBT+ history. Nightline have also worked closely with the LGBT+ group to improve their volunteers’ understanding of difficulties faced by LGBT+ students, so they are better prepared to take calls of this nature.
Image of Nightline and LGBT+ Workshop
Image from Association Football and Futsall’s Football versus Homophobia Tournament
In terms of culture, The Association of British and Chinese University Students organised successful collaborative events with many other cultural groups, including ChinaRen, BAMSA, Japanese Society, and Mahjong Society. Salsa group also held a very successful international show in collaboration with various cultural societies. BURBAN Dance group held a K-pop dance workshop to learn more about Korean culture. These events aimed to improve the cultural awareness and cultural understanding of their members.
A number of groups coordinated projects to make their groups more accessible and supportive. Archery Club published statements regarding inclusivity on their website, following which several students contacted them for accessibility queries. Hockey club have introduced welfare leads into each of their teams to actively look out for the wellbeing of their members. Nightline have improved accessibility for their volunteers by continuing hybrid shifts, allowing volunteers to take shifts from home. Bath Video Game Society have booked an additional room for their events, to be used as a breakout space if their members need it. Cycling club made an effort to improve the inclusivity of their club socials, including considering any bright lights or sounds which may impact members with sensory difficulties or neurodivergent members. Additionally, Table Top Gaming Society have moved their socials to be in a pub which is fully accessible for wheelchair users.
Fencing Club also made an effort to make their socials more inclusive by introducing more alcohol-free socials and more socials on campus, as well as introducing development sessions to encourage beginners to join in! Water Polo have also focussed on introducing more alcohol-free socials and introducing more opportunities for beginners.
Social media content was used as an effective way to communicate a group’s efforts to be inclusive. Association Football and Futsal Club created amazing social media content to share with their followers around Race Equality Week, World Hearing Day, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Bath University Computer Science Society also improved the inclusivity of their online presence by adding pronouns to their promotional materials and their emails.
Many groups focussed on gender with their inclusivity projects. Bath Jets Cheerleading Club ran a “Bring a Boy to Cheer” session to improve the gender diversity of their membership. Dodgeball group have held a women-only taster session and a women’s day session to be more inclusive to their female members. Bath Video Game Society entered their first-ever fully women and non-binary team into the largest university e-sports tournament in the UK! Basketball Club organised an event for Muslim women and created a women’s development first team to welcome more female members. Jiu Jitsu have focussed on improving inclusivity to females by ensuring female representation at publicity stands and introducing a female coach to take their regular sessions!
Image of Cheerleading Club’s “Bring a Boy to Cheer” event
Something both Salsa and Latin and Ballroom groups have done is to allow pairs to choose who leads and follows, as opposed to the male automatically leading the dance. Table Top Gaming Society have also worked on improving female membership at their chess events by collaborating with the Women in Maths group. Cycling club meanwhile organised women’s-only rides and introduced a Women’s Captain! Along with their submissions, they provided some quotes from their members, evidencing the impact of their projects. “As a female, beginner/casual cyclist of Indian ethnicity, I am by far in the minority of the cycling club. The efforts made by this committee have certainly had an impact on the extent to which I feel included!” “The presence of strong female cyclists on the committee, especially in the role of chair, has been such an encouraging way of inspiring girls to get involved”.
To tackle the financial barriers associated with joining groups, Bath Jets Cheerleading Club published a financial cost sheet showing expenses and fees throughout the years, allowing their members to plan ahead. Latin and Ballroom group have developed their own financial hardship fund for students to delay paying for sessions if they are struggling with money – which is amazing! One student who accessed the fund shared that “it has made it possible for me to join the club and become an active member, which would not have been possible otherwise”.
All the groups who have achieved the award have completed tons of other projects – these are just some of our favourites from this year. A particular mention goes to Bath Jets Cheerleading Club, Bath University Guides and Scouts, Latin and Ballroom, Basketball Club, and BURBAN Dance group. These groups in particular sent in amazing submissions, evidencing some exceptional work towards improving the inclusivity of their group.
Once again, a massive well done to all groups who took part in the Inclusivity Award and thank you for making active efforts towards making your group more inclusive!
The Inclusivity Award will be back in Semester 1 2022/2023, so please email inclusivityaward@bath.ac.uk to express your interest if you’d like to take part next year!