Societies Toolkit

This is your go-to page for training, forms, risk assessment templates and much more!

Check out the FAQs at bottom to see if someone else has already asked what you want to find out.

Please contact susocs@essex.ac.uk if you need further help.

EXPENSES

EVENTS

If you’re having someone speak at any event on campus who isn’t a University of Essex staff member or student then you will need to complete an external speaker notification form. A short moodle module will need to be completed before you are able to submit a notification. You must give at least 15 working days notice prior to your event.

Before you invite a speaker, please check that they aren't associated with any of the organisations on this list of proscribed terrorist groups

Click here to complete the external speaker notification.

Use this for outside events on squares and University grounds – having a single table/fundraising stall on Square 3 just requires a table booking to be made, not an event permission form.

Download Event permission form

General info about booking a card machine:

Societies/Sports clubs/VTeam projects may request to borrow a card machine if they are planning to raise money for their own society/Sports club/VTeam project. You can also request to borrow a card machine if you are raising money for an external charity.
To request a card machine, an exec member will need to read the SU PCI DSS Training and fill in the Card Machine Hire form. This completed form will need to be sent to susocs@essex.ac.uk. Card machines will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and we cannot guarantee that they will be available.

Booking a card machine to raise money for an external charity – specific information:

- If you are raising money for an external charity, you will need to also send a completed RAG Form with the details of your charity. This must be sent in advance of your fundraiser. We will not be able to confirm a card machine booking until we have received the completed RAG form.
To request a card machine, an exec member will need to read the SU PCI DSS Training and fill in the Card Machine Hire form. This completed form will need to be sent to susocs@essex.ac.uk. Card machines will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and we cannot guarantee that they will be available.

If you are making your own food to serve, someone supervising must have a Food hygiene certificate. Each Society gets one free food hygiene course. Complete the Typeform here.

You must display all allergens for food being served in line with Natasha’s law.

Keep the original food packaging for any food purchased, or make signs for home made food.

For external catering we must have the following emailed to susocs@essex.ac.uk in advance of us approving your room booking/event:

Name of catering company
Copy of their Public Liability Insurance (£5million minimum)
Copy of their food hygiene certificate

How to put an event on the Essex SU What's On webpage

Ticket request form

Sub Zero & The In-between booking information

Event Budget Template

To help share your event, tag @socsessex in your Instagram posts and we can share, or DM us the details to help promote.

Contact Rebel if you would like your event covered (e.g. photography, media, article, music). Email rebel@essex.ac.uk to ask. Please note that Rebel are all student volunteers and so it depends on availability of the students.

RISK ASSESSMENTS

HOW TO COMPLETE A RISK ASSESSMENT

BLANK RISK ASSESSMENT TEMPLATE

Example risk assessments:

TRAINING

Presentation

FINANCE

EVENTS

WELLBEING

If your event has the potential to be triggering or upsetting to any of your members, please make sure you alert members of any trigger warnings in advance. You can display this slide at your events

HEALTH & SAFETY

Please log all accidents that occur during events. Should an accident occur during one of your events on campus and you require first aid support, call 2222 on an internal campus phone or 01206 862222 on a mobile phone to get through to the security team.

Download accident report form

AWARDS & STANDARDS

Standards Application Form 23/24

USEFUL DOCUMENTS & POLICIES

SOCIETIES TERMS OF REFERENCE 22/23

INDIVIDUAL SOCIETY CONSTITUTIONS

SOCIETIES CODE OF CONDUCT 22/23

STUDENT ACTIVITIES POLICIES & PROCEDURES

HOUSE RULES TEMPLATE

FINANCIAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES FOR CLUB & SOCIETY TREASURERS

SPONSORSHIP TEMPLATE

FAQS

You can always email us at susocs@essex.ac.uk. We will aim to respond to your email within 5 working days. Alternatively, if you want to come and talk to us you can drop into the Student Activities Office. You can find this on Findyourway@Essex under “5.01”. Our drop-in hours are Monday-Friday 11-5pm.

A competed Risk Assessment must be sent to susocs@essex.ac.uk before society events can happen. The template can be found in the Risk Assessment section above, along with the Risk Assessment training. If you are having difficulties completing this, please send us an email at susocs@essex.ac.uk or come and speak to us.

University rooms can be booked by filling in this form: Rooms can only be booked outside of teaching hours. You must make sure you have previously sent in a completed risk assessment that covers the event that the room is for. The Societies department will get in contact with you if we believe that you do not have a risk assessment that complies with the room booking request.

To book The Atrium, fill in this form.

To book Sub Zero or The In-between, find out more here.

To book a table on square 3, you will need to fill in this form. Please note that it will not be possible to book a table for Thursdays due to it being Market Day. If you request the use of a gazebo, this will be subject to staff availability to set this up. Once your table booking has been confirmed, you will receive a calendar confirmation. >

We know that disagreements can happen or there may be a difference of opinion. If there is an issue between members, it is firstly the role of the President to try mediate this and resolve the issue. Listen to both sides and try to offer positive solutions to the problem. If the problem is not resolvable or it has escalated, please reach out to the SU societies team who can help mediate the conflict. This could be a face-to-face discussion, to allow everyone to voice their opinion and find ways to move on.

To appoint new members to a society’s Executive committee an election must take place. To organise one of these or to find out more information, please email us at susocs@essex.ac.uk or come and speak to us. If any of your exec step down, elections will be required to replace that position as well. The person stepping down will need to email susocs@essex.ac.uk to confirm their decision in writing and then we can put a timeline in place for your online elections.

In order to add an event to the What’s On page, you must first ensure that you have obtained admin rights. If you do not have admin rights or you are unsure, please email us at susocs@essex.ac.uk. From your society’s webpage, click the ‘page admin’ drop-down menu on the top banner and then select ‘[your society] admin tools’ --> Click ‘Events’ (calendar icon) --> Click ‘Add new event’ --> Fill in the details as required. You can find a how-to guide here.