Blog

Use it or lose it!

Your SU Bar is in danger of closing and only YOU can save it!

Last year the bar made a loss and if more students don’t use it then it’s highly likely it will close. In recent years, the SU Bar has been the focal point of our little St Mary’s community and sadly it looks like we could lose that. But YOU can change that!

The bar is owned and managed by the University College which is facing government cuts of 40% and looking for targets to save it money. The bar has already been closed on Saturdays because the lack of customers means it’s not viable to keep it open – and closing it permanently would save the University College money on the deficit and on staff salaries. The SU Bar is not run by the Students’ Union itself.

Last year, we tried desperately to revitalise Wednesday night entertainment and provide more entertainment on a Friday night and Sundays but the bar still made a loss. This year attendance on a Wednesday night is even worse.

Wednesday night entertainment is provided by the SU’s clubs and societies to raise money to help them meet their running costs. The University College gives the Students’ Union a grant of £38,000 to fund them but their collective running costs are an average of £152,152 per year and students have to find the rest of this money themselves. Most of this is made up from your membership payments, but the rest needs to be made up with these fundraising nights. All the profit made from these nights goes to our clubs and societies and the Students Union itself gets NO MONEY from this. Coming to the SU Bar with your friends on these nights supports your clubs and societies!

If we stop using the SU Bar, not only will our clubs and societies lose money, but we could also stand to lose our Freshers’ Week, Rag Ball and Summer Ball if we have no campus bar. We will lose the community feel that St Mary’s is so proud of. We need to have a place for us to socialise as one big group. Where did you meet your friends when you came to St Mary’s?

What Can YOU Do to Stop this?

• Fridays will now be ‘Use It or Lose It!’ nights.
After listening to your feedback, any money raised will be saved towards refurbishing the SU. Let’s show the uni that you want to socialise on campus and care about saving the bar.

• Support your clubs and societies on Wednesday nights
Every penny you spend in McClusky’s goes straight into one man’s pocket – whereas every penny you spend in the SU helps to save your clubs and societies, your St Mary’s community and your bar.

• Shhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
We believe some University College staff members think closing the bar will cut down on complaints from neighbours about noise and bad behaviour from our students. However, we know, and the police agree with us, that the worst nights are when students are leaving and returning to campus to socialise elsewhere. Let’s show everyone that a thriving on campus social community can keep us all happy — and then we might not only save the bar, but get back our 3am licence!

So come along to our events, enjoy yourself while raising money for your SU and keep your bar OPEN!

Remember it’s YOUR SU and it’s YOUR CHOICE,
So USE IT OR LOSE IT!!!