University College London Union (UCLU), founded in 1893, has a credible claim to be England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

's oldest students' union

Students' union

A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...

. It was formed with the following objectives: "the promotion of social intercourse and of the means of recreation, physical and mental, of the students of University College, and the financial successes of students' clubs". UCL Union was the first of its kind as it was formed for both athletics clubs and social activities alike.

Since its formation, the Union has taken on responsibility for many aspects of student life. Events for example were seen as a key element hence the establishment of an Ents Committee. The student magazine Pi

Pi Magazine

Pi is the name of the official student publications of the University College London Union.-History:Pi was originally launched as a newspaper. In the aftermath of World War II, there was strong popular support amongst college and UCL Union officials for some sort of community project that would...

 (then known as the Gazette) was formed a few years later and the Somers Town sports venue was also acquired.

UCL Union is affiliated to the National Union of Students.

Organisation

Student Development is at the heart of the work the Union does today. UCL Union runs over 170 clubs and societies for its members. It runs commercial services including ten bars, cafés and two shops, a fitness centre. UCL students, through the Union has nine weeks free access to put on student shows and events in the UCL-owned professionally run Bloomsbury Theatre.

The Union's sports clubs have access to several different venues including Astor College Gym, Bloomsbury Fitness, the Somers Town Sports Centre and the 100 acre (0.404686 km²) Shenley Sports grounds, which Watford Football Club rent for training purposes.

UCLU provides support to students through Jobshop and the Rights & Advice Centre, and has a highly active Volunteering Services Unit, providing volunteering opportunities for over 1200 students a year.

As well as magazine "Pi

Pi

' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...

", the Union's media output includes the radio station Rare FM

Rare FM

Rare FM is the student-run radio station of UCL. The current station manager is Tom Riste-Smith.-Background:Rare FM was set up in 1998 as an affiliated society of UCL Union, headed at that time by Ed Jackson...

, the "alternative" magazine The Cheese Grater

The Cheese Grater

The Cheese Grater is an award-winning magazine produced at the University College London by a society of UCL Union, a students' union. It was first published in March 2004....

 and a number of smaller publications. The University of London Union

University of London Union

The University of London Union is the university-wide students' union for the University of London...

's newspaper, London Student

London Student

London Student is the newspaper of the University of London Union. It began publishing in 1979. It is an editorially independent publication with ultimate control over content and editorial appointments vested in the elected full-time Editor, who is currently Joe Rennison.It distributes 12,500...

, is also distributed at UCL Union, as UCL is one of the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

's constituent colleges.

Clubs and Societies

UCL has numerous clubs and societies, catering to a range of interests, which include, sports, film, drama, martial arts, politics and degree-subjects. The UCL Union Debating Society, founded in 1828, is the third oldest student debating society in the UK after the Oxford and Cambridge Unions. UCL Union Conservative Society, founded in 1908, is the oldest student Conservative association in England. UCL Union Jewish Society is among the most active Jewish student groups in the UK, representing what constitutes the largest proportion of Jewish students on any campus in the UK; additionally, the UCL Union Christian Union is one of the largest in the city, whilst the UCL Union Islamic Society is amongst the largest in the country. Each year UCL stages an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, despite its lack of a music department. UCOpera receives considerable national press coverage.

Events

Following the introduction of a new Events Department at UCL Union in late 2006, UCL Union has successfully developed an extensive events programme. The Union now runs different events and promotions in its own bars six nights a week and they have also lengthened their opening hours to 2am on certain nights.

Monday night: 99's promotions (a range of 99p drinks available until 9pm).
Tuesday night: Live Music - various events including Jazz Jammin (Jazz/Blues/Funk - open jam), Popaganda (Indy/Alt), Retribution (Rock/Metal), UCLive (varied), EasyJams (Open Mic) and the Annual Battle of the Bands.
Wednesday night: Sports Night - Bar £1.50
Thursday night: Cocktails - cheap cocktails, with a 2-4-1 happy hour, and Pub Quiz
Friday Night: The Exchange (Drinking stock exchange game).
Saturday night: Double Vision - Karaoke and Bar £1.50.

These are all based in the main Gordon Street Bars, but the Medics bar on Huntley Street has its own range of events to add to all of this, including Ministry of Comedy every other Week on Wednesday, and 'Thank RUMs its Friday' on, well Fridays!

In 2007, UCL Union dramatically increased the amount of events they hosted in external venues by creating their "VODPOP" brand @ Turnmills

Turnmills

Turnmills was a London nightclub on the corner of Turnmill Street and Clerkenwell Road in the London Borough of Islington. It closed on the morning of 24 March 2008....

and later followed by "Club Neon" @ Heaven. Both have now moved Venue with Vodpop successfully relaunching itself at Pacha after a brief stint at Scala, and Club Neon currently poised to move to an exciting new Venue after a one off fling at the Arches. The Union also makes extensive use of external clubs for one off events such as the Winter Ball, and has to date held events in Egg, Scala, Ministry of Sound, Heaven, Turnmills, Koko and Pacha among others.

Campaigns

The Union facilitates and funds a set of independent campaigns every term. These have included: Go Green Week, Stop AIDS, Darfur Week, Free Education, London Living Wage, Save a Life (organ donation), Students for Ethical Investment and Mental Health Week.

There is also an active set of Liberation Networks, including LGBT, BME, Women's and Disabled. As well as a Students of Faith network and an International Students Network

Current

Year of Office	Democracy & Communications Officer	Education & Campaigns Officer	Finance & Services Officer	Medical & Postgraduate Student Officer	Student Activities Officer	Welfare Officer	General Secretary (Non - Sabbatical)
2011–2012	James Skuse	Luke Durigan	Timothy Rees Jones	Neil Chowdhury	Amy Evans	Rachel Eyre	Zubair Idris
2010–2011	Mandy Smith	Michael Chessum	Matthew Burgess	Alex Nesbitt	Alex Karski	Leo-Alexander Nicholas	Thomas Elliott

Past officers

This table uses the 2008–2010 officer titles.

Year of office	Communications & Services Officer	Education Officer	Finance & Democracy officer	Medical & Postgraduate Student Officer	Student Activities officer	Welfare Officer	General Secretary (Non - Sabbatical)
2009–2010	Grace Barnett	Josh Blacker	Andrew Caddy	Kwesi Adedeji-Watson	James Hodgson	Nicki Challenger	Pierre Deludet
2008–2009	Charlie Clinton	Edward Steward	Nathanael Macdonald	Billy Street	Jen Currigan	Kate Rowley	Leo-Alexander Nicholas

This table uses the 2000–2008 officer titles.

Year of office	Finance & Administration Officer	Medical Students & Sites Officer	Media & Communications Officer	Clubs, Societies & Student Development Officer	Services & Events Officer	Education & Welfare Officer	General Secretary (Non - Sabbatical)
2007–2008	Jim Hunkin (Acting, following resignation of Dominic Tarn)	Jules Mazowiecki	Sean Clothier	Steve Whittle	Olivia Alford	Andrew Fernando	Samantha Godwin
2006–2007	Mark Littler (Resigned)	Eleanor Fletcher	Nick Barnard	Robbie Swale	Zoë Davies	Ed Bray (Resigned)	Dominik Piech
2005–2006	Lucy Gould	Luke Yahanpath	Alan Gardner	Natasha Davis	Ben Williamson	Mary-Beth Young	Luca Manfredi
2004–2005	Victoria Green	Vishali Thakrar	Alex Walsh	Liz Oglesby	Steven Healer	David Renton	Nigel Harris
2003–2004	Sinan Rabee	Amy Hansen	Andreas von Maltzahn	Alex Lal	Alastair Boyle	Alex Coles	Frank Penter / Stephen Fingleton
2002–2003	Ben McMechan	Rob Farag	Pete Huggins	Frank Penter	Angi Bholé	Nigel Harris	Matt Fitzpatrick
2001–2002	Simon Luscombe	Dan Gibbons	Celia Parkyn	Sarah Chapman	Rachel Stone	Ursula Brown	John Tumbridge
2000–2001	Rob Fear	Brian Hogan	Laura Emson	Felicity Espley	Nick Lovatt	Dan Ozarow	Katie Bramall

External links

• UCL Union web site