Freshers' fairs

Freshers’ fairs take place at most universities and colleges across the UK around September/October time. They are used to welcome new students and to make them aware of what is on offer to them whilst they are studying.

It is a chance for the university’s clubs and societies to recruit new members, but most universities also allow commercial companies and charitable organisations to promote their services too. So make use of this opportunity to recruit!

Top tips

• Contact your local university! The ‘institution directory’ link below will take you to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website, where you will be able to find the contact details and websites of local institutions.
• Make the effort to be enthusiastic and take the opportunity to talk to students directly. Remember that there will be plenty of other clubs and societies who will want new students to join their clubs, and a student can only commit to so much. Make sure that your stand stands out from the crowd – this will help attract the students’ attention.
• Remember that students generally attend freshers’ fairs to find out what activities and social events they can get involved in whilst at university, so use this opportunity to sell scouting as an adventure!
• Highlight the skills that students can develop through their volunteering and through the training offered by The Scout Association. Students will be looking to gain skills and experience that they can use to impress future employers after university.
• Take some promotional material along with you. Make sure the stand looks lively and select the people running the stand with care. Have a good age and gender mix and make sure everyone on the stand is comfortable talking directly to people and answering questions.
• Try to get some former students/recent graduates to help you. They will be able to relate to how students feel at Freshers’ Fairs and when starting university.

Case studies

City of Bath District

The City of Bath District set up stands at the freshers’ fairs of both Bath and Bath Spa Universities. They found that there were many scout leaders coming to Bath as students every year, many of whom had a wealth of experience and some who were highly qualified.

They found student leaders very easy to recruit and found that many students were very enthusiastic about joining.

Cambridge Re-freshers' fairs

Cambridge has found that re-freshers' fairs can sometimes be more useful. These are similar to freshers' fairs but are held during the second term of university. They found that some scouts chose to join a climbing club or a mountain biking club at the first fair, but would then decide that they wanted something more familiar and would return to scouting in the second term.

Support material

Promotional material for a stand:

• LT1851019: Adult Support promotional leaflet
  
• Factsheet FS500004: CV Aid – The wider implications of scouting (PDF) (Explanation of how scout training can be relevant outside scouting and how you could include your scouting experiences on your CV)

Some factsheets can be downloaded for free, and printed copies of all resources are available from the information centre by using the Information Centre Catalogue or calling 0345 300 1818.

Further information

Institution Guide

Information Centre Catalogue

Recruiting students website

Using our Brand to Grow the Movement (FS103833) (PDF)