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:
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)