Re-enactment Society given £400 by Guild to buy a tent

Members of all Guild societies voted on who would get funding from the Guild’s ‘Spend-It’ scheme this week and FemSoc aren’t happy.

This semester  Re-enactment Society received £400 for a tent and SNOGs (Student neonatal obstetrics and gynaecology society) received £640 for fundraising equipment from the Guild ‘Spend-It’ scheme while the Feminist Society wasn’t granted anything from the money pot, leaving them high and dry for a whole semester.

This means they have no funding for FemJam, the student feminist conference filled with workshops, talks, cake, crafts and film screenings, after its debut success last year.

The ‘Spend-It’ scheme gives the power of choosing what the Guild funds each year to members of all guild societies.  Instead of filling in forms as and when funding is needed, there are now four dates during the academic year when societies can bid for funds from a money pot of £20,000.

The electorate cast 5 votes each and the societies who receive the most votes are  allocated money until the pot runs out. The remaining societies then receive nothing for that semester. (Talk about a popularity contest).

FemSoc looking sassy

Society members also voted for the Liverpool Chinese Student Scholars Association (LCSSA) to get around £1,200 in funding for their Chinese Culture festival that will be held in the Guild. Civ Soc (the civil engineering society) received around £1,000 for a training course for some of their members.

Bee Keeping society were awarded a measly £60 for wax products to make candles and lip balm to help run their bee colonies. The Neurological and Neurosurgical Society (NeuroSoc) received around £150 for equipment.

Niamh Davis, charity co-ordinator of Fem Soc, expressed her dismay at the decision: “Femjam was an incredibly inclusive event that promoted feminism, anti-sexism and gender equality not just to those from the university of Liverpool but to the wider Liverpool community as well.

“These are causes that need to be shared, discussed and have a real impact on people. Furthermore this event met all the criteria the Guild had asked for and we are all absolutely gutted that yet again Femsoc was denied funding for such a positive event.”

Let the guild see the money

The Guild website states in regard to the ‘Spend-it’ scheme that they’re  “putting the power in your hands. Societies will come together to look at all the funding requests and discuss as a group where it would be best used, and why.

“This will give you chance to meet fellow societies and find out more about what they’re getting up to, and also work together to make sure all societies are happy with where the money is going.”