Buckle in, Lancs Freshers: Here’s your ultimate guide to Lancaster Uni societies

Freshers’ Week will be the most chaotic part of your uni year, there’s no doubt about that. You might find yourself tripping over fairy lights you haven’t put up yet, braving the queue for the 100 bus for the first time, or even crying when you see the state of your bank account the weekend after.

But quite possibly the most chaotic part of Freshers’ Week is the beloved (and equally dreaded) Freshers’ Fair. You’re stuck in a queue that’s about 10 times the size of the one for Greggs, you have society execs shoving flyers in your faces and you’re trying to figure out how to fit all your freebees in your tote bag – all the while figuring out which societies seem like the right fit for you.

With so much going on, it’s always hard to figure out which society taster sessions you should make a visit to, so we’ve created this handy rundown of societies at Lancaster University so you can spend your Freshers’ Fair focusing on freebies, not flyers.

Sports societies

We couldn’t possibly name all the sports societies at Lancs seeing as we’ve counted more than 50 that you can join this year. We have quite possibly every sport you could think of from archery to pro-wrestling, scuba diving and American football.

Each college has their own sports teams as well as the university-wide ones, so you can try out for college football, netball, darts and more if you’re looking for something more low-key. But don’t worry, there’ll still be plenty of competition since you can take part in matches and games against other colleges at university.

Dance

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Dance is definitely a sport, but it’s one so popular we thought it deserved its very own category. We’ve found ten university-affiliated dance societies at Lancaster:

• LUDanS (a general dance society)
• Ballet
• Ballroom Dancesport
• Belly dancing
• Cheerleading
• Hip Hop and Breakdancing
• Folk (which doubles as a music society)
• Indian Dance
• Salsa Dancing
• Swing Dance

Charity Societies

Lancaster Nightline is our student late-night mental health support line and is currently recruiting volunteers alongside so many other charity societies at Lancaster.

You could volunteer with Barnardo’s, Defying Dementia UK, UNICEF, Cancer Research UK and more – most of these groups will be handing out flyers with more information at the Freshers’ Fair.

Creative Societies

If you’re gearing up for your Gilmore Girls autumn filled with baking, crafting and more, Lancaster has some incredible creative societies for you.

Our book club is really popular and organised reading socials and book crawls regularly, and just as popular is our baking society. You can also try out loads of different arts and crafts in Craft Soc, expand your Letterboxd in the Film Society or try out some Lego building in LULego.

Newly-Affiliated Societies

You’ve probably heard before that if you can’t find the right society for you you can form your own, and these societies that have just been registered with the SU ready for 2024’s Freshers are living proof!

Our newly affiliated societies are:

• Women in STEM and Natural Sciences
• Musical Theatre Society
• LU MedTech
• Intervol (a student volunteering society)

Music Societies

Just like dance, music societies at Lancs are incredibly popular and large in numbers! If you fancy living your pitch perfect dream, the acapella society has a competitive and a non-competitive team; we also have RocSoc, LUSing for those who want to be part of a more chill singing society, or our general music society who have several different ensembles!

Subject Societies

If you can’t get enough of your subject in lectures and seminars, want to try a different subject, or just want to hang out with your course mates there are over 20 subject-related societies to try out.

These include the Society of History, the Politics Society, the Marketing and Advertising Society, the Philosophy Society and (if you’re a new medical student) MedSoc.

Cultural Societies

The SU website lists 26 societies that relate to different cultures and heritage, and loads of communities have formed on campus through these groups. Some honourable mentions are the African Caribbean society, the Malaysian Student Society, the Indonesian Society and the Welsh Society.

Media Societies

If you fancy getting involved in student media this year, Lancs has a radio station (Bailrigg FM), an on campus cinema (Take2 Cinema), a TV station (LA1 TV) and a student newspaper (SCAN).

The best of the best (in our opinion, at least) is our very own Lancaster Tab, where you can write fun features, quizzes and guides and more serious news articles aimed at Lancaster students themselves! We’re currently recruiting new writers, so check out our article for more info.

Religious Societies

Lancs also has plenty of religious societies on campus and in the city, including the Chinese Christian Fellowship, the Sikh Society, the Christian Union, the Jewish Society and much more.

Honourable mentions

It’s impossible for us to cover every Lancaster society, but some are just too weird and wonderful for us to pass by.

Some of our more unique societies include the Pokémon society, the Living History society (these are the people you’ll see having medieval-style jousting fights next to the Freshers’ Fair queue), Swift Soc, the Real Ale and Cider society and the Magic and Circus society. There is quite literally something for everything (we used to have a bolognese society, and wouldn’t complain if someone wanted to resurrect that) and you’ll never be short of something to do in the evening.

You can check out the full list of Lancaster University societies here.

Want to write articles like this? The Lancaster Tab is currently looking for current and future Lancaster students to join our writing team! Get involved with guides, quizzes and all of the student news. Message us on our Instagram for more info, or check out our recruitment article here.

Related articles recommended by this writer:

• It’s official: The Lancaster Tab is looking for new writers!
• Here are nine things every Lancs Fresher should do before uni starts this year
• Incoming Freshers: Here’s everything you need to know about being a Lancs student

Featured images via Instagram.