Liverpool John Moores’ Trampoline society host ‘tramp’ themed social

Liverpool John Moores University’s Trampolining society held a “tramps” themed social last week, The Liverpool Tab can exclusively reveal.

On the club’s Facebook page members were told to “be sure to dress as trampy as you can,” adding “Primark do cheap shirts if you need them”.

The group of students, pictured below, wore cut up shirts and tights and rubbed fake dirt on their faces.

Members of the group also hung signs around their neck asking for money – one of the signs said “50p for a bounce on my bed”.

The club’s social secretary posted to Instagram with the caption “Tramps night!!” and a picture of her dressed in a cut-up white t-shirt.

The society have been running this social for years, with pictures on their Instagram page dating back to 2014.

One of the signs pictured below reads: “Give me your change and I’ll change your night ;)”.

When approached for comment, LJMU Trampoline Club told The Liverpool Tab:

“We realise now, that our annual choice of costume could cause offence and are sorry for any upset this may have caused, it was never our intention. We will of course be changing our annual fancy dress theme and once again apologise to anyone who may have found this inappropriate.”

A spokesperson for Liverpool John Moores University Students’ Union told The Liverpool Tab:

“We have recently been made aware of the annual tramps night out fancy dress social held by our Trampolining Society. As a Students’ Union we do not endorse fancy dress that could be deemed as offensive or discriminatory and have reached out directly to the society involved who realise that an error in judgement has been made with this choice of costume. They apologise for any offence caused, and will be changing their annual social theme with immediate effect.

“JMSU believes that all events and socials held by its students should be welcoming and inclusive. As such, going forwards we’ll be working closely with all our clubs and societies to make sure incidents like this do not happen again and will be making sure clear guidelines are in place for our students with regards to fancy dress.”

Despite John Moores SU claiming to not have known about the tramp socials, we discovered they did, liking Instagram photos of 2017’s edition of the social.

Sophie, a third year Psychology student, told The Liverpool Tab her opinion:

“I think this social was incredibly disrespectful, particularly given Liverpool’s rising rate of homelessness. The placards insinuating that homeless people sell themselves are also disgusting.”

Have you heard about any offensive socials or society initiations? Please get in contact with us confidentially by messaging us on Facebook or emailing [email protected]

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