Foam FAIL: Refreshers Party RUINED by Health & Safety

Not quite how the event turned out

Monday’s Glen Eyre Foam Party was meant to start Refreshers on a high but instead was hindered by Halls Management and the poor show from the foam provider.

Entering Glen Bar, expecting the rear hall to be a giant bubble bath I was greeted instead with what reminded me of my old primary school discos; an old school hall and slowly filling dancefloor. Unlike a primary school disco though, the bar was heaving. All changed when the prospect of several hundreds of pounds worth of foam were to fill the room along with 450 Freshers. The former never occurred; in fact only one burst of foam from the cannons was to be seen for the whole night erupting for all of 30 seconds, enough to cover a smidgen of the dancefloor.

The event, jointly organised by Glen Eyre and Bencraft JCRs, did not go as planned when Halls Management decided health and safety was not up to standard. SUSU and the JCR carried out necessary risk assessments and were approved by the University prior to the event, only for them to retract their decision on the night when the foam company failed to provide adequate floor protection.

Not only was there confusion about how much floor cover was needed, the representative of the company arrived an hour and half late, at the wrong location and with the wrong flavour foam. Jack Brigden, Glen Eyre JCR Vice President, said:

It’s a disappointment that we were all let down by the foam company and Halls Management but we’re working on organising something soon for all those who bought tickets and didn’t get what was promised to them.

Lawrence Smith, President of Glen JCR also commented:

It’s a shame that after 2 months of planning we’ve been left with £250 worth of foam which has literally gone down the drain.

Glen JCR spent a huge amount of time and effort in organising the event and credit must be given for all their hard work, only for them and the other Freshers to be let down at last minute. Needless to say my mates and I all had a decent night even if the foam was a no show.