Gold Rush has returned to York and it’s hotting up

We talked to the people behind the popular Facebook poetry hook-up page


As the end of student life looms for many third year undergraduates, dissertations need to be submitted and romantic loose ends beg to be tied up.

The dedicated Facebook page to this pheromonal phenomenon states:

“This is the place where you can anonymously declare love or lust for your University classmates. This may be your last chance before you graduate… Hurry!”

“You were top of my list”

Second year History of Art student Issy Roberts had a poem written about her last week, she told The Tab:

“I was kind of expecting my name to come up, the only surprise was which boy was going to write it.”

To find out more about the Gold Rush, we had a chat with the people behind the page:

What is the idea behind Gold Rush? Did you come up with it?

Gold rush is an ancient tradition that’s been handed down through the ages. It’s always been omnipresent in society and we’re just helping people out along the way by publicising their declarations of love. There are a select group of us running York’s Gold Rush page this year and we are already on the look out for next year’s Cupids to hand control over to.

Do you think that people start having more sex the closer it gets to them leaving university before they have to start settling to banging Colin from accounting in the print supplies cupboard during your lunch hour?

Definitely. What better way to release that build up of stress and tension than in bed with bae (or that guy/girl who has sat near you in the library day in and day out for the year, who you can’t help but fantasize about). Secondly, the majority of students will be relatively tee-total for most of this term, so when D-Day finally arrives and you get to down VK after VK in whichever over-crowded, under-priced, sweaty and sticky establishment of your choice, it takes a lot less to get you completely battered, over-excited and quite frankly, very horny. It is also a proven fact that the nearer people come to the end of exam season, the lower their standards become. Post-graduation, you’re very unlikely to find yourself in a situation where, if push came to shove, you could 100 per cent, no doubt about it, get laid. So, really, just seize the opportunity while you still can.

What’s your favourite poem that has been sent in?

Last years exam one was a personal favourite. Though it didn’t actually relate to any human being, it was one we can really all get behind in times like now.

Have you heard of any successful hook ups that have occurred because of this Facebook page?

We’re not ones for naming names – but we’d put our success rate at around 98 per cent last year. This year, who knows? We’re hoping for 100.

What’s your top tip for getting loads of action at uni?

Honestly – stop writing love poems in your room to some boy/girl you see hanging round the library cafe and actually go and make a move. Or, failing that, just go to Salvation on a Wednesday night and spill your drink on him, both will probably have the same outcome.