The University of York’s Student Union prides itself on the vast number of clubs and societies it offers to it’s students, and with the start of term quickly approaching there has been a few new societies recently added to YUSU’s ever growing list.

Here’s our latest round up of new societies students can join this year:

The Tipsygate Readers

The Tipsygate Readers are a brand new ‘book and wine’ society that has recently been set up over lockdown. They aim to be inclusive and welcoming, creating a fun community who can bond over their love of reading and where members can gain different perspectives in a relaxed setting.

The society will arrange monthly meetings to discuss the book of the month whilst also arranging regular socials. They have already successfully been operating through ‘zoom’ over the lockdown period, discussing relevant and topical literature such as Reni Eddo-Lodge’s ‘Why I’m no longer talking to White People about Race’.

When talking to Greta Gruzdyte (President) and Ellen Lavender (Research Sec), they expressed their excitement for starting up a society like this one as “Many people have rediscovered reading in lock-down so creating the Tipsygate Readers is a way of keeping it going! The mental health benefits of reading are brilliant so we wanted to create a society that will allow a distraction from studies as well as a fun and friendly reading community and we’re all so excited for our community to grow!”

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We have chosen our new book! We hope everyone is happy with the decision (the votes were very close between ‘The Book Thief’ and ‘Colour Me In’) 📖💜. Our next Zoom meeting will be held in a months time (there will be a poll later today to decide dates).

A post shared by The Tipsygate Readers (@thetipsygatereaders) on Aug 7, 2020 at 3:00am PDT

TikTok Society

TikTok society started after president Charlotte Large was searching through the YUSU clubs and socs page and was in disbelief that one didn’t already exist!

They hope to hold themed events as well as other opportunities to meet with like-minded people who enjoy all things Tiktok!

The society committee are currently working on plans to bring TikTok soc online in order to adhere to social distancing rules but hope to eventually hold in-person events as soon as it becomes a possibility.

When speaking to Charlotte, she stated that: “I started this society with my two flat-mates and I’m so excited that it is now a reality! We’re looking forward to meeting people from all sides of TikTok, and can’t wait to get started!”

Follow them on TikTok!

Visit their YUSU page to join! 

Animal Crossing Society

Animal Crossing Society was started by a group of animal crossing loving students just before COVID hit, but Corona hasn’t stopped them from building a friendly community through numerous online events and competitions! This includes games like Hide and Seek, Musical Chairs, and a monthly Swap Shop.

The competitions that the society run range from a custom design competition, ACS Cribs (animal crossing version of MTV Cribs), and their most recent cosplay competition. All of these events take place on New Horizons online, but they’re looking to expand to other games in the franchise once the term begins.

When speaking to the society’s chair Natasha Coia, she explained how “We’re always looking for new enthusiastic members to join, and we can’t wait to grow our society more over the next year!”

We also spoke to YUSU’s activities officer Brian Terry about the clubs and societies that YUSU currently offer to University of York students:

“We have over 230 societies at York from performance to academic, with a wide variety of specialist societies. From photo soc to effective altruism, from Pokemon to Douglas Adams – there’s something for you, and if there isn’t then you can make your own! As well as our societies you can also join our volunteering and fundraising groups.”

“With 18 volunteering projects and 3 Raising and Giving (RAG) charities, it’s a great way to make a difference and make some people smile! I’d really encourage students to get involved in volunteering and RAG. Coronavirus has brought us all closer together and this is a great way to harness that energy. Either teaching children new skills, supporting the hedgehogs on campus or supporting our three excellent fundraising charities. Look out for voting on these charities when term starts by the way!”

I’m sure that everyone is looking forward to going back to Uni once term starts back up again in September, and these new societies are definitely something to look forward to!

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