Start a Club

The Clubs team support students just like you to launch their own student communities every year, check out the information below to see if setting up a new society is for you. If you have any questions about the Club and Society programme you can get in touch with the Clubs team at suclubs@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Start a Society

Starting a new Club or Society is pretty straightforward:

1. It starts with an idea

Check our current listings to make sure your idea is new as we can't create duplicate clubs! You’ll need to decide on the society’s name, its purpose, its main initiatives and the events and activities that you intend to provide.

2. Assemble your Team

All Societies are student led so you need a Core Committee of 3 BU Students to take on roles of President, Secretary (also known as Communications) and Treasurer. You can create new roles at this stage like Social Media Officer.

3. Apply to the Students' Union!

Complete the application form linked below. As part of this process, you will need 5 additional BU Students to agree your Society is of interest to them. You will need to include their student number in the application form.

 

Committee Role Descriptions Club and Society Criteria Submit an application!

Countdown until the next Awarding Committee:

Adopt a Soc

Sometimes interest in a Club or Society dies down, this is where the Adopt a Soc programme comes in! When a Club or Society can't elect a Committee to run it into the next academic year, we put it into a special programme called "Adopt a Soc" where it will sit dormant for the full academic year. This programme gives you the opportunity to come together with two other BU students and 'adopt' a group you're interested in and get it back off the ground!

The process to 'Adopt a Soc' is easy! Simply pick an eligible Society from the list below, find two other students to take on the Core Committee Roles and email us at suclubs@bournemouth.ac.uk! 

Clubs and Societies up for Adoption in 2026/27:

  • Accounting and Finance Society
  • Anime Society
  • Archarological Society
  • Bread Society
  • Breath of Life Society
  • Business Society
  • Crafts and Threads Society
  • Cult Cinema Club
  • Dead Poets Society
  • Economics Society
  • Flowstate Calisthenics Society
  • Formula 1 Society
  • Friends of Palestine Society
  • Games Development Society
  • Hangout Society
  • History Society
  • Improvisation Society
  • Japanese (Nihongo) Society
  • Language Learning Society
  • Mathematics and Programming Society
  • Nepalese Society
  • Nursing Society 
  • Nutrition Society
  • Occupational Therapy Society
  • Physician Associate Society
  • Role Play Society
  • Social Sciences Society
  • Socialist Worker Student Society
  • Tamil x Mallu Society
  • The Lit Lounge
  • The Public Speaking Society
  • Thrift Society
  • Womxn in STEM

SUBU Awarding Committee

When you submit your application to form a new Society, or existing clubs request grant funding, it is sent to our Awarding Committee, a panel of SUBU Staff including your Vice President Student Opportunities. The panel check your application and ratify your Society by comparing it to the criteria and ensuring your activity is unique. From there if your application is approved, the Clubs team will guide you through the next steps to get you up and running - it's that easy! 

If you have any questions about the Awarding Committee process please email us at suclubs@bournemouth.ac.uk! You can view minutes from the previous meetings here:

Awarding Committee Minutes

 

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