New club nights, a new bar and a new Centre for Skills, Enterprise and Volunteering open at the SU just in time for Freshers.
Chris Williams
The students’ union has just announced the opening of two new club nights and a Centre for Skills, Enterprise and Volunteering.
The new club nights are a response to the failure of BoomBox and the closure of Fun Factory – after twenty years in the union due to low student attendance.
Within the overhaul there will be two new club nights: Ctl Alt Del on a Monday and Revive on a Tuesday, starting from 1st October – just after Freshers week.
Ctl Alt Del is an alternative night playing music from hip hop to dubstep to swing and everything in between with all three rooms in the night club open.
Kieran Gandhi, Union Development and Internal Affairs Officer, said of the Ctl Alt Del, ÔÇ£Monday night is a cool mash up of Indie meets hip hop meets electro. ItÔÇÖs to bridge that gap between the union and other clubs; we havenÔÇÖt had a successful alternative club night in a while.
ÔÇ£I think weÔÇÖll be able to compete with [other clubs in town] and be better than them. Our drinks will be well priced, the dj will be finding new tunes each week.. itÔÇÖs going to be goodÔÇØ
Tuesday’s club night, Revive, is said to be a night of ÔÇ£retro based frivolityÔÇØ and a ÔÇ£flashback to your early musical years.ÔÇØ It is the first time that a club night of this sort has been tried in our union.
Gandhi called the night, ÔÇ£[an] old school night with retro based music. WeÔÇÖve realised that new studentÔÇÖs retro is the early 90s so we hope that students will respond positively. ThereÔÇÖll be really good drinks deals and offers – in honesty, itÔÇÖs a bit of fun and a chance for people to have a bit of a dance to Michael Jackson or TupacÔÇØÔÇØ
Whilst the more mainstream staples of the union club scene, ComePlay on a Saturday and The Lash on a Wednesday, remain, there will be no new night to replace BoomBox on a Friday from last year.
On top of this, the union will be leaving Thursdays and Fridays free for gigs and one off events. When itÔÇÖs free however it is said to be more of a ÔÇ£cabaret nightÔÇØ be that with local bands or comedy. Gandhi said that ÔÇ£we were hoping for tables to be set out in Solus. ItÔÇÖs really aimed at a chilled, non drinking culture. The emphasis is on the act and itÔÇÖll be affordable.ÔÇØ
A change from previous years, all club nights will open until 3am with all Monday and Tuesday nights being free before 11pm. All club nights will also use the Titans, a new promotions team dedicated to selling tickets for union events.
ÔÇ£Every other club in Cardiff have promotion teams, so why donÔÇÖt we? WeÔÇÖll have a very proactive promotion team whoÔÇÖll be selling tickets like other promoters and selling tickets to bump up ticket sales and the interest in the union.ÔÇØ┬á said Gandhi who dismissed the idea that there could be confusion with this team and those promoting club nights in town, ÔÇ£The titans team will be branded with Cardiff Students Union on their clothing, any flyers or promotions will have Cardiff Students Union at the heart of their pitch – theyÔÇÖll always be promoting the students union.ÔÇØ
On top of all of the new additions to the clubnights, the sideroom is going to be redeveloped and rebrandeded to become The Lodge.
The design will be in the style of a ski lodge come rum / shot bar.
It will help alleviate pressure from the main bars in Solus as well as having a “more realxing and chilled ambiance”
The Centre for Skills, Enterprise and Volunteering to be  ready for Freshers
A new ÔÇ£one-stop-shop for employability servicesÔÇØ is being created on the second floor of the union and should be ready just in time for Freshers.
The Centre for skills, Enterprise and Volunteering will now be housed on the second floor, replacing Marketing, Entertainment and Food and Beverage.
Student Enterprise, Student Volunteering Cardiff and the skills development service will all be housed in the new development which is supported by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Operations Manager at Cardiff University StudentsÔÇÖ Union, Ben Eagle said “We’re really pleased with the design for the area, and work is progressing well on bringing the space to life. The Centre will give the StudentsÔÇÖ Union an incredible profile boost for the fantastic services that are relocating into this space”.
“We’re very grateful to the University who are supporting us with this project, and it’s pleasing to be part of a University which recognises the huge benefits of the Students’ Union, and is keen to help us develop forward. With Freshers fast approaching, we’re looking forward to welcoming students to this new space at the start of term”.
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