Congratulations to Storm Cheerleading Club for achieving their Icons Award during a difficult year for sports. You deserve it for all your work throughout the year!
The UPSU Icons Awards celebrate our Sports Clubs and Societies that have gone above and beyond throughout this year. There are certain criteria each group has to complete to win their award which is then approved by the UPSU Sports and Societies Teams. This year we have seen so many amazing things happen throughout our student community, including the efforts of the Cheerleading Society.
Who are the Storm Cheerleading Club: 
"Plymouth University Storm Cheerleaders are a club that welcomes all students and all levels of ability. We create opportunities for athletes who want to compete at the higher levels to students who want to keep fit and have fun as well as getting to know other sports clubs in a social environment.
We hold taster sessions at the start of the year to introduce people to the sport as we welcome people to join our spirit and competition squads."
- Storm Cheerleading Club
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Committee Members behind the Society -
- Chair - Jessica Gwyther
- Secretary - Gemma Davis
- Treasurer - Rosie Duckett
- Safety Officer - Diyotima Datta
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Storm Cheerleading Clubs Successes:
Throughout the year, Storm Cheerleading Club has powered through the tough times and kept on top of their Sports Club documentation, appeared at every Sports Forum of the year, held a successful AGM to elect the new committee for 2021/22 and complied with all of UPSU's policies and procedures including having to, unfortunately, cancel in-person competitions and training earlier in the year to help keep our community safe from COVID-19. The committee has been in touch with the Students' Union keeping up to date with relevant information, demonstrating effective financial management and registering all activities and events through the UPSU website, including a socially distanced Halloween social!
This year we had to adapt some of our Icons criteria due to the pandemic and the effects it has had on our students, but the Cheerleaders took this in their stride and continued to host fortnightly socials and events for their members, providing zoom training and the occasional lockdown quiz. There was also their welcome 'try-out session' in October where freshers and returning students could meet each other and coaches in a covid secure manner.
They also hosted a few social media campaigns across their social accounts, including a photo challenge, with categories throughout the week, including Favourite Stunt, Cheer Bestie and Favourite Bow, to get the new members engaged with the group, a 'Meet the Committee' campaign which was the first chance the committee got to introduce themselves to their new members after in-person meetings and socials were cancelled, over the Christmas season they hosted their '12 Days of Cheermas' and finally their Deanna Day campaign to share the memory of an amazing Cheerleader, Deanna Mason, by wearing purple to share her legacy ?? #DeannaDay.
The club has raised a whopping £1843 for MIND in March by completing their 27/27 Challenge, running together, covering 27 miles over 27 days for the 27% of people who report mental health problems at University. They are also looking to work with Freedom4GirlsUK to support their work for period poverty and plan to work with members to create and send out period boxes. Amazing work.
The committee kept their members in the know with club updates through their private members Facebook Page and their individual team pages too, including updates about our Student Elections, in which 29.9% of members voted this year, these are the most important elections of the year for us here at UPSU, so thank you for your support in helping us make positive change and helping the student's voice be heard!
And finally, we ask our clubs to complete some additional Icons criteria which they may choose depending on the group's activities. The Cheerleading Club went above and beyond and provided courses for its members, including, first aid, coaching qualifications, online conferences and digital learning to upskill their members through their time at university!
On top of their fundraising work for Freedom4GirlsUK the club has been recognised by Plymouth RAG as 'Fundraiser of the Week' and certified by MIND for their 27/27 challenge. Well done team, you've made it through a hard year for sports and you've come out shining!
Congratulations from all of us here at UPSU!
The Storm Cheerleading Club has been awarded their Icons for all the amazing work they have done over this year, voluntarily and on top of their own studies, this couldn't be more deserved and we can wait to see what you bring to your Students' Union next year!
Stay tuned and keep an eye on our social media channels over the coming weeks to read a profile of each student group that has achieved Icons this year.
You’ll be able to find out more about what they did to receive this award and how you can get involved in September.
Want to find out what Sports and Societies are out there? Click here