The activities portal is where student groups submit everything for their activities and events, including room bookings, trips, external speakers, transport bookings, emergency contacts for trips etc.

All committee members will have access to the admin tools of their webpage on upsu.com, and they are able to access the portal for the aforementioned. Please refer to the committee training which provided in-depth instructions on how to use the activity portal. 

If you need to book a room on campus or in the SU you will need to submit a room booking form. You can book single room bookings, block bookings and multi-date bookings for university rooms. Rooms in the SU building also do get booked up quickly due to limited availability on nights so book advance to secure your space and to get any requirements that you may need.  

We require at least a weeks’ notice to book a room for your student group, especially during busy periods in term-time. If you know that you would like to use the same room throughout the term you could consider making a block booking which saves on admin. 

Our out of hours location is Rolle Building but for larger event/specialist events there are lecture theatres that can be booked in the Roland Levinsky Building and Davy Main Hall can also be booked. Rooms can be booked from 9am-10:30pm but the availability does differ during term time for day-time bookings. There is typically better availability of rooms after 6pm or at weekends*. 

Student groups can book rooms to hold various things on campus; the Rolle building is the building which rooms will be booked in predominantly. Rooms can be booked up until 22:30 at night. Please use timetables https://timetables.plymouth.ac.uk  to see what rooms are available on the dates and times you require – this helps the department complete the room booking process in an efficient manner.

Please note all room booking requests require a minimum of 7 days notice. All room booking requests need to be made through your student groups activity portal.

 

*Q What rooms are available to book? 

*A There are a variety of rooms available to be booked – please note that rooms will be allocated on a first come first served basis and are subject to availability, it is also noted that the number of attendees to your event will be taken into account and based on what room will be able to be booked.

*L A flat room is your standard room (usually set up as a classroom and has a screen with AV facilities) 

*L Small Meeting rooms <12 people 

*L Lecture theatre (LT) this is for larger scale events with more attendees. (includes screen with AV Facilities) 

*L Specialist Room (Jill Craigie Cinema / Computer rooms / labs etc)  

*L SU Rooms (big room, Little Room etc) 

*L Main Hall 

*Q What times can SU spaces be booked: 

*L The Lounge: Sunday – Thursday until 10pm & Friday & Saturday until 21:00 

*L The Little Room: Sunday – Thursday Until 23:00 (excluding club nights) & Friday & Saturday until 21:00 

*Q Can food be taken into campus rooms 

*A Yes this is allowed but you will need to submit a risk assessment with your event – please note that you must clean your room after food is consumed. 

*Q Can alcohol be consumed 

*A No – no alcohol is allowed to be consumed in any room on campus – failure to comply with this rule will mean that your student group will no longer be able to book any spaces on campus. 

If your student group is planning to run events such as balls, showcases and cultural events. We call these large scale events! 

Large scale events require a little bit more planning than some smaller events that your student group may run. Firstly you would need to consider whether you would want to host your event on campus or off campus. 

If hosting events off campus you would firstly need to find yourself a venue. You will need to consider your budget for this event and whether your student group has enough in your bank account to cover any costs. Events such as balls and cultural events may require food which may come at an additonal cost. With an external venue your student group is generally covered under their risk assessment, However, if you have planned some activities and games for your event you may not be covered so a risk assessment submission may be needed to cover those activities. If you are unsure please contact your relevant department. 

If hosting events on campus you will require more steps than hosting events off campus. However, your costs will be lower as you do not need to pay for venue hire. If hosting an event on campus such a showcases, cultural balls, conferences and balls you firstly need to think about how many people you are expecting and if the room is suitable. On campus you have the following venues that you can book. 

• Davy Main Hall 
• Roland Levinksy Hall
• The SU Little Room (The Main Room may be able to be booked in certain circumstances)
• Lecture Theatres 
• Sherwell Centre 

If you require food for your event you would need to hire this externally. The Activities & Sport team are able to help you with some recommendations. However, they must not reheat the food on site and will need to fill out a food indemnity form. 

If hosting large scale events on campus you will need to submit an activity on the activities portal with your room booking form. A meeting with the Activities & Sport department may be required to discuss your options and also some essential criteria. Be ready to discuss:

• Dates
• Times
• Expected attendees
• Outline of your event
• Risk assesment 
• Whether require tech, a bar, security or cleaning services

Your risk assessment is a cricual part of your event and needs to contain details of your planned activities in your event. Please check out the health and safety training to help you complete your risk assessment. 

As a student group you are able to invite speaker to come and give a speech at group events. If you would like someone to come and speak at your event you would need to complete the external speaker form.  

This rule applies to anyone speaking who is not a student or staff at the University of Plymouth.  

In line with the University of Plymouth's External Speaker policy it is our duty to advocate safe free speech. This is why when completing the external speaker form we as for information including three links about the speaker and the topic they are speaking within.  

If not enough links are submitted or the links you have provided are not suitable and don't provide enough information we will prompt for more links. Without enough information we cannot make a proper judgment and they will not be approved until a conclusion has been reached. Useful links include: Social Media Pages, LinkedIn, Newspaper Articles, Journal Articles, GMC Numbers, Website pages. 

The following equipment is available to borrow:

• Fundraising Buckets/Pots
• Litter Picks
• Litter pick hoops
• Waterproofs (jackets and trousers)
• Wellies
• First Aid Kits 
• Gazebos (on campus activities only)
• Trestle Tables (on campus activities only) 
• Gardening gloves and tools
• Tablecloths 

To book any equipment out, please email the relevant department or request it on the activities portal:

• Societies - societies@su.plymouth.ac.uk
• Sports - sport@su.plymouth.ac.uk

Here you will find a blank generic risk assessment template for your student group to download. These must be filled out if you are planning a new activity, which is not currently covered by your general student group risk assessment. If you are unsure if an activity requires a new risk assessment, please contact sport@su.plymouth.ac.uk or societies@su.plymouth.ac.uk.

Risk Assessment TemplateA document to outline your student groups activities and ways you will be mitigating risk.

Your current student group risk assessment can be found on your individual web pages, by clicking on the "more" button at the top of the page. 

If at any point throughout the year you need to update your risk assessment, please send a copy to the relevant department to review. They will then upload the document for you once approved. 

Why get your student group involved in volunteering?

Volunteering is a great way for your student group to get together and involved in something with a purpose. It is a great way to make new friends and become part of the local community as well as developing new skills and experiences. It also allows student groups to do positive work as a group either on campus for other students or off campus with the local community.

Getting Started;

• Be realistic. Think about the number of members you have; how many would want to be involved, how much they will enjoy the opportunity and how helpful and useful you would be to the charity or club your offering to support.  
• Big events, marshalling, or ushering people at special events or local community events such as fairs, fun runs, bucket shakes, fundraisers, outdoor conservation, maintaining or cleaning up land, sea and outside spaces and physical work are all types of volunteering for large groups.  
• Volunteering with children or vulnerable people can be difficult to organise with a group and requires a lot of paper work including DBS checks. Its advised that large groups are inappropriate for this kind of volunteering.
• Do you have a particular charity or club that your club or society is passionate about and offer time and support to? Speak to them and see what they would like help with and where volunteers could be useful.
• Think about the types of people you have in your group - what they would enjoy doing, what will they get from volunteering? Volunteers to need to enjoy their experiences and benefit from it.   
• Location and transport – Consider accessing locations and making it easy for members.
• Fun! Make sure whatever you are doing is fun and ensure members have fun and enjoy themselves, or they won’t want to do it again.

Logging Your Hours - Volunteer Recognition Scheme

All the volunteering hours that you do counts towards our reward and recognition scheme. This can include committee role jobs, helping at student group events, and volunteering within the community. You recieve recognition from 25, 50, 100 and 200 hours of volunteering. 

To recieve recognition you will need to log your hours with our Volunteer Toolkit. You will need to register your details and then ou can start logging. Please keep and eye on you emails as the Activities department may get in touch to ask for more information about your volunteering journey and also let you know that your rewards are ready to be picked up. 

*Q What’s an external speaker?

*A This would be anyone from outside of the university coming to talk during your student group event. You must give us notice and information of your speaker, as they must be approved by the department before the event can go ahead. This information must be submitted through the activity portal 14 days prior to your event.

*Q How do I complete the external speaker form?

*A You must fill out the external speaker form on the activity portal. We need 3 web links about the speaker, for example their LinkedIn profile. Please don’t send generic information about the company they work for, we need to know specifically about the individual you are inviting to your event.

*Q Can I serve food at my event?

*A Yes, this must be added to your risk assessment. You cannot cook food on campus and must tidy the space after it’s used and take your rubbish. Please ensure you have allergens and ingredients on show for your members.

*Q How do I book large spaces like Davy Main Hall, or the SU?

*A You need to complete a room booking form on the activity portal. Please remember there is a 7 working day policy for room bookings, and no guarantee the space will be available!

*Q When do you need all of the emergency contacts for a trip by?

*A These must be submitted 2 working days prior to your trip or it will not be authorised!

*Q How do I request transport for my trip?

*A You need to put in a tranpsort request form through the activity portal. If you are hiring a car, you need to list the names of your drivers before we can book a vahicle. Please ensure they have completed the driver regsitration form here. Look though our driver policy as you need to have the correct number of drivers depending on the length of your journey! 

*A Please give us as much notice as possible to book transport. We will add quotes for the booking onto the activity portal, and confirm your booking on that system.