What have we been up to in the UK?
Blog by Rachel Soper, UK dorm coordinator
In the UK we have 7 universities taking part in the EU competition and we’ve had a great first term!
Although it seems like a long time a go now, one of the most successful elements of the term has been the Fresher’s Fayres way back in September. At these very busy Fayres we usually set up a stall and try to tell as many people as possible about who we are and what we do. We managed to speak to hundreds of students about saving energy and got loads of residents to pledge to save energy in their hall! We also gave out loads of our awesome Student Switch Off cotton bags which tied in very nicely with the UK’s new charge for plastic carrier bags that came into effect on 5th October!
Since then we’ve been visiting the dormitories to chat to residents about Student Switch Off and giving away lots of ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s (our UK sponsor for the competition) on our Facebook pages to encourage energy-saving action. We even had some very special visits from the Ben & Jerry’s van!
A very important element of the programme here is our Student Switch Off Ambassadors. We trained up 166 volunteers at the start of the semester and for the rest of the year they will aim to convert their flat-mates into energy savers, all the while building up transferable skills for their future employability! Our amazing volunteers spread the Student Switch Off message within their halls, help us out when we go on visits and support some of our online communications (including blogs articles just like this!). Some have even put on their own Switch Off events - we really couldn’t do it without them!
Now that we’re into December, things have started to quieten down as students start to go home for the holidays, but after Christmas we’ll be trying to reach even more people by getting out and visiting as many residents as possible in their dormitories (and of course giving away some more ice cream!).
