By Jack Cranmer, Alexander Cruickshanks and Laurie Finlayson

With the new academic year upon us a flood of new students arrived at the Ayr campus of the University of the West of Scotland. Each individual student has their own interests and personalities, and today, all the societies were advertising themselves, with students keen to find out what could be the best fit for them.

There are a range of societies available to choose from, varying from sports to art and film. We spoke with organizers looking to showcase the benefits not only of their own clubs, but any within the network.

Freya Rennie, once a student here at UWS, is now Team UWS Sports President. She arrived as a student during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and found her home within the archery society, and quickly discovered a previously unknown passion.

She said: “I was so shy again when I joined university, but I joined the [archery] club, fell into a committee position, and now I’m here as the Sports President where my job is to talk to people and chat.

“I found friends for life through sport, and I think anyone can do it, whether you’re a competitive athlete or just want to do it for a bit of a laugh. 

“I think it’s a great social experience.”

If sports are not your forte, there are other activities available to you, such as the lead of the UWS Film Society, Avery Malakai, who has decided to relaunch the society due to his own personal love for movies. He stresses that the social aspect of the club is one of the main benefits to membership.

He said: “Some people come to uni, like myself last year, and don’t get much social stuff interaction, because like me they are introverted.

“I wanted to introduce something that would not only pull me out of my comfort zone but allow everybody to have a warm welcome place.

There’s no need to be afraid, there’s no need to be nervous. We’re all human, we’re all probably introverts.

“It’s just nice to hang out with like-minded people who are just sharing your passion.”

Hear all the additional information on these clubs below:

There are plenty of societies on offer outside of those mentioned, with a full rundown available on the UWS Union website, where you can find all the additional information required to find your perfect place to destress and take the load off your studies.